By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt says Americans have more opportunity to secure the jobs they like in the growing economy.

Blunt tells reporters during a Republican leadership news conference in Washington, D.C. many companies are hiring those willing to train or are looking for people who might have a different workforce experience.

“In our state we’re also talking about ways, in Missouri, to look at how we can get people to work in our state that have already been at work somewhere else,” Blunt tells reporters. “Particularly as it relates to military spouses, we had the first military spouse sworn into the Missouri Bar in January, who went immediately to work as a lawyer, who had been a lawyer in another state, we haven’t done that kind of thing in the past.”

Blunt says veterans are in demand with companies using the experience they had in the military in new civilian positions.

“If you’ve been driving a truck in the military you ought to be able to get that commercial driver’s license pretty quickly; if you’ve been an electrician, or a medical technician,” according to Blunt. “This is an economy where people are looking at ways to get people to work and to honor the skills that they bring with them, as well as to help them get the skills they don’t already have.”

Blunt says Congress needs to remove the barriers that have kept some from finding jobs. He says those released from prison with certain skill sets have a greater opportunity than in the past to get a job upon release.