Hello, I'm Secretary Janet Napolitano. As our nation pauses to honor the
service and sacrifice of America's military veterans, I'd like to take a
moment to recognize the tens of thousands of veterans who serve our
country as members of the Department of Homeland Security. Veterans make
up more than a quarter of our civilian workforce at DHS. In all, we have
47,000 veterans, including our Deputy Secretary, Jane Holl Lute, and key
members of our senior leadership team. Every day, veterans directly
contribute to our mission: guarding against terrorism; securing our borders;
enforcing our immigration laws; building a more ready and resilient nation; and
unifying and strengthening the Department. Yesterday, I joined
President Obama as he signed an Executive Order, establishing the
Veterans Employment Initiative to increase employment opportunities in
the Federal Government and help recently hired veterans succeed in their
jobs. Engaging veterans and veterans' organizations at DHS, and benefiting
from their unique talents and experience, remains one of my top
priorities. That's why today, we're launching a new web site specifically
designed for veterans: www.dhs.gov/veterans.
Here, veterans and veterans' organizations will find the latest
information about job opportunities at the Department, contracting prospects,
and information about how veterans can continue their service by getting
involved in their community through efforts like Citizen Corps. This new site is part of
a broad initiative across DHS to increase veteran hiring, business
opportunities and outreach. And the reason is simple: we want, and need,
veterans to be part of the DHS family, because veterans and their skills,
leadership and committment to service remain critical to our success. We're
proud to have so many veterans already contributing to our mission.
We will continue to deepen our engagement in the coming months -
with a goal of having 50,000 veteran employees at the Department by 2012.
So, as we observe Veteran's Day let us give thanks to the Department's
veterans and all veterans for their service to our country.
