WHEREAS, Our men and women warriors and their families have made great sacrifices to keep our nation safe and to defend the freedom of countless others in the great struggles of our time, including the War on Terror; and

WHEREAS, The Legislature recognizes that many of these fine members of the military serve in the high number of military installations located throughout the state of Washington; and

WHEREAS, Over six hundred thousand military service members reside in Washington; and

WHEREAS, Approximately 9,000 service members leave service at Joint Base Lewis-McCord and other installations each year; and

WHEREAS, We owe these fine Americans a great debt we can never repay, and yet the unemployment rate for veterans is much higher than the overall unemployment rate, with veterans between the age of eighteen and twenty-five unemployed at an unacceptable rate of twenty-one percent; and

WHEREAS, These highly motivated women and men possess exemplary work ethic and superb skills, including expertise in leading others, health care, technology, and logistics; and

WHEREAS, Many Washington State companies have taken exceptional measures to train, recruit, and hire veterans entering the private sector;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate commend those Washington businesses that have made employing veterans a major priority of their hiring practices; give specific tribute and express our enthusiastic appreciation to the many exceptional Washington businesses that stand out in their commitment to our men and women in uniform, namely, The Boeing Company, Starbucks, Microsoft, Amazon, Costco, Weyerhaeuser, US Bank, Comcast, the Port of Seattle, Providence Health and Services, the University of Washington, The Shultz Foundation, Puget Sound Energy, Multicare, and others; and trust that these exemplary companies will serve as a model to other employers in the state of Washington to also make a special effort to recruit and hire our very able and well-deserving veterans; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate express its gratitude to the corporate members of the organization aptly named Hire America's Heroes, for their generous support and commitment to hiring transitioning service members, and their family members and caregivers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the businesses named herein.

I, Hunter G. Goodman, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 8680,

adopted by the Senate

April 24, 2015

HUNTER G. GOODMAN

Secretary of the Senate