WHEREAS, Roughly 200,000 service members retire or separate from the armed services every year and many find themselves unable to find employment, which leads to an increase in the homeless veteran population in the state; and

WHEREAS, California is home to 1,800,000 veterans, and the state’s homeless veteran population makes up about 31 percent of the entire nation’s homeless veteran population; and

WHEREAS, As service members transition from military life to the civilian world, many seek new careers to apply their skills in the civilian world; and

WHEREAS, Veterans bring competitive skills to civilian jobs, along with core values like loyalty, duty, respect, selflessness, honor, integrity, and personal courage; and

WHEREAS, Finding and competing for civilian positions can be challenging for a transitioning veteran; and

WHEREAS, Veterans 35 to 64 years of age are constantly at higher levels of unemployment in California compared to the nonveteran population; and

WHEREAS, Competing for a civilian job can be daunting, but government support for National Hire a Veteran Day is what makes it unique from other holidays that focus on veterans; and

WHEREAS, United States Marine Corps veteran and Hire Our Heroes founder Dan Caporale created National Hire a Veteran Day in 2017 as a call to action for hiring companies and also to encourage veteran job applicants; and

WHEREAS, National Hire a Veteran Day aims to inspire employers to recruit and hire veterans by recognizing the unique skills and values former service members can bring to the workforce; and

WHEREAS, July 25th is celebrated as National Hire a Veteran Day each year to honor veterans who have sacrificed for the United States; now, therefore, be it