Senate Proceeding on Nov 16th, 2009 :: 0:42:10 to 0:51:35
Total video length: 6 hours 18 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:33 Duration: 0:09:25 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

0:42:09 to 0:42:29( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: others to join him in killing innocent americans individuals. i yield the floor. ms. klobuchar: mr. preside the presiding officer: the senator from minsota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i ask to speak as if in morning business for up to 10 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, this afternooner the senate will resume consideration of military construction and department of veterans affairs

0:42:10 to 0:51:35( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Amy Klobuchar

0:42:30 to 0:42:51( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: appropriations bill. this critical lislation will provide full funding for veterans' health care and other essential v.a. services. last week, as i'm sure you and many of my colleagues did, i had the opportunity to meet with veterans around my state for really for two days, and i came back to washington with a renewed commitment to provide

0:42:52 to 0:43:12( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: our nation's veterans with full support and the benefits that they so clearly deserve. passing this v.a. appropriations bill is an important step toward fulfilling the promise we make to our veterans when they enlist, that we will take care of them when they return home. i figure, mr. president, when they signed up for war, there wasn't a waiting line. and when they come home to the

0:43:13 to 0:43:34( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: united states of america, and they need a job and they need health care, or they need any type of help from this government waiting li in the united states of america. but funding the v.a. health care system, as we are doing this week, and other existing veterans programs, is only part of fulfilling that promise.

0:43:35 to 0:43:56( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: other cite cal component is helping our newest generation of veterans make the difficult transition from military to civilian life. and what a difficult transition it new figures have recently come out that show that post-9/11 veterans, their unemployment in october was 11.6%, significantly

0:43:57 to 0:44:17( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: above the national average. but like many of the national employment rate statistics, this statistic conceals the true scope of the problem, and here's the number to rember: 18. 18% of veterans who left the military in the past one to three years are unemployed, according to a

0:44:18 to 0:44:38( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: of veterans affairs employment survey. of those veterans who have found work, 25% earn less than $21,800 per year and only 58% of recent veterans who are employed have been able to find work in the private sector. these are the people that i saw when i was at home. one of the things that

0:44:39 to 0:44:59( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: came to my attention was that a number of them would choose, if they could, to pursue apprenticeships. a lot of them want to go to college, two-year, four-year degrees. we have a large numbers of returning soldiers to college. what i found in

0:45:00 to 0:45:20( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: technical colleges, a number of them would choose to pursue a different way to find a job. a recent survey found that there is a perception that service members do not perform duties within tightly defined skill set. there should be a greater emphasis on business and professional training of

0:45:21 to 0:45:42( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: veterans, coupled with matching their skills with available jobs. that is why introduced bipartisan legislation joined by senator johanns of nebraska and senator murray of washington to help iraq and afganistan veterans obtain the training and experience necessary for full-time employment by allowing

0:45:43 to 0:46:03( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: them to use their post-9/11 g.i. benefits for job training and apent isship programs. as my colleagues know last year with the lea webbwe passed into law the education assistance act which will provide the men and women who serve on active duty with comprehensive educational benefits similar to the world

0:46:04 to 0:46:24( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: war ii veterans received. a law i -- i believe there is no greater investment we can make in the veterans than granting them to pursue the higher education of their choosing, we must not limit veterans' opportunity to only the pursuit of academic degrees. not every returning soldier, mr. president, coses to go to college.

0:46:25 to 0:46:46( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: but they still want a job. job traing from pipe fitting to law enforcement should also be covered by the g.i. bill. our legislation, the post 9/11 veterans job traing act would allow veterans who wish to enter the workforce immediately, rather than pursuing an academic degree to utes their post 9/11

0:46:47 to 0:47:07( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: g.i. bill benefits to critical traing and job skills. specifically veterans enrolled in the on the job traing or apprenticeship program could use their benefits to pay for a percentage of their monthly housing costs which would decline over a periods of

0:47:08 to 0:47:28( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: months, certification and relocation and tutoring costs. we put this together based on our discussion with veterans across the country to see what their exact needs were to make it easier for them to go through the pipe fitting apprenticeship programs and others that land themn the workforce more immediately. in order to qualify under this legislation, veterans must be

0:47:29 to 0:47:49( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: enrolled in programs that have been approved by their stas' accrediting agencies. under the old g.i. bill, veterans can receive a salary during the traing. this would restore the eligibility and traing that were available to veterans under

0:47:50 to 0:48:11( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: the montgomery g.i. bill no longer available under the post 9/11 g.i. bill. i talked to senator webb. i know there were reasons why this was changed. he is supportive of including this. we have seen the skyrocketing unemployment rate mostly in part because of the economy and we want to find every opportunity we can find for our veterans to find work.

0:48:12 to 0:48:34( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: according to the v.a., up to 10% of veterans use their montgomery g.i. bill benefits for he -- for education other than college or graduate school inclung on-the-job training or apprenticeship programs. through this legislation, post 9/11 veterans will be able to use their expanded benefits for the very same purpose. in minnesota alone there are

0:48:35 to 0:48:57( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: over 50 such programs providing training and employment opportunities to veterans including law enforcement, construction, engineering and education. i was at one much these institutions in minneapolis this past week and met with some veterans, some of which had done multiple tours in iraq, one was leaving in a few months and

0:48:58 to 0:49:19( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: found tr -- some which involve complex subjects, offer them to learn those traits and this will greatly help them so they can better afford these programs. by allying -- applying the new g.i. benefits, veterans can acquire the skills an benefits civilian workforce. last week president obama signed

0:49:20 to 0:49:41( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: an executive order to direct each department to establish an office to focus on the hiring of veterans. like the president, i'm committed to ensuring that veterans have a path to stable employment when they leave the military. one other piece of legistion i wanted to mention because i'm hopeful it will be included in our health reform is the

0:49:42 to 0:50:02( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: veterans to paramedics transition act, which i introduced with senator enzi. it helps returning veterans with medical traing pursue further education with paramedics. i found in rural areas of the country, rural areas of minnesota, rural areas of virginia or wyoming, there are

0:50:03 to 0:50:26( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: not enough paramedics. we have returning soldiers trained in this area but for them to move again and go through two years of traing can be very difficult. the idea is not to say that you don't need any traing, but it is to give them credit, set up the rules in place to make colleges to give them the credit for the on the job traing they

0:50:27 to 0:50:48( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: had as paramedic ins in iraq and afganistan. it solves the problem of veterans who don't have jobs and solves the problem of the lack of paramedics in the rural areas. with senator en-- enzi's help and senator harkin's we will get this health care reform bill. i look forward to not only the

0:50:49 to 0:51:11( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: paramedics act, but also the bill we introduced this week to make it easier for veterans when we come home, our soldiers, to go to a pipe fitting program to go to it a law enforcement program, for those veterans, it will be probably be 10% who don't feel at that moment they want to pursue an academic degree, but they need aob. thank

0:51:12 to 0:51:25( Edit History Discussion )

Amy Klobuchar: and i yield the floor. i note the absence of a the will call the roll.