[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 55 (Friday, March 24, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4567-S4568]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            NEVADA PARTNERS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, we come to this floor often, and most of the 
things we talk about are in a negative sense, whether it is the farm 
program, taxes, delinquency, schools, students, teachers, health care, 
floods, earthquakes, deficits, lost species, endangered species, all 
types of crimes--murders, rapes, robberies, battering of women--
unemployment.
  Mr. President, I am here today to talk about something on a positive 
note, something that has taken place in the State of Nevada that is now 
to the point where we can talk about it as being effective and having 
worked.
  We all know that work is the cornerstone upon which we can do 
something about welfare reform. I have long been a supporter of a 
welfare-to-work program. I, with a couple of my colleagues in this 
body, sponsored legislation that would have modern-day American welfare 
programs handled like they were handled during and after the 
Depression, programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Works 
Progress Administration, where people who needed Government help would 
work in exchange for that help.
  That legislation--five pilot programs--passed the House and the 
Senate and was sent to the President. Because this very important 
legislation was part of an overall tax bill that President Bush did not 
like, he vetoed the legislation. I am sorry that our bill was part of 
the tax bill because, on its face, I am sure he would not have vetoed 
it. But those are the kinds of programs that we need to recognize have 
worked in the past and will work again if we allow them to come into 
being.
  As we continue to debate these welfare-to-work proposals, Mr. 
President, I think it is important that we, as an example, look to the 
private sector, programs there that we know are already successful, and 
are placing people into the work force. A program in Nevada like that 
is called Nevada Partners.
  Nevada Partners came into being after the Rodney King riots that took 
place in southern California and in Las Vegas, NV. We had significant 
civil unrest in Las Vegas, and the community joined together to find 
out what could be done so that this would not take place in the future. 
This effort was led by Gov. Robert Miller, who was then Governor and is 
still Governor of the State of Nevada. This was in 1992. He was the 
guiding light, along with the mayor of Las Vegas, Jan Laverty Jones, a 
number of State legislators, and others, to set up a program that has 
worked very well.
  Nevada Partners works with business, industry, and government, to 
provide job readiness, training, and placement to the at-risk and 
disadvantaged and unemployed in southern Nevada. Too often, we have 
people who we train, but they are trained for jobs that do not exist or 
jobs that they cannot find. Well, this program includes all them all.
  I want to take a minute here to talk about the reason this program 
came into being. It was as a result of the generosity of one man by the 
name of Kirk Kerkorian. He is a man who came from, to say the least, 
humble beginnings, a person who has made it on his own, and who is now, 
it is no secret, one of the richest men in America. Kirk Kerkorian has 
been a very successful businessman all over the United States, but 
especially in Nevada. It was as a result of his generous contribution 
of a million dollars that this program was able to get started. The 
program received its funding from an organization that he established 
called the LINCY Foundation. Nevada Partners now is wholly funded by 
the private sector. It receives no Government funding, not a single 
penny.
  Since its inception, Nevada Partners has placed more than 2,200 
applicants into the work force. This is not a statistic used to make a 
report to some Government agency just to look good. These are 2,200 
people who are actually working now and who were not working 
previously. As part of their job readiness training, participants with 
Nevada Partners must take a 2-week class focusing on personal success, 
pre-employment and post-employment issues such as stress management, 
hygiene, dressing for success, interviewing techniques, resume writing, 
filling out an application, and what to expect from an employer.
  Remember, Mr. President, many of these people are people who have 
never worked and if, in fact, they have worked, it has been 
unsuccessful, or they would not be out of work now, most of the time. 
In addition, Nevada Partners, in collaboration with the Training 
Station, which is a private sector computer training school, offers a 
3-week computer fundamentals course designed to equip the trainee with 
the skills necessary to obtain positions requiring some computer 
literacy.
  What is unique about Nevada Partners is that this program not only 
assists those on public assistance, but--and this is important--it 
helps many avoid the welfare rolls. It has been successful in that we 
have taken people who are on welfare and put them into the work force. 
But it has also taken people who are on the verge of going on welfare 
and put them to work.
  This program deals especially with young people. It recognizes the 
importance of reaching out to our young people to break the cycle of 
dependency. That is why, Mr. President, we must be concerned about the 
summer jobs programs that have taken such a hit in the other body. I 
was happy to see in the original markups over here that the committees 
of jurisdiction within the Appropriations Committee have not treated 
them accordingly. I think that is good.
  We must reach out to youth. Mr. President, the Youth Employment for 
the Summer Program that is part of 
[[Page S4568]] this Nevada Partners Program targets youths ages 16 to 
21. This program, which is known as the YES Program, is a summer jobs 
program offering a series of workshops designed to help applicants to 
gain an understanding of the tools and skills necessary to obtain 
employment. Working with local employers who have committed to 
providing summer opportunities, Nevada Partners offers these young 
people critical exposure to professional environments, as well as the 
opportunity to become acquainted with community role models.
  Mr. President, I had the good fortune many years ago, when I 
practiced law, to be one of the attorneys in my law firm representing 
the interests of Kirk Kerkorian and his family. He has done a lot of 
things of which he is very proud. He created thousands and thousands of 
jobs in America. But there is nothing that he is any more proud of than 
what has happened here with Nevada Partners. As a result of his 
investment, we now have over 2,200 people working. And from the time 
these remarks were outlined for me, we have a lot more. The number is 
unknown.
  One of Nevada Partners' most compelling programs--perhaps a model for 
welfare reform--is the Women in Transition Program. Women in Transition 
provides 6 weeks of in-depth transition training in addition to task-
oriented counseling provided by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas 
masters of social work interns. Focusing on empowerment issues such as 
domestic violence, evaluating and selecting child care, and women in 
the work force, this pilot project is providing an alternative to 
public assistance by successfully placing women in the work force.
  The key ingredient to the success of Nevada Partners is the 
commitment and participation of the private sector. Private sector 
involvement allows Nevada Partners and its participants to respond more 
quickly to changes in the business climate than many Government 
programs allow. Moreover, the private sector can easily and readily 
assist in identifying real job opportunities and has a vested interest 
in ensuring new employees become trained team members as quickly as 
possible. Here is one of the good things that comes from programs like 
this. More than 80 businesses, including hotels, casinos, banks, and 
utilities are consistently providing employment opportunities for 
Nevada Partners' applicants.
  Programs such as Nevada Partners provide an invaluable service to 
southern Nevada and all of its communities. Providing individuals with 
work greatly enhances their self-esteem, their sense of responsibility 
and citizenship. Employment is a key factor, as we know, in reducing 
drug use, crime, teen pregnancy, and other social ills that affect all 
of America. This program saves untold amounts of money in our criminal 
justice system, our welfare system, and our educational system.
  Mr. President, I believe that people want to lead productive lives, 
not collect handouts. I think it is programs like this that we, the 
Government, can use as a model to develop successful welfare-to-work 
programs. I look forward to the debate that is coming soon dealing with 
welfare and to talking with my colleagues about the program that has 
worked in Nevada, a program that we can use to help formulate what we 
need to do to reform welfare on the Federal level.
  Mr. President, I look forward to working with my colleagues in the 
ensuing months to formulate welfare-to-work proposals that include and 
incorporate programs that are working--programs like Nevada Partners.
  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, are we in morning business?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. We are in morning business.

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