[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 120 (Thursday, September 11, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9216-S9218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE:
  S. 1170. A bill to establish a training voucher system, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources.


           the working american training voucher act of 1997

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President. I rise today to introduce legislation that 
will address a serious need of America's workers: The need to receive 
training that will prepare individuals for the workplace of the 21st 
century. My legislation, entitled the ``Working American Training 
Voucher Act,'' would provide $1,000 training vouchers to 1 million 
working men and women who typically have little or no access to 
employer-provided training.
  Mr. President, many Federal programs focus on the needs of those 
whose challenges and difficulties are most easily recognized and 
tangible. When we see a hungry child, an unemployed adult, or an 
impoverished senior citizen, we justifiably want to reach out and do 
what we can to help. Indeed, I am proud to be an active voice for those 
whose challenges and pains we can sometimes only imagine. However, it 
is oftentimes difficult to recognize the needs of those whose 
challenges are less tangible, whose concerns are less evident, or whose 
sense of insecurity about the future is known only by the individual 
and their family.
  It is this difficulty that confronts many American workers today. In 
the face of increasing global competition, many workers wonder if the 
job they have today will be there for them tomorrow. They are concerned 
that the advent of new technologies is making their skills and talents 
less useful for their current employers which, in turn, makes them feel 
more vulnerable and expendable. And they wonder if the skills they 
posses today are even marketable if they are downsized or otherwise put 
out of work.
  Unfortunately, these types of concerns and anxieties oftentimes do 
not show on the surface, so it can be difficult for others to recognize 
or address them. It is too easy for many to assume that because a man 
or woman is already holding down a job, all is well and his or her 
future is secure. After all, how bad can it be if you're punching a 
time clock and getting a paycheck? Unfortunately, such a view is not 
only shortsighted, it is also misguided and could prove disastrous.
  We should not wait until a worker has been laid off from their job, 
or a company shuts its doors and shutters its windows, to take steps to 
help the American worker. Rather, we should take steps to ensure that 
our Nation's work force is confident of their future and feels prepared 
to address the changes that tomorrow will bring. Not only does this 
help the individual, but I think we would all agree that the best way 
to reduce the impact and cost of unemployment is to take steps to keep 
those who are already employed on the job.
  Admittedly, many policies and decisions play an integral role in 
creating a vibrant job market. The tax burden we place on businesses, 
the trade agreements we sign with foreign governments, and the 
regulatory load we place on employers all have a significant impact on 
our economy's ability to produce and sustain good jobs. However, for 
the individual, many of these polices seem too macro to have an impact 
on their own employment prospects. In fact, an individual may not even 
recognized the direct impact these broader policies have on their job 
from day to day.
  There is, however, one issue that truly strikes at the heart of how 
an individual feels about the future: The degree to which he or she 
knows that their skills match the needs of their

[[Page S9217]]

current employer or other prospective employers in the marketplace. 
Without this knowledge, it does not matter to an individual if the 
unemployment rate is as low as economists consider the natural rate of 
unemployment or if the newspapers tell him or her that the economy 
couldn't be better. The simple fact is that unless an individual 
personally feels that their skills are up-to-date and marketable, there 
will never be a complete sense of security on the job from one day to 
the next.
  And that's what the legislation I am introducing today is all about. 
The Working American Training Voucher Act addresses the needs of the 
average American worker--the individual who has a job today, but 
doesn't know if he or she has the skills needed for the jobs of 
tomorrow. The person who's collecting a paycheck now, but is concerned 
that the rapidly changing work environment may put an end to that soon.
  Mr. President, we all know new technologies and new products are 
entering the workplace at an unprecedented rate and the changes these 
technologies bring are substantial. Few professions and few jobs have 
gone untouched by these changes--and even fewer will be immune from 
change in the future. Indeed, just as computers have changed the face 
of manufacturing, they have also changed the world of art and design. 
Even labor intensive tasks at assembly shops have taken on a high-tech 
flair thanks to new technologies.

  For an individual who understands these technologies or received 
training in their use, these changes present exciting new opportunities 
that improve performance and ultimately give one a sense of assurance 
that their skills are in demand. But for those who do not understand 
these technologies or do not receive training in their use, these 
technologies are nothing more than a threat and cause for anxiety.
  Regrettably, even as the demand for training at all levels in the 
workplace continues to grow because of these changing technologies, the 
United States has historically lagged far behind our global competitors 
in training workers. In fact, a study by the Congressional Office of 
Technology Assessment concluded: ``When measured by international 
standards, most American workers are not well trained.''
  While some U.S. companies devote a substantial amount of money to 
training, many of our global competitors spend considerably more. A 
study by the American Society for Training and Development highlighted 
this point when it found that U.S. companies spend--in the aggregate--
approximately 1.4 percent of their payroll on training, while a number 
of our competitor nations actually require companies to spend 2 to 4 
percent. While I would not espouse a mandatory training budget for any 
business, I believe we can and should seek to improve the availability 
of training for our Nation's workers--and especially for those who need 
it most but are least likely to receive it. And that's precisely who 
the working American training voucher is designed to reach.
   Mr. President, the working American training voucher would provide 
access to critically needed training for workers at businesses with 200 
or fewer employees. Why is it targeted to workers in small businesses? 
Quite simply, because these are the individuals who are the least 
likely to receive--or be offered--employer-provided training. The same 
report by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment summarized 
the plight of employees at small businesses quite succinctly: ``Many 
(employees) in smaller firms receive no formal training.''
  A recent report--completed by Prof. Craig Olson at the University of 
Wisconsin-Madison and presented to the Senate Manufacturing Task Force 
this past September--looked at the difference between the likelihood an 
individual would receive training and the level of educational 
achievement he or she attained, or the field he or she chose to enter. 
Dr. Olson's study found that individuals with a bachelor's or master's 
degree had a 50 percent chance of receiving training in the past year, 
while individuals with a high school diploma had only a 17 percent 
chance. Those who dropped out of high school fared even worse; their 
odds of receiving training were only 5 percent.
  When viewed by occupation, individuals who worked in production- or 
service-related jobs had only a 16 percent and 18 percent chance of 
receiving training respectively, while those in management had a 50 
percent chance. When considering that only one in four American workers 
received training in the past 12 months, these odds don't bode well for 
many employees at small businesses whose educational attainment and 
occupations fall in the categories that are the least likely to receive 
training.
  One might understandably ask: Why is it that small businesses often 
provide so little training? The answer: cost. Small businesses are 
quite often unable to afford the cost of sending an employee to a 
training program. When your business is just trying to make ends meet, 
it's impossible to send an employee to a training class that costs the 
business both money and time away from work.
   Mr. President, the working American training voucher is designed to 
address this problem in a straightforward and efficient way. These 
vouchers--valued at up to $1,000 each--would be made available to 
employees at small businesses through the existing job training system 
that is already in place as a result of the Job Training Partnership 
Act, or JTPA. As my colleagues in the Senate know, State and local 
governments--joined by the private sector--have primary responsibility 
for the development, management, and administration of job training 
programs in the JTPA, so no new distribution network would be necessary 
to conduct this voucher program.
  The only major requirement for receiving a voucher would be that the 
employee and employer must agree on the specific training that will be 
purchased with the voucher. This will ensure that the training will be 
targeted specifically to the needs of the individual and the business--
money would not be spent on generic training programs that teach skills 
that are of little, if any, use in a particular field or job. 
Furthermore, such an agreement will ensure that workers are actively 
engaged in pursuing training that will help their careers, even as 
employers will be urging employees to undertake training that will help 
the business.
  The Senate Labor Committee will soon be preparing legislation to 
recraft and consolidate many of our federally-run job training programs 
in the JTPA. I am greatly concerned that none of our current 128 job 
training programs is specifically targeted to training for currently 
employed individuals--and I believe that the working American training 
voucher would fill this void for those who need access to this training 
the most. Therefore, I am hopeful that my legislation and this concept 
will be incorporated in the job training reform bill when it is 
reported from the Senate Labor Committee and is considered on the floor 
of the Senate.
  Mr. President, I believe that as we prepare our work force for the 
next century, we should be encouraging workers to develop new skills 
that will improve their longevity in their current jobs even as they 
gain confidence that their skills will be needed in the future. Not 
only will these new skills increase the confidence and performance of 
the individual worker, but they will also improve the productivity of 
the business who employs them. And we all know that if we improve a 
business' productivity and output, that business is more likely to 
survive and thrive--which means that this voucher may ultimately assist 
in preserving businesses and jobs in the long run.
  Furthermore, better skills and training will ensure that individuals 
are able to rapidly transition to new jobs in the unfortunate event 
their current job is lost for reasons beyond their control. Regardless 
of how favorable the Tax Code is made or how many burdensome 
regulations we remove, we will never be able to guarantee an individual 
that his or her job will be around forever. But we can provide a worker 
with access to training that will keep his or her skills up to date and 
marketable no matter what the future holds.
  Mr. President, the working American training voucher would be a 
tangible, concrete, and definable program that would address a core 
issue facing American workers. It will ensure that those who typically 
have the least access to training will be able to acquire the skills 
needed for their current jobs, while improving their jobs in the 
future. It is targeted to those who are

[[Page S9218]]

most in need of assistance, and will ensure that we no longer wait 
until an individual is out of work to provide help.
  The Federal Government often promises the American people many 
things, but we can never offer peace of mind to a worker who doesn't 
know if his or her skills are adequate to keep them employed. Let's 
take a step in the right direction and at least ensure that those who 
have a job will not lose it due to a lack of access to training and new 
skills. Let's pass the Working American Training Voucher Act.
                                 ______