Palm Coast Times

On Thursday, U.S. Congressmen Mike Waltz and Jimmy Panetta introduced the bipartisan Contract Our Veterans Act in the House, aiming to increase contracts between the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and small, veteran-owned businesses. The bill proposes that five percent of the DoD's yearly federal contracts go to veteran-owned small businesses.

Waltz emphasized the benefits of this collaboration, stating, "It is a win-win scenario for both our Department of Defense and veteran-owned small businesses to work together. Not only will it help promote entrepreneurship amongst our veterans, but it will create jobs here at home and strengthen our military’s supply chains."

Panetta, also a veteran himself, expressed his support for the bill, highlighting the importance of supporting entrepreneurship among veterans. He believes that Congress can fulfill its obligation to expand opportunities for those who have served while boosting local economies and national security.

The American Legion, a prominent veterans organization, fully supports the bill. Chanin Nuntavong, Executive Director of the American Legion, stated, "This legislation will increase the number of veteran-owned small businesses by tens of thousands, create hundreds of thousands of new veteran jobs, strengthen national supply chains, and create a desperately needed recruiting incentive for our Armed Forces recruiters."

Currently, the Defense Department has set contracting goals within five small business categories. These include women-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, socially and economically disadvantaged, historically underutilized business zones, and disadvantaged businesses. The Contract Our Veterans Act seeks to add veteran-owned small businesses to this list and establish a contracting goal of five percent of the value of all prime contracts and subcontracts awarded each year, similar to the goal already set for service-disabled veteran-owned contracts.

This bill aims to not only support veteran entrepreneurship but also strengthen the DoD's supply chains and create job opportunities for veterans. By increasing collaboration between the DoD and veteran-owned businesses, the Contract Our Veterans Act seeks to fulfill the federal government's obligation to those who have served while bolstering the economy and national security.