Rice's Bill To Aid Veteran Employment Passes House

A bill drafted by Long Island Congresswoman Kathleen Rice to incentivize the hiring of veterans passed the House of Representatives on Monday.

The Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment, or BRAVE Act, allows the secretary of veterans affairs to give preference to companies that have many full-time veteran employees when awarding VA contracts. Rice said the bill is designed to reward contractors who actively higher veterans, and to give incentives for other contractors to due the same.

This week the U.S. House Representatives passed H.R. 2109, the Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment (BRAVE) Act. The legislation, which was introduced by Rep. Kathleen Rice, authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs when awarding VA contracts, to give preference to companies that have high concentrations of full-time veteran employees. This bill will reward contractors that actively hire veterans and create an incentive for other contractors to do the same. The BRAVE Act is co-lead by Representative Paul Cook (R-CA), a combat veteran who retired after 26 years as a Colonel in the United States Marine Corps. H.R. 2109 passed by voice vote.

This is the second of Rep. Rice’s bills to pass on the House floor this month. The first was the Supporting Research and Development for First Responders Act, which would permanently authorize the New York City-based National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL). NUSTL directly supports first responders in New York City, Nassau County and in cities across the country by testing and evaluating new technologies and systems that would be used in the event of a terrorist threat, industrial accident or natural disaster.

“I’m incredibly proud to have passed two critical pieces of legislation this month with broad bipartisan support,” said Rice, a Democrat from Garden City. “Fighting for our nation’s veterans and securing our homeland are two of my top priorities in Congress, and these bills will help our country accomplish both. This is common sense, bipartisan legislation that will expand employment opportunities for our veterans and help maintain a vital source of support for New York City and Nassau County’s first responders. I urge the Senate to vote on and pass these two bills quickly.”