WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 Jill Biden said Wednesday that allowing federal employees who are military spouses to work from overseas is a common-sense 鈥渘ational security imperative鈥 that is long overdue.
The first lady spoke at a White House ceremony she hosted with Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma, who signed a permanent memorandum of agreement between their departments to ease approvals of remote work under the program for these employees.
The agreement was among steps to help military families that President outlined in an he in North Carolina. It also is an outgrowth of the first lady鈥檚 work with , her White House initiative to support military and veteran families.
Jill Biden said she shared stories the spouses told her with her husband 鈥渁nd then he took action.鈥
鈥淎 critical part of the executive order is allowing military spouses who work for the federal government to take jobs with them" when their spouse is deployed overseas, Jill Biden said. 鈥淲ith today's agreement, we're making that a reality. It's common sense, it's simple and it's long overdue.鈥
Hicks and Verma signed the agreement in front of an overwhelmingly female audience seated in the East Room. Hicks handed her pen to the first lady.
Jill Biden said military spouses also serve the United States even though they don't wear a uniform and that the government has a responsibility to serve them, too.
鈥淭his isn't just a moral obligation,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t's a national security imperative.鈥
The first lady said the principle of an all-volunteer military, which is the case in the U.S., is put 鈥渁t risk when we force our service members to choose between their love of country and the families who serve alongside them. We must give them the support they need to choose both.鈥
Military spouses face a 21% unemployment rate that has not significantly changed over the past decade, according to information from the White House. More than 16,000 military, veteran and surviving spouses work across federal departments and agencies.
Jill Biden cracked a joke at the beginning of her formal remarks, saying she was really excited because 鈥渓ike so many of you, I am a working spouse of a government employee.鈥
