I love the stretch that the American agent is a neutral political organization this is meeting so many for the discussion of veterans programs and nothing more if you have questions come up about coming up that will defend Donald Norcross says father I'm not gonna be long cuz he doesn't do the wrong thing there's a father and that he started supporter of veterans that leaves that our veterans deserve the best that is why he has supported legislation such as uh forever mission act trying to make sure all veterans and all that trying to make sure no veterans have to wait for a service care income funding Bluewater active anymore with them I'm just gonna turn this show over the town uh excuse me Congressman Norcross I don't wanna let's get committed ribs that is amazing facility we really appreciate it and to the gentleman behind us who will understand the human life cycle there but uh to my colleague Ken great to have you here and uh I wanna thank you all for coming out uh any is somebody who would join us on the House Armed Services Committee working together their mistake he ruptures there the area that includes the joint base which happens to be the second largest employer in the state of New Jersey as you heard Chris say father of the veteran and father of law my son my daughter in law and quite frankly my granddaughter was born and forth but we're here first and most two hundred veterans who will allow us to be here today but we're also here to talk about education and career or job well I'm sure that there are smooth transitions so there's the men and women who put their life on hold while we sat at home they put their life on hold and they deserve nothing but the best when they get out they face so many challenges that brand new turned down over the years relocation health issues and certainly unemployment and that's what we're here specifically to address today nobody wants a job should ever be on point next week interesting enough is that we all have to take those few minutes to say thank you but it's also National Partnership Week something the gentleman behind me quite a bit about so we're here today to announce the brain back bringing registered friendships to Veterans Education requires that all veterans be important enough registered apprenticeship programs and the resources to connect them now can you tell us some of the events that some programs what this does specifically is to give a list that has been endorsed by the VA in terms of the department of labor of certified so they can use their VA benefits for additional plus such as transportation housing and child care yes I did say childcare there's a few years I was going through my pressure program uh I did not serve so I didn't have access but I knew how important child care was work all day and then somebody has to take care of that child so this is about expanding those opportunities and connecting those who've been in service with registered pressure programs and those are the three priorities that I've been focused on since coming to Congress quite frankly public service it's about jobs occasion and security this spray back there all three very supportive not just on GI Bill the college credit for the military service which is extremely important but I think the other and you'll hear more in a few minutes is college isn't for everyone I went to the four-year school it's called the price ship as I like to say when my kids were born I didn't know if they want to go to college and build the college with authentic but you'll hear that's why that's extremely important for those who wanna pursue in college life those connections are there but those who have served our uniquely qualified for building trades and protection they know how to get up in the morning and you have to go to work and you have to work in the elements where it's extremely hot extremely cold and they do work with their hands so we put those together and bring back to connect those who want a job the most rewarding careers not everyone's gonna go from the construction site to congress but the opportunities are limitless so with that I'm going to introduce Andy Kim who knows a little bit about this since joining us to pull over a year ago um as hit the ground running and it's one of those members that actually looks at the details reads the bells get some mercy is this going to work it's not the one who's running camera which means he's a true public servant served in Afghanistan national security and now is here to serve the constituents of the third district and I couldn't be more proud to introduce my friends and my colleague any kid Thank you so much Congressman it's just a real honor to be able to serve alongside of you and your leadership is it's so present in um the the legislation and the work that we're trying to get done here uh today and thank you for so much for having us here for just a few weeks ago uh I've visited our troops out of Afghanistan um I've got to go and visit the old base in Afghanistan that I've worked as a civilian advisor eight years ago and I got to see actually meet a lot of people who are right here from New Jersey that out there remember we gathered in uh just outside the headquarters building and got to meet a number of constituents that are serving in the interesting thing is you know I'm talking to our service members out there I'm hearing how a number of them have been out in Afghanistan now deployed six or seven or eight times over the last eighteen years I also met young arm service men and women uh who couldn't have been much older than my four-year-old baby boy on September eleventh and Wally just present to me there at that time in Afghanistan just the sacrifices that are being made uh when I gathered with our arm service men and women there in the questions that they asked me or about questions about what's next in their life they weren't asking me about you know we're telling me about what's happening right there on the ground uh there are questions to be where what's gonna happen when I get back home a number of them thinking about what's next for them after the service and they were asking me about that they were asking me questions about how are they going to transition their their careers how are they gonna get help building their resumes making sure that they can get a good-paying job after a number of them really worried about this and that really lingered with me it's something that really stuck with me on my way back and it just really reminded me how these are the people that have our back these are the people that are secure in our future letting me raise by baby boys uh here in South Jersey with security and safety and line the people who are keeping me safe when I was in Afghanistan as well these are people that defended us and we have to have their backs for the rest of their life that's the simple promise that we make them when they join the service for us when we see our veterans when we recognize that these are people that defended our country it only makes sense that these are the people that build and rebuild our country they're so much there their talents in terms of their skills we see that over any present with the incredible programs like helmets to hard hats all the things that we can do to just make sure that they have the opportunities that they need and deserve coming out from their time in cervical there's a lot that we need to get done here a lot that we didn't think about here in New Jersey across this country in terms of infrastructure making sure that we're investing in that should be a no-brainer for us as a country and frankly something that we should be able to put partisan differences side to be able to get accomplished and be able to really deliver what it is that the American people need it makes sense that we have our veterans be at the forefront of that when I think about the joint base in the district when I think about all the great work that we're trying to get make sure we get local workers on that base and do everything we can to be able to put people to work and get good-paying jobs again it makes total sense that we have somebody who can come off that joint base be able to join an apprenticeship be able to go back and work on that base elsewhere in our country to be able to help build and rebuild America so this is something that I'm really proud to be a part of uh I'm really grateful to Congressman Norcross his leadership in moving this forward and I stand ready uh to do everything that I can feel to help make sure that our veterans get every opportunity that they need and deserve Thank you so hundreds of hard times we have hooked from the IRS workers US plumbing industry carpenters electricians I think that's all that that's part of fifteen different crafts and trades coming hard hats is designed to give access to those returning that chance of joining one of these traits and why is it how it's hard because they are the most successful pressure programs that America has training education and in jobs and we have the president of the local building trades Dan Cozzi who is also the business manager of BW three fifty-one and yes that's the local that I spent almost forty years away I know how incredibly counted our pressure program this but each of the trees has that unique contribution of giving the best programs so please welcome David Houser good good morning uh Congressman Norcross Congress from McKinney Commander my colleagues from the building trades um without a doubt uh this is something that resonates with me as well um I bought the congressman both Congressman for pushing this policy forward um and standing behind it um my dad is actually a veteran of the Vietnam war he's still alive and while she's seventy-six uh he was actually in Vietnam when I was born my grandfather was a veteran from World War two and you know I say this um you know I had the fortunate opportunity to uh be the business manager of local three fifty-one and we do a lot of interviews every year you know I see a lot uh military and veterans coming in coming in to interview and uh you know I have one of our very successful candidate Stephanie Jackson here that is going to save a few words uh he was a stellar Canada come in you know the experience we had ten years in the marine corp and he was without doubt uh excellent excellent candidate but I've also had a lot of that that's coming in that just needed a real break and you know when they come in you know you do the interview process we interviewed hundreds of of applicants over the last couple of years you know some of the veterans just didn't know about the various programs that building trade offer and uh they didn't hear so I'm hoping that this policy is gonna really propel that to to reach out to everybody and a lot of these veterans needed break some personal issues going on with their lives um and you know they were excellent candidates uh some of them we had another uh uh female candidate a couple years ago it's in the presence right now um she had four years of electrical training when we built her she she was outside Nicole eat all the time um she already knew what we were about so they're excellent candidates so again I applaud the congressman both of them for for everything they do they they uh Congressman Norcross the guy that I've worked with a lot of gets gets it and never forget where I come from the streets to make things better for for everyone and it is for the veterans and something that is very continue it's not a job it's a career and that's important to distinguish it definitely gives you opportunities for education which for each of the grass you college credit in the event that you want to add to your basic training but then it's a career something that you will always be defined uh Saturday night we went to the pressure hosted by IBEW three fifty-one uh it's the last when I was working with who will graduate many of which who came through the program but it's not expanding those programs and you'll hear next from a gentleman who will tell you if you're exiting your military career the violence of information as well before you is tremendous uh and what we wanna do is put this like your kids a little bit better so Captain's Stephon Jackson is a tremendous the program at three fifty-one Proud US Marine who served in Iraq Desert Shield and he's going to share with you what it was like coming home and finding his calling in life which is what he's doing now please welcome Stephen Jackson distinguish guest Congress person's skin and all those wonderful gentlemen who are here commander uh I say thank you for the opportunity to come today and share with you a little bit about what this process in this program means to uh humble servants such as myself uh my name is Stephan Jackson I and the United States Green or captain many say are you a former marine I say no I'm still one I just don't put a uniform on every day and I don't show up for formation in the morning but I do show up at the game box every morning half an hour early I need to get to work to do what is being trained to do as an apprentice in the low three fifty-one uh New Jersey but I wanted to just speak briefly about the helmets to hard hats program and what it truly has meant to me in my efforts at now building a third or fourth career uh I'm a fifty-four-year-old apprentice so I'm a little bit different perhaps than some of the other apprentices that are my classmates at this time but at this stage of my life uh I had to find something that had some some object permanence in regards to how I can from my family here for myself and prepare for my future and beyond my military experience it had been very difficult for me to plug in um I have a bachelor's degree in psychology I'm a master degree in public administration but those things were not the avenue that brought me the type of satisfaction the type of gratification and the type of continue drive that as a veteran I need in order to progress and when I found out about the electrician's apprenticeship program I really did not know much of anything about uh veteran I'm going on my healthy vet website attempted to make some sense of what was there for me but because there was no real guidance there was no real direction and VAs at the time wasn't really offering me the type of answers that I needed it was difficult and from my perspective as a fifty-four-year-old veteran I'm gonna say that probably is a little bit different for me than it was or is for that nineteen twenty two three year old young marine sailor uh soldier airman that is trying to make that transition into this civilian environment that we now live in uh one of the big issues that comes to play the mic veteran is that we spend a lot of time training we spend a lot of time preparing for war we spend a tremendous amount of time putting ourselves in a position where harm's way becomes our way and when we sometimes that transition becomes very tough uh mister mentioned experience that he had in dealing with veterans who come to this process broken and come to this process fragile that are in need of guidance that are in need of direction and then are in need of the type of things that these legislators are in the process now of insuring that we as Americans can take advantage of this level and that level is beyond applaud all of you for giving us the veteran and opportunity to perform to learn to develop and to build a future that is necessary as American to do what we have been trained to do and that is serve so for that I say thank you thank you continued success fair winds and following seas simplify that's what America is all about questions do you have any support from your colleagues on the other side of the aisle I would fully expected today is day one okay we go back to Tuesday we're going to start distributing the bill I'm trying to figure out why everybody would sign this one but strange things are happening in life like this this is crazy it's not a little bit like green issues do you have any numbers as far as I mean how many veterans we have enrolled in the even the electrical current program or any of the trades programs so it's a great question there's several programs there's fifteen different brands many of them have their own individual programs the IBEW has been uh the UAE has VIP painters had packed BP but they all come under the umbrella of the helmets to hard hats so if you're coming out what makes you decide to become a plumber or not a carpenter or apartment or not there's so much of that individual we made that decision to have the information number one say what is my interest what do I wanna do in terms of that second thing it is it's about the success of the programs there are literally thousands of pressure programs there are none that are successful once they come out and building trades under the helmets some hard hats uh the IBEW I think through the uh helmets and hard hats and put together over six thousand connections we wanna thank everyone but most importantly we wanna thank the men and women just like staff on for doing what they do there is no better connection and returned that billion life of making it and you could do that with the building trades Thank you