[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E384-E385]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  JOB TRAINING IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 2, 2005

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 27) 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 of Minnesota. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 
27, the so-called Job Training Improvement Act of 2005.

[[Page E385]]

  Millions of Americans are unemployed today and finding it harder to 
get a job. According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and 
Economic Development, job seekers in Minnesota still out-number 
unfilled jobs by two-to-one.
  Unfortunately, H.R. 27 does nothing to put people back to work. It 
doesn't shorten the lists of people waiting to use the resources at my 
one stops. It won't meet the needs of the approximately 8,000 Minnesota 
youth who can't get WIA job-related services every year. Instead, this 
bill unravels the very programs that ensure these workers have the 
skills and training they need to find high paying, long-term jobs.
  H.R. 27 eliminates targeted programs designed to help both dislocated 
workers and unemployed adults find a job. It block grants dedicated 
assistance forcing low-income workers and welfare recipients to compete 
with dislocated workers for the same limited federal resources.
  This bill eliminates dedicated funding for job search services, like 
Minnesota's Job Bank, which assists thousands of Minnesotans. This 
funding 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.
  In addition, H.R. 27 does nothing to ensure that these limited funds 
are used for training. It allows governors to take money away from 
adult education and veterans' job programs and use it to cover 
bureaucratic costs. Sadly, it also restricts youth funding to out-of-
school youth. This will devastate the Building Lives Program, which 
Ramsey County uses to provide job training services to troubled teens 
during school hours.
  Most concerning, however, is that this bill repeals basic civil 
rights protections for employees of job training programs by allowing 
organizations that receive Federal job-training funds to discriminate 
on the basis of religion.
  I speak as a person who was brought up by a Lutheran mother and a 
Catholic father. I remember when my mother went to church to see her 
little girl receive her first communion and wasn't made to feel 
welcome. I don't want to go back to those days. I don't want the 
children I represent to know how it feels to be kept from fulfilling 
their dreams or meet their potential because someone doesn't like the 
church, mosque or synagogue you attend. Yet, this bill leads our 
country in that direction.
  Mr. Chairman, I strongly believe that we must strengthen our 
workforce investment system to help Minnesotans get back to work. H.R. 
27, however, fails to meet that goal and at the same time encourages 
rolling back civil rights protections. I urge my colleagues to reject 
this bill today.

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