Lucille Roybal-Allard: “Mr. Chairman, I rise for the purpose of engaging in a colloquy with the gentleman from Illinois, Chairman Porter. The…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise for the purpose of engaging in a colloquy with the gentleman from Illinois, Chairman Porter. The gentleman is to be commended for his support on behalf of the Job Corps Program. As he knows, Job Corps has been our Nation's most successful federally funded residential job training and education program for at-risk youth for over 30 years. Because of its proven record of accomplishment in providing opportunities to disadvantaged youth, it has historically generated strong bipartisan support. Program year 1995 exemplifies the success of Job Corps with 73 percent of all Job Corps participants either obtaining employment, enrolling in the military, or attending an institute of higher education. The Labor-HHS appropriations bill before us provides $1.138 million for Job Corps. Mr. Chairman, through the leadership of the gentleman from Illinois, Chairman Porter, Job Corps received an increase of $35 million over last year's appropriation, which fully funds the operations portion of the program. I commend the gentleman on this accomplishment. However, I have two concerns. First is the possibility that the Senate may provide a lower operation funding level for Job Corps than the House level. Second, there still exists a $14.8 million shortfall in the construction and renovation budget for the program.”