Kerry and Hagel introduce Vet support bill

[ProSense]

posted here.

Check out the link to Kerry's report at the end.

[karynnj]

1. Nice

Interesting the Hagel is the other sponsor, not Snowe on this.

[TayTay]

2. Boston Globe (snark-free) story about this today (3/28)

Kerry seeks business loans for veterans
Says ex-soldiers need assistance

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | March 28, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry today plans to submit legislation that would expand federal business loans and other assistance to help reduce the unemployment rate among recently discharged service members, which government statistics indicate is as high as 18 percent for younger Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts The Massachusetts Democrat, who chairs the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, is scheduled to unveil the bill along with a report on the economic difficulties facing returning veterans, especially members of the Reserve and National Guard who have put their civilian jobs on hold for repeated deployments.

The study by Kerry's committee staff, based on government data, found that 11.9 percent of recently discharged veterans are unemployed, compared with 4.6 percent of nonveterans; it found that 18 percent of 18-to 24-year-old veterans are out of work, double the rate of their nonveteran counterparts. Meanwhile, an estimated 40 percent of reservists lose income when called up, while the rate is even higher, 55 percent, for reservists who are self-employed, according to the report. At the same time, the share of small-business loans going to veterans from the largest federal program has dropped from 11 percent to 9 percent since 2001.

"After the Vietnam War, many veterans were left behind," said the report, a copy of which was provided by Kerry's office to the Globe yesterday. "Iraq and Afghanistan will yield a new generation of veterans who must not be forgotten."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/03/28/kerry_seeks_business_loans_for_veterans/

What an awesome day. I have been so busy I wasn't able to post this yet. This is wonderful news, just wonderful.

You ever have one of those days that is so good and the things you hear are so what you wanted (longed) to hear that you just want to bottle them up and savor them? Yeah, it's like that.

:bounce: :dem: :grouphug: :yourock: :applause: :woohoo: Yeah, it's like that.

[ProSense]

4. Great article. Thanks!

It's a great day!

:woohoo:

[TayTay]

3. Markup on this bill is tomorrow (3/29) 9:30 am

I will not be able to watch this live as I am otherwise engaged that day. (So sorry.)

But this is the info:

http://sbc.senate.gov/

9:30 am in Small Biz. There will be an audio (only) feed. So, check it out if you can.

[jillan]

5. Gotta give kudos to Hagel

Just saw him on the Senate floor introducing a bill with Webb that is similar to Murtha's bill, setting guidelines for when and how our troops can redeploy.

If only Hagel would wake up on domestic issues, he would be a pretty good R.

[StoryTeller]

6. For us in Nebraska, this is about as good as it gets. :)

Seriously, it put a big smile on my face to see this thread--my FAVORITE public leader working on a positive bill with my most respected senator. (I know Hagel's an R, but really...it's a bit much to expect me to respect Ben Nelson, even if he does have a D of some sort after his name.)

Hagel is the sort of person that teases me with hope. He does stuff like this, he speaks out. He's got dignity and at least an aura of integrity. And then when it comes right down to it, he nearly always still toes party line in votes. It's aggravating. But I'd rather have that than some of the other R options out there.

Apparently, he has a half sister who is ultra right-wing, and a brother (half? don't know) who is completely liberal. And the family usually gets together for holidays and stuff. Can you imagine the interesting conversations they must have? :) One of my friends said that maybe they just don't talk politics during their get togethers, but I can't imagine how they could avoid it with a U.S. Senator at the table. "So, Chuck, how's the job going?" "Sorry. Can't talk about it, family rule." :)