NORTH CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) — Heralding a splash of good news on jobs, President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised companies that have promised to hire 25,000 veterans or military spouses within two years, calling it a sign of patriotism and business savvy. He pushed his economic agenda anew to a military audience and to firefighters, with first lady Michelle Obama at his side for one of his stops.

“We ask you to fight, to sacrifice, to risk your lives for your country,” Obama told an audience of thousands of people at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia. “The last thing you should have to do is fight for a job when you come home. Not here. Not in the United States of America.”