After years of languishing in legislative limbo, U.S. Rep. Tim Walz's STOCK Act picked up steam when President Barack Obama mentioned the bill during his State of the Union Address in January.

Obama urged Congress to pass legislation banning insider trading on Capitol Hill and, months later, they did, although it was a weaker version of the bill than Walz envisioned.

Now Walz is praising the president's call for a "Veterans Job Corps" to find work for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.Obama unveiled the outline for his plan during a visit to a Honeywell Inc. facility in Golden Valley on Friday. The Obama plan shares similarities with legislation that introduced in March that would make it easier for veterans to find work at home using skills they developed in the military.

Walz's legislation -- the Veterans Skills to Job Act -- would avoid redundant job training by speeding up the licensing process for veterans, a release from Walz's office said. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is co-sponsoring similar legislation in the Senate.

"There is no reason why a veteran who is certified to work on airplanes in Afghanistan should have to take redundant trainings to work on the same planes right here at home," Walz said in a statement. "I applaud the President for his work standing up for veterans and working to ensure the skills they acquired in the military can be used to find jobs ..."