Second Lady of the United States Karen Pence addressed the 2019 Defense Communities National Summit Tuesday afternoon with a speech that praised the contributions of military spouses and highlighted their employment challenges as they frequently move for service assignments.
Below are a few highlighted quotes from Mrs. Pence’s speech:
- “First, I want to thank ADC for your support and commitment to our military families. You recognize the importance of coming along in support of our service members and their families. I’m also proud to be a new member of Blue Star Families, and as many of you know, our son now serves in the Marine Corps as a pilot and our daughter-in-law is now also a military spouse.”
- “Our appreciation of our military comes from spouses and families who make tremendous sacrifices without asking for much in return, all while exhibiting tremendous pride and determination. Military spouses are the backbone of our military services.”
- “According to a DOD study, military spouses experience an unemployment rate of 24%. Military spouses are loyal, hard-working and talented. If spouses aren’t happy, then we know service members will leave early. We want spouses to be fulfilled.”
- “We are seeing momentum building to hire military spouses, and there is now a national call to action to hire 100,000 spouses. Our spouses are ready, eager and willing to come alongside business to contribute and increase military spouse employment opportunities.”
ADC photo by Will Noonan
