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Karen Pence speaks with military spouses during San Diego visit

“We are so proud of what our husbands do. We are proud of the resilience with our kids that have to travel and move every few years,” said Mrs. Pence.

SAN DIEGO — Vice-President Mike Pence's wife, Karen Pence, on Thursday delivered remarks to military spouses at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado to highlight employment solutions for military spouses.

“We are so proud of what our husbands do. We are proud of the resilience with our kids that have to travel and move every few years,” said Mrs. Pence.

Laramie Logan’s husband has been in the military for the past 20 years. She knows all too well some of the challenges military spouses face, among them employment. On Thursday, she was among the crowd at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado to listen to Mrs. Pence speak about solutions for military spouses when ti comes to maintaining employment.

“Military spouse employment is a very important aspect of a strong and resilient military family,” said Mrs. Pence. “If spouses aren’t happy, then service members will leave the military sooner, and we don’t want that to happen. We are working hard to improve employment opportunities for military spouses.”

Mrs. Pence, who is a mother of a Marine, launched a campaign last year and has been speaking at bases around the country about it. According to the Department of Defense, the unemployment rate for military spouses is 24%.

RELATED: Vice President Mike Pence to visit two San Diego Navy bases

“You are the backbone of military families,” Mrs. Pence told those in attendance.

Mrs. Pence also said that last year, the president of the United States signed an executive order to help military spouses get jobs with the federal government.

“Now, we are working with American businesses and other organizations to find ways to hire and keep military spouses employed when they relocate,” she said.

According to Mrs. Pence, companies like LinkedIn offer free job-hunting tools for a year. The Department of Defense also has a new policy to reimburse military spouses for re-licensing and re-certification costs up to $500 when they have a permanent change of station. 

“I think she [Mrs. Pence] has come up with some impressive solutions. It was nice to hear her speak and to have her take the time to meet with us today,” said Laramie.

Mrs. Pence also talked about partnering with nearly 400 companies and organizations that have committed to hiring and retaining military spouses. She said so far, more than 130,000 military wives and husbands have been hired.

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