Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5587, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, and the benefit and opportunities it will provide for those looking to enter the job market. We have an opportunity to get rid of the stigma of this vocation path and bring to light the benefits of career and technical education. This bill overhauls the system to bring the decisionmaking down to the State and local leaders. It more closely accounts for changes in the job market. It increases the input from groups such as students and business leaders. This legislation empowers leaders from our States and communities by reducing the paperwork for local education providers and streamlines the requirements process. It supports closer partnerships with employers, who know the needs of the workplace, and puts in place accountability benchmarks to ensure that these programs on the secondary level are delivering the training and results they are supposed to be providing to students. This bill also allows States and local authorities to develop a curriculum they know that works for their students and for their communities. I applaud the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) and the Education and the Workforce Committee for their hard work and diligence in addressing this matter. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.”