Legislation to help job-seeking veterans has faltered. | REUTERS Veterans jobs bill stalls in Senate

The Veterans Job Corps bill was held up in the Senate late Wednesday night after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) filibustered to gain support for the release of a Pakistani doctor who helped locate Osama bin Laden.

The bill, which has bi-partisan support, would create a veterans jobs training program, costing $1 billion over five years.


“A vet job bill – does that deserve a fight?” Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) asked after a Senate roll call.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) argued that his filibuster took “15 minutes” and was for a good cause – to call for the release of Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find bin Laden.

Paul has promised to stall Senate action until the doctor is released from jail – something the Pakistani government has said it will not do. Paul has also called on the Obama administration to cut foreign aid to Pakistan until Afridi is released from jail.

“We’re going to do nothing to help the man who helped up get bin Laden?” Paul asked.

Paul also said the United States should stop all aid to Libya in the wake of the attacks on the U.S. consulate there that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

“I do this because I think it’s important for our allies to act like allies,” Paul said.

Reid said he disagreed, saying a vote to help veterans find jobs wasn’t the time or place to play politics.

“I think my friend from Kentucky should have run for Secretary of State rather than the Senate,” Reid said.

Republican senators were using the Veterans Job Corps Act, backed by President Barack Obama, to play party politics in an election year, Reid said repeating his often-stated assertion that Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) only goal is “to defeat President Obama.”

“Everything has stopped, everything,” Reid said. “We have been able to push through a few things but not many. Couldn’t we just agree on veterans?”

Reid also noted that there have been 380 filibusters during his nearly six years as majority leader, compared to just one during former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s tenure leading the Senate from 1955 to 1961.

Earlier, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said during debate that the bill was only being considered on the floor “so that we can say we’re doing things” and argued for further study.

“Is this about veterans, or is this about politicians? I suspect it’s about politicians and not veterans,” Coburn said.

Veterans groups said they were disappointed by the political posturing on the jobs bill.

“This is something that should be above any politics,” said Tom Tarantino, chief policy officer for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of Americans.