Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, to improve employment opportunities for veterans and business opportunities for the companies that employ them, H.R. 974 would authorize the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs to consider how many veterans an offeror employs during a decision to award a contract. Under this bill, the Secretary may give a preference to such employers based on the percentage of the workforce made up of veterans. It makes sense. The bill would also allow the Secretary to debar any offeror who willfully and intentionally misrepresents the number of veterans they employ. I am glad that provision is in there. Mr. Speaker, the unemployment rate among certain age groups of veterans still exceeds their nonveteran peers, and this legislation is one commonsense step to incentivize employers to bring veterans into their workforce and increase job opportunities for veterans of all ages. I firmly believe that we should do all we can to encourage both small and large businesses to provide job opportunities for veterans as well as provide the Secretary the authority to consider such hires when making contracting decisions. This will further incentivize government contractors to make a positive investment in their companies by making investments in our Nation's veterans. I thank Miss Rice for her hard work on this bill, and it has my full support. I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 974. I reserve the balance of my time.”