Kay Hagan: “I rise today to highlight the importance of veteran unemployment and to announce the reintroduction of the ``Hire…”

“I rise today to highlight the importance of veteran unemployment and to announce the reintroduction of the ``Hire- a-Hero Act''--a bill, which I introduced with Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts at the start of the last Congress, to make permanent the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, WOTC, for qualified veterans and members of the Ready Reserve and the National Guard. The issue of veteran unemployment is more important today, than it has ever been. Though the overall unemployment rate stands at 7.2 percent, the jobless rate among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan is 10.1 percent, nearly 3 percentage points higher than the national average. Overall, 708,000 veterans are without a job. This issue is even more important in North Carolina, because of its large active duty and veteran population. More than \1/3\ of our population is either in the military, is a veteran, or has an immediate family member who is in the military or a veteran. In addition, North Carolina has 3 percent of the U.S. population, but 5 percent of the unemployed veterans. Employers know that hiring a veteran is not only the right thing to do, but it also makes good business sense. These men and women are highly motivated, highly-trained, and have succeeded in the most trying circumstances imaginable. I know the value of hiring veterans myself.…”