South Court Auditorium
11:11 A.M. EDT
MRS. OBAMA: Good morning. (Applause.) Good morning, everyone. Thanks so much. (Applause.) Thank you. Please, sit, rest. Because we want you to do a lot of work today, so we don’t want you to wear yourselves out.
It is a true pleasure to be here today. I want to start by thanking Sergeant Hall for that very kind introduction, but, more importantly, for his outstanding service to this country. I also want to recognize Gene Sperling for his excellent work on this issue here at the White House.
And of course, I want to thank John Chambers and everyone at Cisco for their extraordinary leadership to create this new IT Training and Certification Program. So let’s just take a moment to give them a round of applause for their excellent work. Very proud, very proud. (Applause.) This is the kind of leadership that is going to make the world of difference to hundreds of thousands of veterans and military families across this country.
And finally, I want to thank all of you for taking the time. This is a big commitment on the part of everyone in this room, to work on this issue. Because, as you all know, we’re here today to address one of the most pressing issues we face — not just for our veterans and our military families, but for our economy and for the future of our country.
You all know the numbers. As John said, in the coming years, more than one million servicemembers will be hanging up their uniforms and transitioning to civilian life. And that’s on top of the hundreds of thousands of veterans and military spouses already out there looking for work.
These folks, as you have heard, you have seen, you will continue to see — they are some of the most highly skilled, best-trained, hardest-working, diligent, dedicated, proud, noble, smart people that we have in this country. And believe me, I have met with hundreds of them in the course of my service as First Lady, and it has been one of the greatest privileges — not just to work with the men and women in uniform, but with their family members who are just as outstanding.
They do everything. They are medics and engineers, they're drivers, welders. They’re folks like Sergeant Hall, with years of experience at the highest levels of our military. And they are eminently qualified to do the very jobs that employers across this country are desperate to fill.
But too often, because of red tape, or outdated rules, or simple lack of coordination, our men and women in uniform come home only to find that the training and experience they’ve gotten during their time in uniform simply doesn’t count.
Source: White House Press Office
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