[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 148 (Thursday, September 21, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1831]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   STATEMENT REGARDING THE JOB CORPS

                                 ______


                           HON. PAT WILLIAMS

                               of montana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 21, 1995

  Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to take this opportunity to 
clarify the legislative intent of H.R. 1617 regarding the Job Corps 
Program.
  The committee did not include Job Corps as part of the block grant 
consolidation proposed in H.R. 1617. After numerous hearings, site 
visits, and debate, the committee determined that Job Corps is one of 
the few Federal programs that is most cost-effectively administered at 
the national level. The committee strongly believes that Job Corps 
should remain a distinct, national program for the following reasons:
  Job Corps is effective. Historically, the young people served by Job 
Corps are America's poorest and most at-risk. Their needs have not been 
met by their schools, families, communities, or State governments. Job 
Corps, through its comprehensive residential education and training 
components, is extremely effective in dealing with this difficult 
population. In fact, in program year 1994--July 1994-June 1995--73 
percent of all participants were placed into jobs or advanced to higher 
education.
  Job Corps provides universal access. By virtue of being a national 
program, Job Corps allows equal, universal access to all young people 
eligible for the program, regardless of their residence. There are no 
constraints of State boundaries. In fact, a substantial amount--roughly 
35 percent of all Job Corps students attend centers not located in 
their State.
  Low administrative costs. As currently operated, Job Corps has 
minimal bureaucratic overhead. There are 179 Federal staffs that 
oversee services to almost 65,000 youth annually at 110 centers 
nationwide. It would make no sense to create 50 separate State 
bureaucracies to administer approximately 2 Job Corps centers per 
State.
  Job Corps is accountable. Given its size and cost, Job Corps must be 
accountable to Congress. Today, Job Corps has the most extensive 
performance standards of any job training program. Job Corps measures 
student advancement in academics, vocational completion, and job 
placement rate as well as the starting salary once they leave the Job 
Corps. This is done for every one of Job Corps' 65,000 students each 
year. In addition, Job Corps has now instituted student surveys to 
assess student perceptions of the program and campus safety.
  Local input with a national focus. Job Corps is unique from other 
Federal training programs in its uniformity across the Nation. This has 
allowed the program to develop a cost-effective and efficient system to 
serve both the local and national needs of Job Corps students. Each Job 
Corps campus is required by law and regulation to develop community 
linkages, local support groups, and participation. Students are 
referred to and from other State programs and services. The national 
network of placement services offered through the international labor 
unions and the National Association of Home Builders allow Job Corps 
graduates access to job markets across the Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, while the goal of H.R. 1617 is to consolidate the vast 
array of job training and education programs into a more cohesive 
structure that makes sense to participants, to service providers, to 
the Congress, and most importantly to the American taxpayer, we did not 
want to eliminate programs that operate effectively. Job Corps is one 
program the committee felt was best kept at the national level. As the 
old adage goes ``if it ain't broke, don't fix it.''

                          ____________________