The title is the first sentence of a report I just ran across, with few others on same issue in a search to see how widely this is being covered. It's not!
One of the articles found has this in closing:
Other lawmakers said it can be difficult to find veterans who want to work on their staff. Rep. Bill Enyart, a former member of the Air Force and adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, said many congressional staff workers are young, often just out of college, and willing to work for low pay. He said many veterans are older, have families and simply need to find jobs that pay better than those on a congressional staff.
Like it's that hard to find disabled veterans, old and young but especially the young of these two unpaid for yet wars the country has been ignoring, who would find it rewarding to continue their service to the country and supliment their now disability compensation after serving in theater, over and over. Or the older vets retired from the military suplimenting that retirement or from the private sector wanting to work a few more years and especially those who've lost jobs but are yet to reach retirement age. That lame excuse reminds me of the many heard after the Walter Reed scandle broke, by conservative representatives controlling both houses of congress with two rubber stamped costs of wars, unpaid for still. Something like "no need to fund repairs needed as Walter Reed will soon close and a new one will replace", at the time the new facilities location and drawings for were still in the planning and talking stage.
Recently a Texas Congressional Candidate, a Veteran, had this to say in challenging an incombant Congressman's statements "Congress controls the budget for the VA and it is the fault of Congress that the VA does not have enough employees and that the facilities are too small."
Apr. 7, 2014 - What’s the worst federal agency for hiring veterans? Try Congress.
Despite numerous efforts by lawmakers in recent years to spur veterans employment in the private sector, few congressional offices have followed suit. A new survey estimates that fewer than 180 veterans are employed as Capitol Hill staff, a mere 3 percent of the 6,000-plus employees there.
For comparison, in fiscal 2012 nearly half of all Defense Department employees were veterans. One in three Veterans Affairs and Transportation Department workers were veterans that year, and the Education Department — one of the lowest veteran hiring rates among federal agencies — had just under 10 percent.
Now, a network of veterans working in Congress is hoping to change that. read more>>>
Visit for information on the HillVets programs the group being discussed in these articles.
Congress, in Texas Veteran Marchbanks statement, above, are the people served and who representatives work for, or are supposed to!
Congressional conservatives are already seeking to cut what the Administration is asking for in the 2015 budget for the VA.
With these recent long wars and occupations from we had two tax cuts, especially for the wealthy, deficits are debt with interests payments, with all the costs for kept off the books till this present Executive Administration first came in, which added to the other huge deficits run up by the previous administration and it's republican controlled congresses.
Why do Conservatives and much of the Country Attack the VA and it's dedicated civil servant personal as well as the many needed volunteers?
That's easy especially as to Conservatives. They don't seek a smaller government, that's never been their goal. They seek a privatized for corporate profit government, with no accountability, regulations, built into what would be corporate run agencies contracted by them and paid with the peoples treasury. When you see media reports about the Veterans Administration they rarely, if ever, mention the facts that we have wars and long occupations and have yet to fully fund the Countries Responsibility the VA and all it's charged to accomplish for the few who serve. Hiring more veterans onto congressional staffs might cause the representatives, and country represented, to be constantly reminded it isn't the VA's fault for most problems created but those caused by not being fully funded, especially as to combat veterans. Which in turn cause much needed budget monies to be shifted to fixing the problems and away from their intended purpose causing even more problems.
If you've ever listened, or watched, the Congressional hearings, especially in the Republican controlled House these last couple of years, after the opening niceties about how they're there to help the VA Agency the Representatives go into attack mode, especially Conservatives when those giving testimony are from the Agency. Conservatives also lead the media reports in attacking the VA so what do the people served do, including many veterans, they join the attacks. It's never any of their fault it's the VA. Especially this VA, the only one in my lifetime with full support from the Executive Branch, who don't control the purse strings, and it's entire Cabinet when they can lend Gen Shinseki a hand with their agency charges and budgets.
Just did another quick search and caught a few headlines from so called conservative sites saying that republican congress representatives are promising to hire more Veterans as staffers. Reminds the similar grifters selling prime water front properties located in the middle of a desert. And from the recent reports, which ones are going to be looking for female veterans to hire.
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