[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 96 (Friday, July 21, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           JOB CORPS EXPERIENCE PAYS OFF FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE

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                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 20, 2000

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the 
good work that is being done by the Job Corps program that is run by 
the Department of Labor. The Job Corps serves low-income young women 
and men, ages 16 through 24, who are in need of additional educational, 
vocational and social skills training, and other support services in 
order to gain meaningful employment, return to school or enter the 
Armed Forces.
  I am proud that my district is home to the Keystone Job Corps Center 
of Drums, Pennsylvania. At a Job Corps advisory meeting in Pennsylvania 
earlier this year, a member of the Transportation Communications 
International Union, or TCU, which represents many Job Corps employees, 
presented me with an e-mail written by Dawn Day, a young woman from 
rural Maine. Ms. Day recently graduated from the Potomac Job Corps 
Center, and I think she provides an excellent example of the good 
results that this program produces. I would like to enter a portion of 
that e-mail into the Record.

       Between my salary and my moving I should make over $50,000 
     this year. This is a way more money than I have ever dreamed 
     of making.
       My first knowledge of TCU was at a conference in 
     Indianapolis, Indiana, where I met with students from other 
     schools. From there I contacted the TCU to set up an 
     interview. The interviewer, Tom Huster, told me about a 
     student in Florida who was making $14.22 an hour and my jaw 
     hit the ground. I told a friend ``I'm going to have a job 
     like that when I leave here,'' Little did I realize that one 
     year later, I would have a job exactly like that in 
     Jacksonville, Florida. Now, one more year later, I have a job 
     paying about $45,000 to $50,000 per year in New York. I never 
     could have imagined that TCU would open such great doors for 
     me.
       Before PJCC and TCU, I was working in a fish factory in a 
     tiny town in Maine making $5.33/hour. When the opportunity 
     was upon me to go to TCU in St. Louis, I though of a zillion 
     reasons why I shouldn't go. The small-town girl in a big 
     city, you know, the usual excuses associated with change. But 
     there was one thing that made me realize I had to go, I never 
     wanted to look back and say ``What if'' and know I didn't 
     even try. I knew I could always come home but I may not 
     always have an opportunity to do anything like this ever 
     again. So, I was soon on a plane and on my way to TCU.
       The best advice to a student interested in TCU would have 
     to be stay focused. There will be many mountains in which you 
     will have to climb in order to reach your goals. But I 
     guarantee that after each mountain there will be a sunny day 
     waiting for you on the other sides.

  Mr. Speaker, I think Ms. Day's experience is a tremendous example of 
why we need to encourage other young people to participate in this 
program and other training programs through Job Corps.
  I send my best wishes to the students, graduates and employees of the 
Job Corps and my wishes for continued success.

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