Title:Vets can put resumes into Congressional Record
Author:Rick Maze
Date:February 2012
Source:ArmyTimes.com
An Illinois congressman is promising out-of-work veterans the opportunity to have their resumes published in the Congressional Record, the official record of debate and proceedings for the House and Senate.
He is promising attention, but not jobs.
"Sending me your resume will not get you a job, but it can help force Washington to end the unemployment problem once and for all," said Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who launched his effort last week.
Jackson spokesman Andrew Wilson confirmed Monday that the congressman's intent is to put the resumes into the Congressional Record "in addition to using the stories in floor remarks, speeches, etc."
The first four people to take him up on the offer are a retired Navy telecommunications expert from San Diego, a former Army supply officer from Burbank, Calif., a retired Air Force technical sergeant from Snow Hill, N.C., and a former Navy radioman from Bradford, Pa.
Their resumes appear in the Feb. 10 Congressional Record as part of Jackson’s effort to call attention to the plight of veterans who are having problems finding work.
"Service to our nation is an honorable profession, and we should honor that service by seeing that every veteran has a job when their service is over," Jackson said.
"When you risk your life for your country, we should make sure you have a life when you return," he said. "No veteran should be left questioning how they will feed their family, wondering about their self worth or fretting about their financial future."
Jackson said veterans who want their resumes published in the Congressional Record should e-mail them to resumesfromveterans@mail.house.gov.
One of the veterans whose resume was published, Mushi Israel of San Diego, spent 20 years in the Navy in telecommunications but has been out of work for a year
"I believe it is so unfair for people like myself to be out of work when there are so many jobs that are outsourced to third-world countries just for the profits of companies," Israel said in a letter to Jackson. "There are a lot of great people who are out of work like myself who believe in the American Dream and society, and just want to do an honest day's work for an honest day’s pay."
David Reike of Burbank has been out of the Army since 1980. He worked for 20 years for an event staging industry, but his employer laid off half of the work force.
"I was one of the casualties," Reike said, who has had a little work as a substitute teacher. "We are not asking for any special favors, just an opportunity to go back to work full time," he said.
Former Air Force Tech. Sgt. Andy Lang is a disabled veteran with 24 years of service. He is now 55 with no job.
"I served my country but it seems as though my country is not serving me," said Lang, whose resume shows his last job was as a deck hand for the Army Corps of Engineers. "I fear I will soon be living on the street."
"You don't know how scared I am," Lang wrote to Jackson. "Some days I don't eat."
Harmony Leonard, a former Navy radioman who served four years in the 1970s, said she worries she will never work again after just receiving another rejection. Her son just joined the Navy "for job security and because there was no money for college."
Leonard, who last worked as the general manager of a food co-op and café, said her "saving grace is that I am a veteran, so I have medical care should I need it, and I am not starving because my partner is working in the natural gas industry."
