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Florida congressmen hope to arm more veterans with tools for getting job-ready with new bill

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Northeast Florida’s two freshman congressmen are teaming up to sponsor a bill to help local veterans find a path after the military.

U.S. Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.) and U.S. Rep. Al Lawson (D-Fla.) are working together on the Veterans Armed for Success Act that if approved would create a $5 million federal grant match for organizations helping veterans transition into the civilian work force.

Former Marine Juan Guerrero was confident his military skill set would land him a job in the civilian world but that wasn’t the case.

“Then you start to doubt yourself and you wonder why you got out,” Guerrero said.

The same thing happened to Robert McGregor, who served for more than 26 years.

“I sent out hundreds if not thousands of job applications, did not get one interview,” McGregor said.

But Rutherford said that shouldn’t happen.

“The Veterans Armed for Success Act will create a federal matching program to encourage more organizations like Operation New Uniform to set up our veterans for success,” Rutherford said.

Guerrero and McGregor credit Operation New Uniform for helping them find meaningful careers.

“They taught me the networking skills, the resume-writing skills, the interviewing skills,” McGregor said.

Rutherford said under the bill, communities have to pull together to apply for the money.

The hope is to replicate the program across the country, putting more highly skilled veterans to work.

“And we won’t have unemployed veterans,” Guerrero said.

The bill will be heard in the Veterans Affairs Committee before eventually heading to the House for a vote and then the Senate.

Rutherford expects to have bipartisan support.