Veterans Job Corps Act Fails on Procedural Vote

Veterans Job Corps Act Fails on Procedural Vote

September 19, 2012 | Audrey Fannin

U-S Senator Kay Hagan is blaming partisan politics for the failure of a bill helping veterans land jobs. The Veterans Job Corps Act died in the Senate Wednesday on a procedural vote. Supporters were two votes shy of the 60 needed to overcome an objection by Alabama Senator, Jeff Sessions, who said the $1 billion dollar price tag would have pushed the Veterans Affairs Department over spending limits set by last year's Budget Control Act.

North Carolina Senator, Kay Hagan, is disappointed that the bill didn't advance in the Senate. Hagan says she knows of roughly 38-thousand unemployed veterans in North Carolina alone. "The unemployment rate among them is 8.9%, it's higher than the national unemployment rate. And I personally think it's unacceptable that a veteran should have to fight for a job after fighting for our country."

Hagan says the act wuold have invested in veterans and eased their transition back to civilian life by increasing training and creating job opportunities. Among its provisions, the Veterans Jobs Corps Act would have provided employment for veterans in conservation work, in Veterans Affairs Department cemeteries, and in police and fire departments. In rural counties, it would have provided veterans with greater access to career specialists for resume writing, preparing for interviews and finding jobs.