Good evening, Kossacks. Today our campaign announced a major policy initiative: We are calling for the creation of a Veteran Employment Discrimination Prevention (VEDP) office to provide training and support programs targeted towards women service members and veterans. As an Air Force Reserve JAG officer, I believe this is long overdue and am proud to be here to share this with you today.
Women are rapidly becoming a larger part of our Armed Forces and it is unconscionable that we allow them to return to civilian life only to face unfair wages and discrimination after serving their country honorably. While women serving in the Armed Forces earn the same salaries as their male counterparts, when they return to civilian life this equality disappears.
While both men and women veterans returning to civilian life often face employment discrimination, women suffer even more. On average our women veterans earn $10,000 a year less than their male counterparts. Over the last year, the unemployment rate for women veterans has risen to ~11%, and women veterans are four times more likely to be homeless than male veterans.
All of our veterans deserve better. With his years of admirable military service, McCain should be expected to work especially hard for our veterans, but his record shows otherwise. McCain has repeatedly and very vocally opposed expanding health benefits for veterans. McCain voted against the 2008 GI Bill, which provided much needed educational opportunities for our troops. McCain's record extends beyond military matters when it comes to equality for women, as evidenced by his adamant objections to the Fair Pay Act, which advanced a woman's right to take legal action when employers are caught discriminating against women.
President Obama recently signed into law the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, which provides a wide range of programs to support veterans' health, including programs targeted specifically toward women's health and homeless veterans. Additionally, a bipartisan Veterans Employment Act of 2010 is currently moving through the U.S. Senate. It will provide funding for training and small business support for veterans. Sadly, neither of these pieces of legislation specifically addresses post-service employment discrimination.
To address such discrimination, The VEDP office I am proposing would be administered by the Veterans' Employment and Training Services (VETS) agency of the U.S. Department of Labor. The VEDP would provide the following services:
- Operate a central hotline for veterans to report and seek information regarding post-service employment discrimination
- Proactively inform veterans and service members of their legal rights to fair and equitable employment
- Allow attorneys to register in a database, so veterans and service members can access proper legal resources within their communities
- Offer a specialized course on identifying and reporting employment discrimination through the Transition Assistance Program (TAP)
Additionally I am calling for the range of services provided to women on active duty and veterans to expand to include:
- Gender-specific counseling and services that focus on managing family life while seeking work
- Temporary child support for veterans re-entering the civilian workforce who are single parents
- Early outreach to women preparing to leave the service (12-24 months before leaving the service) and longer support after they return to civilian life (12-18 months)
It is no longer enough to provide women equal opportunity and equal pay while they serve in the military; we must ensure that same equality when they return to civilian life. I believe the VEDP can work to provide this assurance that our women veterans need and deserve.
We must address these issues now, not in 6 or 12 or 18 years. For 28 years, McCain has been a roadblock to progress for women service members and veterans, and Arizona deserves to have a U.S. Senator who will work to move Arizona forward. I will be that U.S. Senator.
I will be around for a little bit to continue this discussion in the comments and will try to return later if time allows.