iava does a survey of our membership every year and we found unemployment rate of our mentorship that was closer to 17%. last year there was bipartisan effort in congress to pass the higher a hero at which the president signed into law it was bold steps but we think there are more things that can be done. particularly in the area of credentialing and licensing of that is big veterans receive, military members receive extensive training, education and experience in career fields that are analogous to many civilian career fields. medics and corman with the mps, pilots, self-explanatory. truck drivers, mechanics, airframe mechanics, air traffic controllers. but because they don't have a civilian certification, the day they leave the military they can't perform that job anymore. veterans have the skills, they have the training, they have the experience. they performed in the south under some of the most arduous circumstances that you would ever encounter, and no piece of paper should keep them from being able to continue to perform those jobs and contribute in the civilian world. so we th

have you all, as a group, iava, reached out to these campaigns?l, you know, it's difficult. we are a non-partisan organization. so we reach out to everybody. whether they're running for office, not running for office. if you're in the public eye, you need to understand that issues that affect military men and women, that affect veterans, affect all of our lives. we might be a very small population, but the issues that affect us come to your hometown. if you have veterans that don't have access to adequate health care, that's a problem. if you have veterans that are trying to use their gi bill, but they find out that the school they're going to is actually siphoning their benefits and not giving them an employable degree, that's a huge problem. ultimately this comes back to paying back that moral responsibility we have to the men and women who signed up to serve our country, and making sure we do it responsibly and that we are all aware and have a stake in the fact that we have 84,000 americans still currently fighti ining for our country. >> and n

iava is here and we'll be in charlotte because we want the issues our members care about to be talkedbeing looking at defending the g.i. bill from fraud and abuse and making sure veterans can come home and find job, stemming the tied of suicide that veterans are facing. building a 21st century va and improving care for women veterans. these are things that if talked about the veterans out in this country will pay attention and they'll give them their vote. 300,000 veterans in virginia and florida alone, 60,000 in ohio and if you speak to the issues that you care about. you're in touch with the folks coming back. bravely serving our country and coming back to a reality check. what's the biggest concern among them? >> right now, making sure that the american people and that congress is paying attention. the fact that the two men who are applying for the job for being president of the united states are not bricking these issues to the forefront scares us because i think we can all agree that the budget battle isn't getting easier. it will get a lot more bloody and contentious over the ne