This morning, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff held a press conference in Decatur to brief Georgia veterans and small business owners on his bipartisan Investing in VETS Act, which was signed into law as part of the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act. Sen. Ossoff’s bipartisan law will require the Federal government to award at least 5 percent of its contracts to small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 27% of all veterans have a service-connected disability. There are currently more than 700,000 veterans across Georgia and over 97,000 who own small businesses in the state.
Sen. Ossoff was joined by several Georgia veterans, including Tony Dobbins, State Adjutant of the Georgia Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Patsey Schreiber, VFW Georgia State Commander and a former service-disabled veteran small business owner.
“The importance of the Investing in VETS Act cannot be emphasized enough. For veterans that own small businesses — veterans with disabilities — to be appreciated enough to be given 5% of government contracts is substantial,” Schreiber said. “As a previous small business owner, I know what it was like to try and get into the government contract system, and it wasn’t easy. As a veteran with a disability, was even harder. So making this 5% change is apples and oranges for veterans that are moving forward into small businesses, and having the government look at them, and giving them, and awarding them what they have earned — a 5% percentage — is substantial.”
“This is a big announcement. It’s been a long time coming and we would not be here without the relentless advocacy of the VFW here in Georgia and veterans service organizations across the country,” Sen. Ossoff said. “We cannot do enough to honor and support those who have made sacrifices in our national defense. This new law will help drive business and opportunity to small businesses owned by service disabled veterans here in Georgia and across the country.”
Click here to watch and download video footage of Sen. Ossoff’s press conference.
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