HJR 32: Encouraging the United States Congress to establish hiring goals for apprentices and veteran apprentices.
00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 32 01 Encouraging the United States Congress to establish hiring goals for apprentices and 02 veteran apprentices. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS Americans have a special obligation to those who served in the armed 05 forces of the United States and risked their lives to defend our nation's freedom and honor; 06 and 07 WHEREAS thousands of men and women have served in the armed forces of the 08 United States to protect and preserve the freedom the citizens of the United States enjoy; and 09 WHEREAS veterans have graduated from the world's largest system of specialized 10 professional and technical training schools, operated by the United States Department of 11 Defense; and 12 WHEREAS veterans of active duty military service are one of the nation's most 13 important sources of well-educated, highly trained, and strongly motivated employees; and 14 WHEREAS veterans trained by the armed forces of the United States offer employers 15 a more mature and responsible employee compared to employees with no military 16 experience; and
01 WHEREAS veterans returning home face challenges, including in education and 02 employment, that may prevent them from successfully transitioning from military to civilian 03 life; and 04 WHEREAS unemployment rates for both male and female veterans increased in 2020 05 during the COVID-19 pandemic; the unemployment rate for male veterans was 6.5 percent, 06 and the unemployment rate for female veterans was 6.7 percent; and 07 WHEREAS among the 581,000 unemployed veterans in 2020, 54 percent were ages 08 25 to 54, 41 percent were age 55 and over, and 5 percent were ages 18 to 24; and 09 WHEREAS the state has the highest rate of veterans in the nation, with nearly 14 10 percent of adult Alaskans having served in the military; and 11 WHEREAS the 2022 draft federal appropriations report for the United States 12 Department of Defense indicates that $10,900,000,000 will be spent on military construction 13 that will require thousands of workers; and 14 WHEREAS military construction jobs offer a prime opportunity for veterans, 15 including veterans in apprenticeship and postsecondary programs, to further their careers; and 16 WHEREAS military service is one of the most demanding professions in the world, 17 and military training produces highly motivated individuals who set high goals for 18 themselves; 19 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully encourages the 20 United States Congress to introduce and pass legislation requiring each offeror for a domestic 21 United States Department of Defense construction project to establish a goal that not less than 22 10 percent of the total workforce employed in the performance of the project are participants 23 in qualified apprenticeship or postsecondary programs; and be it 24 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully encourages 25 the United States Congress to introduce and pass legislation requiring each contractor and 26 subcontractor for a domestic United States Department of Defense construction project that 27 employs apprentices or postsecondary students in a particular classification to ensure that not 28 less than 10 percent of the apprentices or postsecondary students are veterans of the armed 29 forces of the United States. 30 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President 31 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States
01 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of 02 Representatives; the Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of 03 Representatives; the Honorable Charles Schumer, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 04 Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Denis 05 McDonough, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and 06 the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. 07 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 08 117th United States Congress.