First bill from Rep. Rice takes aim at veteran employment

For her first piece of legislation, New York Democrat Kathleen Rice is working to raise the employment rate for veterans.

Unveiled Monday, the Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment (BRAVE) Act, which has three Republican and two Democratic co-sponsors, would allow the Veterans Affairs Secretary to give preference to companies that have high concentrations of veteran employees when awarding VA contracts.

{mosads}The goal, Rice said is to reward companies that make it a priority to provide veterans with meaningful employment opportunities and incentivize other companies to do the same.

“We have to make it a priority, in government and in the private sector, to fully invest in our veterans, invest in their potential to use their unique training and experience to excel in the civilian workforce,” she said in a news release.

Marine-veteran Rep. Paul Cook (R-Calif.) said despite improvements post 9/11 veterans still experienced higher unemployment rates in 2014 than the national average.

“It’s unacceptable that men and women who signed up to fight for their country are unable to find a job when they return home,” he said in a statement. “I’m proud to introduce this bill with Representative Rice and address this problem head-on by incentivizing veteran employment.”