The Veterans Caucus of the California Democratic Party thanks President Barack Obama for honoring his pledge to bring home all of our troops from Iraq by the end of 2012. We encourage the President to bring the war in Afghanistan – the longest in America's history – to a rapid and responsible close as well. It's time once again to turn veterans’ swords into ploughshares and attend to the growing inequities here at home.
 It's easy enough to say how firmly we stand behind our service men and women as they march off to war, their step quick and their faces shining brightly. Harder is the task of standing by them in the long decades that follow as they and their loved ones work through the physical and psychic injuries prolonged combat causes even the strongest among them.
 That is why we strongly support the President’s efforts to provide new resources for returning veterans, allowing them to translate their valuable military experience to the private job market. We encourage our fellow veterans to learn more about and make use of the Veterans Job Bank, My Next Move for Veterans, and Veteran Gold Card initiatives. These programs will help match returning veterans with prospective employers hiring for positions whose qualifications match those possessed by many of our men and women in uniform.
 To learn more about these programs please visit: www.whitehouse.gov/vets
 Please join the Veterans Caucus in continuing to fight for veterans both at home and abroad by making sure that today's veterans have all the benefits – educational, vocational, housing, medical – they so rightly deserve.
 — California Democratic Party Veterans Caucus Chair Ricardo Reyes