Veasey Introduces Bills to Honor America’s Promise to Service Members and Veterans

Washington, D.C. – As the House of Representatives prepares to finalize the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2017 with its Senate counterparts, Congressman Marc Veasey, member of the House Armed Services Committee, introduced two critical pieces of legislation to increase diversity among our nation’s military leadership and to expand support services access for returning service members and their families.

A 2011 report by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission found that while the Pentagon has created a force whose lower ranks mirror the racial and ethnic diversity of the American people, the same cannot be said of its officer core. Currently, non-Hispanic whites make up 66 percent of the U.S. population, but comprise 77 percent of active duty officers. Similarly, African Americans account for 12 percent of the U.S population, but represent only 8 percent of military officers. Latinos, who currently account for 15 percent of the U.S. population, fare just as poorly with only 5 percent representation in the officer corps. Similarly, while women continue to break barriers in the military, they only represent 16.7 percent of military leadership and just seven percent of top generals and admirals across the branches.

H.R. 5703, the Diversity in Leadership Act, complements Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s 2015 “Force of the Future” initiative by creating a grant program that aims to increase the overall diversity of civilian and military leadership. The grant program will support best practices such as online interactive workshops for targeted populations, interagency mentoring programs, undergraduate and graduate internship programs, K-12 student outreach to develop a pipeline for top military talent and other initiatives as the DoD deems fit to meet its goals.

The second piece of legislation H.R 5704, More for Veterans Act, extends the availability of services for the Military OneSource program from six months to one full year for returning troops and their families as they transition into civilian life. This crucial program provides confidential help and comprehensive information on a broad range of topics for our troops transitioning into civilian life, including money management, spouse employment and education, parenting and childhood services, relocation, deployment and reunion related issues.

“As an HASC member, I know firsthand about the dire need to prepare our armed forces for the range of challenges they face globally and for the ones they encounter as they return home from service,” Congressman Veasey said. “By increasing the range of expertise our military can draw from and expanding access to a critical program that currently eases the transition from active duty for our troops, we uphold America’s promise to care for those who defend our freedom every day.”

Congressman Marc Veasey has served on the House Armed Service Committee since 2013 and proudly represents the roughly 18,000 veterans that call Texas’ 33^rd Congressional District home. Congressman Veasey continues to work on behalf of veterans in his district by hosting Veteran Town Halls and recognizing their service on and off the battlefield through the 33^rd Congressional District Congressional Veterans Commendation (CVC) program.