Maria Cantwell: Honor Our Veterans By Giving Them Resources They Need

The following is a Veterans Day column written by Washington State Sen. Maria Cantwell, who is from Edmonds.

Fifty-eight years ago, a former resident of Fort Lewis, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was inaugurated as our nation’s 34th president. In his inauguration speech, President Eisenhower said: “Love of liberty means the guarding of every resource that makes freedom possible—from the sanctity of our families and the wealth of our soil to the genius of our scientists.”

Fifty-eight years later, those words still ring true. As Americans, we show our “love of liberty” by honoring those who fight to defend it. That means providing our troops the resources they need in battle, and taking care of them when they return home. 

As we honor Veterans Day this Friday, all Americans give thanks to the troops who serve our country. We remember those who have lost their lives defending America, we pray for the safety of those serving overseas, and we honor those veterans who returned home to serve our communities. 

And, with thousands of troops returning home to tough economic times, we commit to providing job opportunities for veterans transitioning to civilian life.

Just last week I had the privilege of participating in the ceremony to honor 33 World War II Japanese-American veterans from communities across Washington state—from Bellevue to Spokane to Vancouver—with the highest civilian award in the United States. Hearing their stories of fighting for America while America interned their families at home, I was reminded of what it means to sacrifice for a cause greater than yourself—a spirit that embodies true American heroes. We owe it to all those who serve to stand up  for them.                                                                  

At all times—even in tough budgetary straits—we need to ensure that those who serve our country get the benefits they deserve. This means supporting programs to improve the health, well-being and readiness of our service members and their families, from ensuring they have the right equipment and armor on the frontline to guaranteeing availability of treatment for traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder. 
Washington state is an integral part of our national defense and home to thousands of active duty and retired military men and women and their families. In Congress, I have always fought to provide our brave men and women in uniform with the recognition and benefits they have earned and deserve.

I was honored to be at Joint Base Lewis-McChord this summer to mark the opening of the Warrior Transition Battalion Barracks, which provide wounded warriors with the top-notch care they deserve. And I was proud to support an investment recently awarded to JBLM to improve vital medical access to the state-of-the-art Madigan Army Medical Center—one of the busiest hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. The men and women who serve our country deserve access to the quality health care they have earned.                                                                  

I was also privileged to visit Fairchild Air Force Base just a few weeks ago and visit with the brave men and women stationed there. As the largest single employer in the Inland Northwest, Fairchild is an integral part of both the state economy and our national defense. The U.S. Air Force Survival School, operated by the 336th Training Group, is home to the 36th Rescue Flight (RQF) helicopters, which have rescued hundreds of civilians in the region.

Over the years I have fought to support the school’s operations and keep the helicopters at Fairchild. And we are proud to see the tankers returning from Moses Lake to Fairchild—where we’ll fight to keep them stationed, now and into the future, because of the base’s important geo-strategic location and long history with the tanker program.

With the war in Iraq coming to a close by the end of the year and our remaining troops coming home, we have a new generation of veterans joining the ranks of those who have defended freedom across the globe. We must work to ensure they receive the recognition and assistance they have earned and deserve. We must support continuing education opportunities, improving living and working conditions on base or helping homeless veterans find affordable housing and employment, and providing tax relief to military families. And especially in these trying times, standing up for those who serve our country means supporting workforce training initiatives that help ready veterans for civilian jobs.

One such golden opportunity for veteran employment is in our state’s growing aviation industry. Boeing is adding employees, as is the global aerospace industry, due to a “perfect storm” of increased demand, impending retirements and new technology. Boeing is humming along, gearing up to build the next fleet of tankers for the U.S. Air Force, as well as the 747, the 787 Dreamliner, and more. The tanker win alone means thousands more jobs for Washingtonians. And over the next decade, some 21,000 new aerospace workers are needed in our state; nationwide, 32,000 workers are needed this year alone. 

Veterans across our state can help meet this demand for skilled aerospace workers and help close a critical job skills gap in our state. From their time in the military, many veterans have valuable experiences and unique skills that are needed in aviation and can help our state’s industry remain competitive.

To help veterans make this transition as easily as possible, we are working to help connect veterans with aerospace job openings and training opportunities. As Chair of the Senate’s Aviation Subcommittee, I am also working to standardize the process for crediting military aerospace experience towards FAA certifications and other training certificates, to help get veterans through aerospace training faster and into aerospace employment sooner.

Recently I joined Spokane Community College in announcing a new veterans outreach program to connect veterans with these job opportunities.

The program, expected to be up and running by spring of 2012, will eventually be implemented statewide at all 34 community and technical colleges to help connect veterans with aerospace jobs, including at Renton Technical College, Olympic College in Bremerton, Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Peninsula College in Port Angeles, and Wenatchee Valley College.

This is great news for the Washington Aerospace Training and Research Center, located at Paine Field and run by Edmonds Community College, where veterans can now use the GI Bill to help fund their aerospace training. We are at a pivotal point for the competitiveness of America’s aerospace industry—an industry that is rapidly growing in the state of Washington and one that veterans can help lead into the 21st century.

One of my top priorities has been working to expand opportunities for small businesses on Main Street to invest, grow and hire, including our veteran-owned small businesses. That’s why I am leading a bill in the Senate that would help give fair access to Veterans Affairs contracts to service-disabled veteran-owned and veteran-owned small businesses. Last year, more than 1,400 contracts worth millions went to ineligible companies. My bill strengthens the system in place to prevent anyone from misrepresenting a veteran and cheating them out of a contract opportunity through the Veterans First contracting preference program.
 
Just on Thursday, we passed legislation in the Senate that would incentivize employers to hire unemployed veterans and service-disabled veterans and provides all outgoing veterans with the job training skills they need to find a job. In addition to offering tax credits to employers that hire veterans, the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 expands and improves upon several existing benefits aimed at helping service members find jobs, such as the Transition Assistance Program, the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program and the Montgomery GI bill. 

We owe it to the men and women who have fought for us abroad to fight for them at home. We must continue our work expanding opportunities for our nation’s veterans to succeed in the civilian workforce. Not just today, but every day, we must show our profound gratitude for those who have made, and selflessly fought, to preserve this great nation. On behalf of the state of Washington, we thank you and your loved ones for your service and sacrifices.

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns or for help I can provide. You can also consult my website for more information.