On the recordSeptember 27, 2019
I am here today to bring attention to the American Workforce Empowerment Act which I worked on with my friend from Minnesota, Congressman Jim Hagedorn. This is a bipartisan solution--and I hope everybody heard the word bipartisan--to address the growing shortage of skilled workers to fill job openings in the technical and skilled trades. Small businesses are in need of machinists, welders, truck drivers, and an array of other qualified trades and labor-intensive professions. We should do everything we can to incentivize technical skills training and apprenticeships for those who like to work with their hands and see the product of their hard work. The bipartisan American Workforce Empowerment Act expands these programs eligible for payment by 529 savings plans, and by making registered apprenticeships eligible, we can more easily and readily close the wide gap of good-paying positions that have gone unfilled in our robust economy. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to cosponsor H.R. 4469. We need to expand our workforce, and this is a great way to do it. ____________________
