Debbie Lesko: “First, I want to applaud the American Legislative Exchange Council members who are joining us tonight and their CEO…”

“First, I want to applaud the American Legislative Exchange Council members who are joining us tonight and their CEO, Lisa Nelson, and her staff. I thank them for attending. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5509, the Innovations in Mentoring, Training, and Apprenticeships Act. Presently, the American economy faces a shortage of 6 million skilled workers, a number expected to reach 11 million by 2022. This workforce shortage will only continue to grow unless we focus on training the next generation of skilled workers. In Arizona, we are seeing rapid growth in the science, technology, and engineering fields. Our aerospace industry is being strengthened by the creation of university partnerships like the ASU Research Enterprise and Aerospace Arizona. In order to support these growing industries, we must take action. This legislation is a step in that direction by providing grants for innovative approaches to STEM education and related workforce development. The bill expands the workforce pipeline in STEM fields through experiments with apprenticeships and other applied learning opportunities for college students and places a focus on the enhancement of 2-year degree programs and technical skill certificates in order to meet the shortage of qualified candidates at all levels. I want to thank the majority leader for bringing this legislation forward, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.”