Thank you Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin and Ranking Member Boozman for providing me this opportunity to talk about my bill.

Unemployment is at a record high today and unemployment in our veteran community is higher that at any time that I can remember.  You know the situation is bad because this committee held a roundtable on that very issue last month.

 My bill, HR 3685, would require that the Department of Veterans Affairs would have a drop-down menu titled “Veterans Employment” on its homepage.  This drop menu would have links to VetSuccess, USA Jobs, Job Central and other appropriate employment websites.  It would also require the Secretary of VA to advertise and promote the VetSuccess website and require direct outreach to OIF and OEF veterans.

This bill comes out of discussions I had with the VA over the past couple of years and while the VA has addressed some of my concerns, they continue to miss the underlying reason for my bill: customer service and usability.  The VA should have a clear link that will take veterans to a listing of jobs based on zip code.

Today, if you are a veteran and are looking for a job, on the VA homepage under quick links is “Federal Jobs for Veterans.”  This is close to what I want, but my goal was to have all employment opportunities, which includes private sector jobs, not just federal jobs.  To find private sector jobs in the vicinity of your zip code, you have to click on the Veteran Service dropdown menu and navigate 28 possible links.

There is no link for Veteran Employment or Veteran Jobs.  Instead you need to know that VetSuccess is what you’re looking for.  If you’re unfamiliar with veteran programs, you may not know that VetSuccess is the web portal for jobs.  The title isn’t clear.  VetSuccess might be the link for successful navigation of the VA bureaucracy.  The title should clearly mention jobs or employment.

Then, once you get to the VetSuccess webpage you must register to look up jobs.  You can’t just type in your zip code and get a list of jobs.  My office had to fill out an excessively long form, and then monitor our spam filter to catch the verification e-mail, click the e-mail to prove we’re human and then we waited for a follow up e-mail to get our password to finally access the VetSuccess job portal.

This is too high a hurdle for something so simple as a job listing for veterans.  You should be able to go to this site, type your zip code and get the job listings.  When I typed in my zip code and found jobs in my hometown of Ocala and I got a list of 64 jobs, mostly Driving and Lawncare jobs. 

When I go to Monster.com, I don’t need to register to do a quick lookup for the 237 jobs listed within 20 miles of Ocala.  VetSuccess needs to be more like Monster: immediate access to job listings by zip code without hiding behind vague titles in a crowded drop menu with excessive registration requirements.