Political Quotes

“I thank Chairman Scott for yielding. I rise in support of the National Apprenticeship Act. Since the late 1980s, the Dow Jones has gone up 1,400 percent; GDP has gone up 600 percent; enormous wealth has been created; yet workers' wages during the same period of time have gone up only 20 percent or less. Hardworking men and women have been left behind. Everyone in America believes, from the most conservative to the most progressive, that if you are willing to go to work every day, you should make enough money so you can have a decent place to live, you can have health insurance, you can educate your children, and you can retire one day without being scared. Unfortunately, that American Dream is no longer a reality for many Americans. The National Apprenticeship Act says learn while you earn, because we all know, the more you learn, the more you earn. Yet 60 percent of Americans do not attend college or do not graduate from college. We must return to honoring the dignity of work. We must make the skills necessary to be a welder or a plumber or a computer machinist or any skilled worker widely available to any high school student or graduate so that they can pursue noncollege opportunities like apprenticeship programs. There they can acquire the skills necessary to do the jobs that pay the wages necessary to live a decent life. The National Apprenticeship Act does just that. It is the key to the middle class.”