Catherine Cortez Masto
America’s veterans deserve the utmost respect and gratitude for their courageous service and the profound sacrifices they and their families have made for our country.
But despite the incomparable selflessness of our veterans and their families, drug addiction, homelessness, disability, mental health concerns, and underemployment continue to affect their everyday lives at a disproportionate level. These gaps are simply unacceptable. We have the responsibility as a country to ensure that veterans have adequate access to the resources and opportunities required to excel in civilian life. American veterans have had to endure long periods away from their families to face deadly adversaries in faraway places and survive harsh conditions that most Americans could not even begin to imagine. We owe these brave men and women a great debt for their admirable service.
The well-being of our veterans and their families is an American duty, not a partisan issue. In the U.S. Senate, I am committed to working with senators from both parties to ensure that we fulfill our duty to American veterans. Congress must work with veterans, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and other stakeholders to address the needs of veterans and their families in civilian life. My congressional colleagues and I must provide a voice for veterans and tirelessly work towards building policies that work for them.
In my office, I have made sure that the voices of veterans are heard by having veterans and servicemembers on staff who bring their unique experiences and perspectives to the table. It is through the diverse military backgrounds of my staff that we are able to develop meaningful policies and provide attentive constituent services that serve Nevada’s military servicemembers, veterans and their families.
As part of these efforts, I am partnering with the UNLV Military and Veteran Services Center and UNLV Career Services to host a semi-annual Veteran and Family Career Fair and Workshop. The career fairs will feature employers that have opportunities in a variety of occupations throughout Southern Nevada. The workshops will highlight résumé and interview skills improvement; local career services; best practices for employment-focused social media; how to apply for federal, state, education, law enforcement and firefighting positions, and tips for career transitions in order to provide veterans and their families with the resources to obtain gainful employment. The first Veterans Career Fair will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at the UNLV Student Union. Veterans and families who wish to attend may register at sen.gov/cortezmasto/kpw4.
Our veterans have sacrificed so much to ensure that we enjoy freedom at home. We can never take this for granted. We must strive to ensure that veterans and their families experience a seamless transition into civilian life. This is the least we could do after they have given so much. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-nev., was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016 after serving as Nevada attorney general from 2007 to 2015.