MATERIAL SUBMITTED Dixon, Edward, president, District of Columbia Veterans Association, statement to District of Columbia City Council's Manpower and Economic Committee_ Employment opportunities for returning veterans: Page 117 Notice in the Federal Register, June 24, 1971__. President's letter to Secretary of Labor, June 11, 1971---- "Opportunities in the Federal Service for Veterans," Civil Service pamphlet, July 1970--- Proposal for a Manpower development and service center for District of 123 Proposal for an employment-training program for veterans of the Washington metropolitan area...-- 115 TABLES Employment status of male Vietnam era veterans and nonveterans 20-29 years old, by age and race, 2d quarter averages, 1970 and 1971__ Employment status of male Vietnam era veterans and nonveterans 20-29 years old January 1969 to June 1971__. Institutes- Selected data for UCX and State UI programs: Part 1___. Part 2. Training, job and apprenticeship-- VETERANS' UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TUESDAY, JULY 13, 1971 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Washington, D.C. The committee met at 10:15 a.m. in room 6226, New Senate Office Building, Senator Thomas F. Eagleton (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Thomas F. Eagleton and James L. Buckley. Also present: Gene E. Godley, general counsel; Robert B. Washington, counsel; and Clarence V. McKee, Jr., minority staff member. The CHAIRMAN. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This morning the Senate District Committee opens hearings on the problems of Veterans' unemployment in the District of Columbia. Our purpose in holding these hearings is to gain perspective on the unique problems of veterans' unemployment so that we may determine if our present programs are effective in helping veterans. Statistics alone point to a rapidly growing problem of veterans' unemployment throughout the Nation. On a nationwide basis in March of 1971 there were 372,000 unemployed veterans in the 20-29 age group. That was a rate of 10.8 percent unemployed-up 4 percent from the same period the year before. When the group is narrowed down to age 20-24, the percentage of unemployed rises to 14.6 percent, compared to 10.8 percent of nonveterans in the same age group. When these figures are compared to an admittedly high national unemployment rate of 6 percent for the entire working population it becomes obvious that veterans have an unemployment problem which is unique. The situation is aggravated even further when you consider the high preponderance of black veterans in the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia is the only major city in the Nation with predominately black veterans. For the age group 20-24, the unemployment of black veterans was 20.9 percent-almost a third higher than for all veterans. Other factors make the District situation even worse. Because of the high preponderance of Federal jobs in the District of Columbia, the overall unemployment statistic for the metropolitan area is lower than most cities. For this reason, many veterans are lured to Washingon as the city of last hope in getting a job. The U.S. Veterans Assistance Center in Washington surveyed the veterans applying for assistance and found that 72 percent came from outside the Washington area. This congregation of veterans heightens the competition for jobs. Furthermore, because of the concentration of military establishments in the Washington area, a high preponderance of veterans are discharged in this area who remain here looking for jobs. All of these factors combine to the detriment of a recently discharged veteran who must obtain a job to readjust to civilian life. The veteran suffers from readjustment difficulties in addition to being unemployed. As Murray Polner, author of the book "No Victory Parades" concludes after interviewing over 200 veterans, they are truly estranged and alienated from their Government. He found the young veterans bitter, without hope, suspicious, and confused. It is within this framework that this committee intends to explore the problems of veterans in seeking employment as they themselves see them and then turn to a review of how the Government is meeting the challenge of those problems. This morning we will begin by hearing from recently discharged veterans who will relate their experiences in looking for jobs. So as to expedite the hearings we have a total of 11 witnesses that we for convenience of hearing these witnesses have broken down into four panels. May I say to all the witnesses that I hope that they will feel that they can be as much at ease as possible. I realize that most of them are not professional witnesses as it were. Sometimes before committees of Congress we have people who time and again testify before committees of Congress; they represent special interest groups or organizations that have full-time representatives in Washington and hence they are quite at ease in testifying before committees of Congress because they are so used to doing it. Our witnesses todaythis is perhaps the first time many of them have testified before a committee of Congress; I hope they will be at ease, tell us what they have to say in any manner they see fit and this is not an inquisition. This is a sincere effort to ferret out some background facts, to focus on the attention of the veterans' employment and the veterans' unemploy ment. What we do here today, we hope, will have a significance that even transcends the District of Columbia, not only today but at future hearings we hope, because the problem that is related in the previous statement that I made is a national one indeed, more intensified for reasons heretofore said in the District of Columbia, but truly a national one. Your presentation and your appearance before this committee can be, I think, of inestimable help to the entire Congress. So I would like to call now our first panel of witnesses and we have two in number in our first group: Mr. Louis P. Lantner and Mr. Steven S. Farris. Mr. Lantner and Mr. Farris, are you with us? Come forward, gentlemen. Thank you very much. We have a brief sort of background sketch, they are short and I think I will read excerpts for identification purposes from the background sheets on our two witnesses. To my left is Mr. Louis P. Lantner of 301 Cavalier Court, Silver Spring, Md. He is 25 years of age; he is a college graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree from Brown University. His military record is that he was division officer, U.S. Navy from June 22, 1968, to May 13, 1971. He received an honorable discharge after serving as a communications officer. He had 1 year of active duty in the States and 2 in Vietnam. He attended two special military schools for communi cation, and has received military medals including the Navy Commendation, Vietnam Service Ribbon, and the National Defense.. And to my right is Mr. Steven S. Farris, 1425 N Street, NW., Washington, D.C. Mr. Farris is 23 years old. He is a high school graduate who was a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps; on active duty from March 2, 1967, to January 13, 1971, with 1 year served in Vietnam. He was trained during his military career as a hydraulic mechanic and received an honorable discharge. Among his military medals the Good Conduct, Vietnam Ribbon, and National Defense. All right; Mr. Lantner-none of the witnesses have a prepared statement which, for me, is fine. Could you, in your own words, and in your own way, describe for us some of the employment experiences sought, jobs sought, et cetera, from the time you were discharged from your tour of duty as a communications officer in the Navy. You were discharged May 13, 1971, so you have been now out of the service for about 2 months. Could you, in your own way, describe for us what experiences you have had in seeking employment, types of employment sought, and what success you have had in that endeavor. STATEMENT OF LOUIS P. LATNER, VETERAN Mr. LANTNER. Yes, sir. Upon discharge I took my Federal service entrance exam and I've also taken the mid-level exam and recently my name was put on civil service rosters. I pounded the pavement walking around to over 18 Federal agencies talking to personnel officers as well as people in Federal agencies who are hiring, even though they were not involved in personnel directly. I have filled out my standard form 171 which is the employment form and I have had 22 forms in circulation. There are several agencies that thought they had more than one vacancy and more than one form was necessary. So I have 22 forms in circulation and I have been to over 18 agencies and I found that no agency had any vacancies at this time. This was both before the fiscal year as well as after. Some of the other people I went to before July 1 told me to come back later the following month. I have been back and I have found there still doesn't appear to be any vacancies. I was interested in an entrance level job possibly at GS-7 but hoping for a GS-9. I feel my military experience would qualify me for a 9 but I indicated I would be very willing to accept a 7. The CHAIRMAN. If I may break in there, what is the beginning salary or the first salary of GS-7? Mr. LANTNER. GS-7 starts at $8,500, which is just about the salary I was making in my last tour of Vietnam. I was making about $8,500 a a year. The CHAIRMAN. Were you a lieutenant? Mr. LANTNER. A lieutenant junior-grade. The CHAIRMAN. JG? Mr. LANTNER. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. What is the beginning salary of GS-9? Mr. LANTNER. $10,000. The CHAIRMAN. I interrupted you. I'm sorry that I did. You were going along very well. You said that you felt that your background, experience, et cetera, might well qualify you for a GS-9. Could you tell us a little about your background, your experience, and your training that led you to believe you might be qualified for a job at that level? Mr. LANTNER. Yes; I had two tours in the military. One tour was here in Washington, D.C., at a naval communications center, the operations center outside Andrews Air Force Base. My second tour, of course, was in Vietnam and in both of these stations I was involved in two primary duties, that in communications which involved drafting messages, releasing messages, insuring secure and speedy handling of message traffic, both in and out of the station. And my second duty was that of a division officer where I worked my first duty station between 15 and 20 enlisted men in my division and my last duty station between 10 and 15 men in my division. Being a division officer encompasses supervisory and professional performance, writing of personnel evaluations twice a year on each man as well as looking at the welfare, at the morale of the men, and doing whatever possible there to help. I felt that this linked itself very well into personnel management. I was particularly interested in the management position within the Government. My Federal service entrance exam score qualified me for an oral interview for the management exam program so I was looking for a job dealing with personnel or some type of management of one type or another. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree. My degree was in American civilization from college and I thought that I have studied American studies, American literature and what not. I felt that I qualified. I went to the Census Bureau, they thought I might find room in the Social Science Analysis Section. They talked about working on staff research projects and things of this nature. As a communications officer I was drafting messages which included looking at lengthy reports, and boiling them down. Releasing messages is a very responsible position, a very responsible position. Knowing when to send out a statement, and things of that nature. The CHAIRMAN. At any of these job interviews and I think you testified that you have been interviewed by 22 different Federal agencies? Mr. LANTNER. That's 18 agencies but for 22 different jobs. The CHAIRMAN. All right; 18 different Federal agencies here in the Washington area have actually given you an oral interview, is that correct? Mr. LANTNER. Well, they distinguish between job interviews and just interviews but I had talked to the personnel officer in charge. I had gone past the first test, in other words. The CHAIRMAN. Past the receptionist at least? Mr. LANTNER. That is correct, sir; and one example, there was an attractive job, on paper, at OEO, working with VISTA volunteers, and this is more or less a matter of consequence the agency was later merged into Action and then I went to Action to find my personnel officer because he had moved along with the program. While they thought they needed someone in this position it turned out they weren't going to select anyone for the job because of their consolidation. They were cutting back in staff. That happened to two jobs I was looking at. |