The President says it will help about 850,000 veterans who are currently unemployed and tens of thousands who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan in the coming months. The bill passed Congress last week with rare bipartisan support.

The legislation creates tax breaks for companies that hire jobless veterans and helps provide vets with job training and counseling. It also repeals a 2006 law that would require the federal, state and local governments to withhold 3 percent of their payments to contractors. The veterans’ legislation is the first proposal included in Obama’s $447 billion bill to win congressional approval.