On the recordNovember 16, 2015
With respect to that big and important job that our Nation's veterans are prepared for, I would say that we know that they are up to the challenge, and the statistics prove it. There are 250,000 veterans transitioning each year from military to civilian life, and they are looking for their next mission. A quarter of them say they want to start or buy their own business in the future. That is something that we should celebrate, encourage, and support. They join the nearly one in seven veterans who are self-employed or are small-business owners right now. The impact of veteran-owned businesses and entrepreneurs with a veteran background on our economy is impressive. There are currently 3.7 million veteran-owned businesses in the United States, accounting for more than $1.6 trillion in receipts and employing 8.2 million people. Of them, there are more than 380,000 veteran-owned construction firms, 414,519 veteran-owned firms in the professional, scientific, and technical services, and over 10 percent of all manufacturing firms are veteran owned. These are the people that would stand to benefit from this commonsense bill. Unfortunately, the numbers also show that 75 percent of current veteran business owners are over the age of 55. That means we need to support the next generation of veteran small-business owners. The Fairness to Veterans for Infrastructure Act lays that groundwork. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
