Frank Riggs: “Mr. Chairman, let me first address the comparison that some have made with the dedicated funding stream for dislocated…”

“Mr. Chairman, let me first address the comparison that some have made with the dedicated funding stream for dislocated adult workers to what the gentleman from New York [Mr. Owens] is trying to do in his amendment. It is important, I think, to understand that yes, we do have a dedicated funding stream in the adult block grant for dislocated workers. That is certainly in keeping with the whole concept behind the Job Training Partnership Act that State and local communities be able to respond rapidly to a plant closure or to massive, large-scale type of layoffs. However, that is still part of one system, the overall adult block grant, the overall adult job training and reemployment system. What the gentleman from New York [Mr. Owens] is talking about doing here is creating a separate stand-alone program that is really contrary to the overall philosophy of the bill with respect to creating a single block grant for youth. What we are trying to do in the area of youth is to encourage young people, particularly those who are at risk of dropping out of school, so let us call them the dropout prone, we are trying to encourage them to stay in school or if they drop out from school to return to school. Therefore, with respect to emphasis on schooling, with the emphasis on academics, it is very important, in my view, to link summer youth employment to the school-based program for at-risk youth.”