Walberg Legislation to Help New Veterans Passes House

Today, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act to provide funding, pay, and authorities for the Armed Forces in 2015. The legislation passed on a bipartisan vote of 300-119 and includes a number of important provisions to provide for our nation's defense and military personnel, including language offered by Rep. Walberg and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) to assist new veterans as they transition back into civilian life.

"All our brave men and women in uniform deserve a steady job when they leave military service, but unfortunately many young veterans are now returning home only to face a jobless rate considerably higher than the national average. I'm particularly pleased today's legislation included a commonsense proposal championed by Sen. Toomey and me which will increase veterans resources as they transition to civilian life," said Rep Walberg after the vote.

Background:

In November 2013, Rep. Walberg introduced H.R. 3493, the Servicemembers Transition Improvement Act, which would help facilitate the transition of members of the Armed Forces to civilian life by requiring the Department of Defense to share specified information on separating servicemembers with State veterans agencies in electronic format. H.R. 3493 is a companion bill to legislation introduced by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and received eleven bipartisan cosponsors.