U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown outlined how the proposed Troop Talent Act of 2013 would help reduce unemployment among recently returned Ohio service members and ease their transition into the civilian work force.

The unemployment rate among recent Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is nearly double Ohio’s overall employment rate.

At a press conference Tuesday at American Legion Post 301, Brown, a senior member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said he supports the Troop Talent Act of 2013 because it would ensure a clearer and easier path to matching military skills with civilian job accreditation.

Brown was joined at the press conference by Youngstown native Marine Sgt. Bryant L. Jackson, a Purple Heart recipient, who has been unable to find a civilian job that would use the skills he learned in the military.