Senator Gillibrand Visits Nyack To Promote Veterans’ Bills

Nyack, Nov 12 — U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand visited Nyack American Legion Post 310 on Friday to urge the Senate to pass two pieces of legislation that would boost federal employment of veterans and protect the ability of veterans and service members to access justice by allowing them to exercise their right to be heard in court.

“Our veterans and service members have sacrificed an enormous mount for our country, so we ow to them to make sure that when they are back in the civilian world, they have access to good-paying jobs and all of their legal rights to protect themselves in the workplace,” said Senator Gillibrand. “We must fight for our veterans and service members as hard as they fought for us. I am proud to support these two bills, and I urge all of my colleagues in the Senate to join me in standing up for our veterans and service members by supporting this legislation.”
“We are proud to welcome Senator Gillibrand to our wonderful village, to speak, in our American Legion Hall, just feet away from a memorial that honors Nyack’s fallen war hero’s about her passionate work toward ensuring those who give so much to protect our great nation, are protected themselves,” said Village of Nyack Mayor Jen White.
Gillibrand, who is a member of the a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is working to pass two pieces of legislation that benefits veterans.
The Empowering Federal Employment for Veterans Act of 2017 would make permanent and expand recent initiatives to improve veteran hiring practices in the 24 largest departments and agencies. The legislation would coordinate the necessary resources and recruitment opportunities for veterans and service members to be matched with appropriate employment in federal agencies. The legislation would require:

• Veterans Employment Program Offices to have a full-time staff and budget at all 24 of the federal government’s largest departments and agencies. Veterans Employment Program Offices exist within each of the 24 largest departments and agencies to provide employment assistance to veterans at the agency level.
• Enable resource and information sharing (i.e., best practices, prospective applicants, and strategies for matching veterans with appropriate employment) across Veterans Employment Program Offices in different departments and agencies.
  Make permanent the interagency Council on Veterans Employment that promotes employment opportunities for veterans and coordination among Veterans Employment Program Offices.
• Expand and develop veterans counseling and training programs to focus on matching veterans’ skills and aspirations to high-demand federal jobs.
  Expand the Department of Defense SkillsBridge program to federal agencies. The SkillsBridge program promotes civilian job training by allowing transitioning military service members to participate in job and employment training starting up to six months prior to separation from the military.

The Justice for Service members and Veterans Act of 2017 would clarify and strengthen the rights of service members under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). Under USERRA, if an employer does not offer the same pay, benefits or status when a service member comes back from military duty, the service member can hold the employer accountable for these violations in court. However, some service members have been unable to exercise their USERRA rights due to the increased use of forced arbitration clauses buried in the fine print of employment contracts. The Justice for Servicemembers and Veterans Act of 2017 gives service members the ability to pursue their USERRA claims in court without sacrificing the option to seek an arbitration agreement after a dispute arises. This legislation would:

• Strengthen enforcement of USERRA by preventing employers from including clauses in employment contracts that force service members to settle discrimination claims through arbitration. Designed by employers to shield themselves from accountability, these clauses are typically presented on a take-it-or-leave-it basis and hidden in the fine print of employment contracts.
• Clarify the original intent of Congress to protect veterans and service members by providing them with both procedural and substantive rights.
  Grant independent authority to the Attorney General to investigate and serve as a named plaintiff in all suits filed by the Department of Justice to challenge violations of USERRA.

“American Legion Post 310 in Nyack appreciates US Senator Gillibrand’s visit to our post to talk about the importance of creating more and better job opportunities for local veterans,” said American Legion Post 310 Commander Anthony DelRegno. “We support actions that would expand federal Veterans employment assistance programs, help promote employment opportunities for Veterans, and focus on matching veterans’ skills to high-demand federal jobs. We are glad Senator Gillibrand is advocating for veterans and we will continue to work to with her on those efforts.”
“Saying ‘Thank you for your service’ only goes so far. We need to back it up with programs like this, to truly show our gratitude,” said Jerry Donnellen, Director, Rockland County Veterans Service Agency.
For more information on these two initiatives, visit Gillibrand.Senate.gov.