William L. Clay: “Mr. Chairman, the ability of our Nation to provide education and training opportunities to our people is more important…”

“Mr. Chairman, the ability of our Nation to provide education and training opportunities to our people is more important now than ever before. Our success in the increasingly competitive global economy will largely depend upon the skills and productivity of our workers. Education and job training programs provide workers with the opportunity to learn and to improve their skills. It is our duty to make certain that those programs are effective and efficient. Many have criticized our current training system for being too duplicative and too sparse. The legislation we consider today will improve the coordination of services, provide quality assistance and foster efficiency. I am especially grateful that this agreement addresses the unique needs of dislocated workers as well as providing for meaningful local decisionmaking. As Members may remember, these issues were among the highest priorities advocated by Democrats during last year's deliberations on the careers bill. With respect to the adult education provisions of this bill, I believe that we have made solid progress.”