Representative Mike Garcia spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives last night in support of his bill, the Military Spouse Licensing Relief Act. This bill was included in H.R. 7939, which passed the U.S. House and Senate, and now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

During his speech, Congressman Garcia made the following statement:

“In the midst of one of the most challenging times for our military in terms of recruitment and retention, what this bill does is allow military spouses to cross-deck their professional licenses -- if they’re a realtor, a nurse, a teacher, a beautician, a cosmetologist, whatever their profession is – across state lines,” said Garcia. “This bipartisan bill above all things would ease the burden for our military families. This is a win for our military families, for our national security, for our local communities who are in desperate need of these professionals, and even for our government who now enjoys the tax revenue from these dual-income families. And hopefully this translates into better recruitment and retention for our military.”

Currently, 34% of military spouses require a professional license for their line of employment. While military spouse unemployment hovers over 20% (over five times above the national average), this legislation is critical to assisting our military families and spouses who make countless sacrifices to support their servicemember family members.

Click here to watch Representative Garcia’s full speech.