John Kline: “I yield myself such time as I may consume. We believe that the SKILLS Act is genuine, commonsense reform addressing a…”

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. We believe that the SKILLS Act is genuine, commonsense reform addressing a real problem that our Nation has faced for years. This authorization expired in 2003; and so under Republicans and Democrats, we've been unable to get legislation passed into law through the committee, through the House, and move it forward. There have been all sorts of reasons for this. Sometimes it was just recognized that it's too hard; but in any case, we haven't been able to move it. And that includes, frankly, under 4 years when the other side had the majority, chaired this committee, and in fact had a majority in the House and the Senate and the White House and were unable to move legislation forward. So I appreciate the calls for bipartisanship. I'm not entirely sure why walking out of a markup engenders further bipartisan support. Nevertheless, that's what we're faced with. This legislation was thoughtfully developed after the committee convened multiple hearings over the last 3 years, examined the testimony of dozens of witnesses, including Governors and State and local workforce investment leaders. This ongoing debate has been open and fair. When we had this bill in the committee last year, amendments were offered by Republicans and Democrats. Amendments passed, as offered by Republicans and Democrats. We have to move this legislation forward.…”