[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 14 (Tuesday, February 24, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E200-E201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 THE SKILLED WORKFORCE ENHANCEMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES M. TALENT

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 24, 1998

  Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to make the point that as this 
Nation prepares for the 21st century, we are facing a severe shortage 
of skilled workers in the metalworking industry. For years we have 
relied on inefficient, big-government programs to train our workforce. 
This approach has obviously failed and the time has come to change.
  The metalworking industry covers precision machinists, die makers, 
mold makers, as well as tool and die designers. These workers can make 
just about anything. They produce the parts that are shipped off to 
larger companies, such as Ford Motor Co. or Boeing, just to name a 
couple of examples. If you ask a person in the industry ``What do you 
make?'', he'll respond, ``What do you want?'' and proceed to produce 
your tailor-made products. These companies are the backbone of 
manufacturing in America. Without them, mass production of manufactured 
goods would not be possible. That is why it is imperative we act to 
help this industry recruit and train new skilled workers. Something 
must be done.
  In my district in St. Louis, we have a large number of small 
precision machining plants. These plants have good jobs available at 
good pay but cannot find trained employees. The tax burdens placed on 
these small firms makes it nearly impossible for most of them to even 
consider taking on the high costs of training new workers themselves.
  The Department of Labor estimates that the need for skilled labor in 
these trades is 2 percent annually of the current workforce. But with 
little new blood entering the industry, that percentage climbs to 5 
percent when you take into account the aging factor. Indeed, the 
majority of workers in the industry are fast approaching retirement 
age.

[[Page E201]]

  If we fail to alleviate this shortage of skilled workers, we will 
soon see the Ford Motor Cos. and Boeings take their business overseas 
to foreign competitors who have sufficient labor, while American 
businesses just disappear.
  On January 27, I introduced H.R. 3110, the Skilled Workforce 
Enhancement Act, to return power and resources back to these small 
business owners so that they can address their need for new skilled 
workers. My bill would allow these small shop entrepreneurs to train 
people in their own plants. Currently, such training is cost-
prohibitive to most small businesses. H.R. 3110 would allow the 
employer to train an individual through an 8,000 hour, 4-year 
apprenticeship program and, after completion, the trainee would be 
hired on for at least 1 year. In exchange, the employer will receive a 
tax credit of up to 80 percent of the wages paid to the apprentice, 
starting after the 5th year, in 20 percent increments for 5 years. The 
newly trained employee will have already been paying taxes for 5 years 
before the employer begins to receive the credit.
  We need to pass this bill because it will: I. Provide a needed 
incentive to have the people who know the industry train the next 
generation of skilled workers in the metalworking trades; II. shift the 
responsibility of training from the bureaucracy to the private sector; 
III. encourage us to keep jobs in this country rather than recruiting 
from overseas; and IV. give small business some much-needed tax relief.
  I would like to thank my constituent, Mr. Bill Bachman, Sr. of 
Bachman Machine Co., Inc. of St. Louis, MO, for his research, hard 
work, and most of all, his persistence in getting this legislation 
introduced. It is a workable solution that he and Mike Mittler of 
Mittler Bros. Machine & Tool proposed to help solve a real, and 
increasingly urgent problem in their industry. I would also like to 
thank John Cox and Becky Anderson of the National Tooling and Machining 
Association for their assistance on this issue. And I thank my 
colleagues, Representatives Ron Paul (R-TX) and Steven LaTourette (R-
OH) for being original cosponsors of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, we have people who need good jobs and good jobs waiting 
for the right people. Let's match them up. I urge all my colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle to become a cosponsor of the Skilled Workforce 
Enhancement Act.

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