Honoring the service of our veterans beyond words
On this Veterans Day I saw a report that the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans hovers around ten percent. According to NBC, Iraq and Veterans of America (IAVA) founder Paul Riekhoff predicts a "tumultuous" decade for employment-seeking vets.
I have no doubt that the President and all the Members of Congress who express concern for unemployed veterans this week are sincere.
But I also believe that, for the majority of them, moving young veterans into jobs is a much lower priority for them than to continue high levels of immigration to satisfy one special interest group or another.
Over a million vets are expected to return to the job search through 2016. Over the next year, Congress will grant about one million permanent work permits to immigrant workers - twice the recommended levels of the last bi-partisan U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. President Obama has indicated that increasing foreign workers to roughly four times the Jordan Commission's recommendations is his top legislative second-term priority. And some House Republicans have already signed on to help him do just that.
Their primary vehicle is S. 744, a bill that the Congressional Budget Office says will depress wages and increase unemployment for the next decade; a decade in which returning veterans already face a "tumultuous" job search.
For most of our politicians, this is a day to "Honor Our Veterans As Long As It Doesn't Interfere With Mass Immigration."
For all of you on this Veterans Day who never served in our country's military . . .
For all of you like myself who DID serve but never saw combat . . .
Please think about the courage, the sacrifice and the pain that our combat veterans have had answering the call of service to their national community.
Please consider recounting the stories of the veterans in your family at home or at your place of employment. We become a true national community by our shared values and especially by shared sacrifices we make for each other. The stories must be shared for us to know. There are many kinds of community sacrifice to celebrate and recount, but this week belongs to the stories of those who donned the uniform in service of our country. (Remember that the special focus on those who died in service is reserved for Memorial Day.)
Our job at NumbersUSA is to enact sensible immigration policies. One primary purpose is to keep the immigration policies from becoming an obstacle to our returning veterans finding meaningful employment in civilian life. They accepted the call to be placed in harm's way. We should support immigration levels that clear the path for their American dreams.
ROY BECK is Founder & President of NumbersUSA