Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to thank my friend from Michigan and my friend from North Carolina for their leadership in promoting apprenticeship programs that benefit the American people. Madam Speaker, my amendment is simple. It trades one word for another, but the impact is significant. The National Apprenticeship Act states, to the extent practicable, that the partnerships for funding under Title II be part of an industry or sector partnership and partner with a labor or joint labor-management organization. My amendment changes ``and'' to an ``or.'' I am afraid that the unintended consequences of the word will be treated as a requirement for the Federal Government that entities requesting funding under Title II must partner with a union. This bill, as written, allows the government to play favorites with Title II funding and, instead, we should encourage entities to be empowered to make choices that are best for the workforce in their area. In my view, entities applying for Title II funding under the bill should be partnering with both non-union and union industry leaders. But I have no doubt that should this bill become law, bureaucrats at the Department of Labor will interpret the use of ``and'' in this section to mean that if you are not partnered with a union organization you will not receive funding. That is my concern.…”