"The employment picture is certainly brighter than it was 8 years ago, but not as bright as this country wants or needs."
"Employers complain that they can't find candidates with the right skills to grow their business."
"Access to an affordable college degree must be available to every student who desires it."
"We also know that a college degree is not and should not be the only path to a bright future."
"This week, Senator Gardner of Colorado and I introduced the CHANCE in Tech Act, which encourages educators and businesses to start apprenticeship programs for the tech sector."
"This is why access to universal pre-K is so important and why I am a strong advocate of the two-generation approach."
"For workers to remain competitive in the future economy, learning and skills development must continue over the course of a lifetime."
"You end up with a series of jobs, not a career path."
"What should we be doing to make sure that, you know, we avoid that scenario with your students or other students across the country?"
"I don't believe that we can just say the solution is going to be everybody is going to move to an urban area."
"We need a vibrant rural small town economy in this country and one that is not purely based on low-wage service-sector jobs."
"We can't afford to turn our back on rural America. We need to invest in jobs there."