U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Announces New Location For May 31, 2013 Briefing On Protecting The Civil Rights Of Our Veterans And Service Members
WASHINGTON, May 28, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United States Commission on Civil Rights announces that it will hold a briefing to examine whether the Federal Government is adequately protecting the civil rights of our veterans and service members who have fought for our country. The briefing will take place on Friday, May 31, 2013 from 9:30 AM ET to 3:00 PM ET at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center, Grand Ballroom, 775 12th Street NW, Washington DC. There will be a one-hour break for lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 PM.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110524/DC08224LOGO)
It is expected that between 2011 and 2016 more than one million service members will leave the armed forces and return home. Returning military veterans will likely face competition in our labor and housing markets and could potentially experience discrimination, based on disabilities acquired as a result of service-related injuries, along with, employment and housing discrimination. Female veterans with children are also likely to experience discrimination in housing programs due to the fact that most of the established housing programs for veterans do not allow children. The Commission will seek to gather information on the difficulties being experienced by veterans and service members alike with the hope of being able to identify best practices for helping our veterans transition from the battlefield to the workforce and their community.
The Commission will hear from experts in three panels:
Panel 1 – Federal Government 9:30 am – 11:00 am
- Robert Jesse, Principle Deputy Under Secretary for Health
Department of Veterans Affairs - Kenan Torrans
Deputy Director, Office of National Programs
Veterans' Employment and Training Service
Department of Labor - Sharon Alexander, Special Assistant to Chairwoman Berrien
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - Bryan Greene
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
Department of Housing and Urban Development - Matt Boehmer, Acting Director, Federal Voting and Assistance Program
Department of Defense
Panel 2 – Advocacy Groups 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
- Heather Ansley, Vice President of Veterans Policy
VetsFirst and Co-Chair of the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities Veterans Task Force - Albert Gonzales, National Commander
American GI Forum - Wendy McClinton, President and CEO
Black Veterans for Social Justice - Danny Ingram, National President
American Veterans for Equal Rights
Panel 3 – Experts 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
- Major Kamal Kalsi
U.S. Army - Sandra Strickland
Final Salute, Inc. - Elspeth Ritchie, Chief Medical Officer
District of Columbia Department of Mental Health - Joseph Violante, National Legislative Director
Disabled American Veterans
Written comments from the public will be accepted by email at [email protected] until June 30, 2013. Public comments received will become part of the public record.
Deaf or hearing-impaired persons who will attend the meeting and require the services of a sign-language interpreter should contact Pam Dunston at (202) 376-8105 at least seven business days prior to the briefing.
Contact:
Lenore Ostrowsky
Acting Chief, Public Affairs
(202) 376-8591
SOURCE U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Share this article