[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 73 (Thursday, May 15, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E957-E958]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         WORKFORCE REINVESTMENT AND ADULT EDUCATION ACT OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RAHM EMANUEL

                              of illinois

                    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:


[[Page E958]]


  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Chairman, last week the House of Representatives 
passed the Workforce Investment Act, a reauthorization bill short-
changing job training programs in America. A current beneficiary of WIA 
funds is the Youth Community Technology Program administered by Korean 
American Community Services on the northwest side of Chicago. I am very 
proud to represent this organization in Congress because it has a 
proven record of success by helping hundreds of young people in my 
district learn how to build and maintain computers, gain valuable 
experience through internships in area non-profit organizations, and 
benefit from the experience and companionship of professionals working 
in the information technology industry.
  Regrettably, the Youth Community Technology Program recently lost all 
WIA support to serve students, and funding to serve youth not in school 
was severely reduced. The consequences of diminished federal investment 
in youth workforce development are easily observed at the local level: 
Eight of 29 local WIA youth programs for in-school youth, including the 
Youth Community Technology Program, were eliminated in response to a 20 
percent cut in federal WIA Youth Program appropriations in fiscal year 
2003. As a result of these cuts, more than 150 youth were enrolled in 
these programs. These young people will not have the opportunities 
provided to Mario Argueta, one of my constituents and a participant in 
the Youth Community Technology Program. Without these important 
programs, young people like Mario could join the ranks of the more than 
80,000 Chicago youth ages 16 to 24 who have dropped out of school and 
remain out of work or are at risk to violence, delinquency, early 
pregnancy, and dependency.
  The bill passed by the House last week cuts WIA Youth Program formula 
funds, and this could have a direct impact young Americans like Mario 
and the community organizations that serve them. Young people deserve 
increased federal investment in education and training, not another 
funding cut. Additionally, diverting one quarter of WIA Youth Program 
formula funds to create discretionary ``Challenge Grants'' would result 
in yet another round of severe cuts for local providers who depend on 
this money to serve youth like Mario. Any new grant created through 
reauthorization of the WIA Youth Program must be created with 
additional funds, not by diverting formula funds, in order to allow 
providers who are already meeting the challenge to continue their 
critical work.
  The United States is currently experiencing a jobs recession in which 
2.5 million Americans have lost their jobs in the last two years, 
including two million in the manufacturing sector. Unemployment in 
Illinois has reached 6.6 percent with 17,400 jobs lost in the last 
month alone. It is important now more than ever to ensure that the 
unemployed and those workers who want to improve their skills and 
participate in the new economy can look forward,to a future in which 
they can achieve the American dream for themselves and their families.
  Mr. Chairman, Mario Argueta is a young man pursuing that dream. He 
wrote the following letter about how the Youth Community Technology 
Program has changed his life for the better and which I now submit for 
the Record.

              The Way My Life Is Going Now Is Just Perfect

   (By Mario Argueta, participant in the Youth Community Technology 
                                Program)

       My name is Mario Argueta. I was born in the city of Chicago 
     during the summer of 1985. When I was 2 and a half months old 
     my mother sent me to live with my grandmom in Guatemala. I 
     grew up over there and did pretty well in school. I completed 
     eighth grade, then my mom decided to bring me back to the 
     United States.
       I came back to the Chicago to live with my mom, when I was 
     13 years old. Because of language problems, I had to repeat 
     the 8th grade. I attended Irving Park Middle School for 4 
     months. I graduated from eighth grade, then I started going 
     to Edwin G Foreman H.S. It was difficult for me, because I 
     did not speak English and could hardly understand. I was 
     doing really badly, my grades were very low, and I had a lot 
     of problems at home. I dropped out of high school because 1 
     got desperate and felt that I could not improve. But I knew I 
     was a good kid with no bad habits. I was smart and also 
     respectful to people. I realized that I needed some help.
       Someone told me about Antonia Pantoja Alternative High 
     School. I applied, passed the entrance test, and started 
     attending that school. My grades started to improve because 
     of all the help I was getting. There were a lot of people 
     helping me in class, after school, during lunch, and 
     sometimes on Saturdays. I accepted the help because I wanted 
     a good future. My social worker at Antonia Pantoja told me 
     about Youth Community Technology Program (YCTP). When I got 
     in touch with them, I found out that my old English teacher 
     at Antonia Pantoja was working as the education coordinator 
     at YCTP.
       After being accepted into the program, I went to YCTP after 
     school, four days a week, for about three months. I had a 
     good time, and learned a lot about computers. After teaching 
     me how to build computers and maintain operating systems, 
     YCTP matched me with an internship. Right now, I am working 
     on the internship at a non-profit agency called ``Computers 
     For Schools''. So far, everything is going great. While 
     working there I have gained a lot of skills in different 
     areas, especially in hardware. Sometimes we work on machines 
     that need network cards, sound cards, or video cards. 
     Sometimes we have to ``ghost hard drives,'' which means copy 
     an operating system to them, or sometimes wipe the hard-
     drives. I have fixed more than 25 machines. I work with a 
     variety of systems. Now, I can understand a lot of things 
     that I wouldn't have even imagined before. I have work 
     experience to put on my resume, and am also giving something 
     back to the community.
       My long-term goal is to get a degree from a college and 
     make the rest of my life comfortable. I still attend Antonia 
     Pantoja right now and will graduate in two more semesters, 
     but I'm close enough to feel like a winner already. Even 
     though I am still learning a lot of things, the way my life 
     is going now is just perfect.

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