[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 73 (Thursday, May 15, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E965]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         WORKFORCE REINVESTMENT AND ADULT EDUCATION ACT OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    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:

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1261, the 
Workforce Reinvestment and Adult Education Act of 2003.
  Nearly nine million Americans are unemployed today, the highest level 
in nearly a decade. Not only are there more unemployed, but people out 
of work are finding it harder to get a job. People who become 
unemployed are staying out of work for almost 20 weeks on average, the 
longest since 1984. The proportion of workers who exhaust their 
unemployment benefits before they find a new job is the highest since 
the 1970s.
  Unfortunately, H.R. 1261 does nothing to put people back to work. It 
instead unravels the very programs that ensure these workers have the 
skills and training they need to find high paying, long-term jobs.
  H.R. 1261 eliminates targeted programs designed to help both 
dislocated workers and unemployed adults find a job. It blocks grants 
dedicated to assistance, forcing low-income workers and welfare 
recipients to compete with dislocated workers for the same limited 
Federal resources.
  This bill also eliminates dedicated funding for job search services, 
like Minnesota's Job Bank, which assists thousands of Minnesotans. This 
funding also supports a rapid response system that meets the immediate 
needs of workers affected by mass layoffs. These changes threaten to 
break apart Minnesota's statewide workforce development system at the 
very time when these services are needed most to help unemployed 
workers find jobs.
  H.R. 1261 does nothing to ensure that job-training funds are used for 
training. It allows governors to take money from adult education and 
veterans' job programs to cover bureaucratic costs. It also repeals 
critical civil rights protections for employees of job training 
organizations by allowing organizations that receive Federal job-
training funds to discriminate on the basis of religion.
  Mr. Chairman, I strongly believe that we must strengthen our 
workforce investment system to help Minnesotans get back to work. H.R. 
1261, however, fails to meet that goal. I urge my colleagues to reject 
this bill today.

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