[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 69 (Friday, May 9, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E925-E926]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         WORKFORCE REINVESTMENT AND ADULT EDUCATION ACT OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. JAMES R. LANGEVIN

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 8, 2003

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1261) to 
     enhance the workforce investment system of the Nation by 
     strengthening one-stop career centers, providing for more 
     effective governance arrangements, promoting access to a more 
     comprehensive array of employment, training, and related 
     services, establishing a targeted approach to serving youth, 
     and improving performance accountability, and for other 
     purposes:

  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1261, the 
reauthorizing legislation for the Workforce Investment Act. This bill 
will not benefit people with disabilities and other Americans who are 
seeking to secure jobs that increase self-sufficiency and integration 
into the mainstream of community life.
  For years, state vocational rehabilitation programs have provided 
optimal service with minimal funding. In 2001, 233,000 individuals with 
disabilities entered the workforce with the help of VR. Those 
individuals earned $3.4 billion in wages and paid nearly $1 billion in 
State and Federal taxes. The success rate for VR programs nationally is 
69 percent--higher than most other government programs providing 
services to adults. And after 3 years of job placement, 76 percent of 
those individuals continue to be gainfully employed.
  H.R. 1261 grants governors unrestricted access to funds specifically 
intended for VR and other essential programs to use for one-stop

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center infrastructure, with no assurances that people with disabilities 
or other target populations would continue to benefit from the funds. 
One-stop centers, while effective in certain populations, are not 
programmatically--or in many cases, physically--accessible for people 
with disabilities.
  In this time of state budget constraints, 37 state VR agencies are 
operating under such limited resources that they have instituted an 
``order of selection'' policy, serving people with the most severe 
disabilities first. They are being forced to leave behind increasing 
numbers of eligible individuals who want to work. H.R. 1261 would 
exacerbate this situation, by taking funds from the successful VR 
programs to fund programs that cannot reach their target population. In 
light of the unemployment crisis faced by our Nation and staggering 70 
percent unemployment rate in the disability community, it is critical 
that we preserve the funding stream for VR programs.
  Please vote against H.R. 1261.

                          ____________________