Political Quotes

“I would like to return to the topic today of apprenticeships that are so important to our workforce across this country. My amendment would strip a portion of the bill that would spend hundreds of millions of dollars to only support Department of Labor- registered apprenticeship programs, a stipulation that has not been in place in previous bills regarding apprenticeship grant funding. So, let me be clear. I support Department of Labor-registered apprenticeship programs. I am not here to speak ill of those programs because they do a good job of equipping workers across this country with the skills they need to be successful. But I am here because I have a problem with the Congress telling the American public that the only way to fill the skills gap and create opportunities is through government-defined apprenticeship programs. Right now, our economy is facing an enormous skilled workforce shortage. According to the Department of Labor, there are 7.4 million job vacancies, and, with our continued economic prosperity, that number will only grow. I speak with businesses in my district on a regular basis, in all sectors. Many would like to expand, create new jobs; but a consistent message, Madam Chair, is they are not able to because they cannot find workers with the necessary skills. It is an unfortunate fact that the registered apprenticeship programs come up short of adequately skilling our entire workforce.…”