[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 96 (Thursday, June 24, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5441-S5442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. HAGAN:
  S. 3529. A bill to require that certain Federal job training and 
career education programs give priority to programs that provide an 
industry-recognized and nationally portable credential; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, today, I am proud to introduce an 
important piece of legislation to spur job growth across America. The 
American Manufacturing Efficiency and Retraining Investment 
Collaboration Achievement Works Act also known as the AMERICA Works Act 
is part of the solution to the Nation's unemployment problem.
  With the national unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, and at 10.8 
percent in my home state of North Carolina, we need to do everything we 
can to reinvigorate the American workforce.
  The United States needs a strong technical workforce. Our country is 
facing a widening skills gap between older workers with advanced 
technical skills who will be retiring in the next few years, and the 
younger workers who have not yet received adequate training to replace 
them. The benefits of industry-recognized credentials are widely known, 
but too often those credentials do not count toward educational 
requirements, do not match the needs of local employers, or require too 
much time to earn just one credential. Ultimately, the system ends up 
breaking down, to the detriment of instructors, employers, and 
employees.
  The AMERICA Works Act would give priority to Federal job training 
programs that provide an industry-recognized and nationally-portable 
credential. The legislation encourages national industries to come 
together and agree upon common standards, defining the skill sets 
needed in employees. Once industries have agreed upon standards, they 
can work with educational institutions to turn the standards into 
workable curriculums with tiered or stackable credentials. Ultimately, 
local workforce boards can help workers seeking training and employment 
opportunity by directing them toward job training programs that have 
priority under existing Federal programs.
  The AMERICA Works Act would require certain Federal job training and 
career development education programs to give priority to programs that 
provide an industry-recognized and nationally-portable credential. This 
credentialing system starts out with basic competencies that prepare 
individuals for the workplace. Once basic competencies are completed, 
individuals can work toward high performance technical competencies and 
then progress further to highly skilled technical and management 
competencies. The credentialing levels are stackable, allowing workers 
flexibility along their career tracks. Stackable credentials provide 
straight forward paths, with clear entry and exit points, for workers 
to advance their careers and attain high quality jobs.
  In North Carolina, we have an advanced manufacturing skills program 
at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem. Forsyth 
Technical Community College is participating in the National 
Association of Manufacturers Endorsed Skills Certification System, 
which offers credit programs toward nationally-recognized, stackable 
credentials. Currently, they have 207 students enrolled in their 
programs. Forsyth Technical has already collaborated with State and 
local businesses to begin the process of incorporating their 
credentials into job descriptions. They believe that introducing 
graduates with skill certifications into the local workforce will help 
improve the hiring process, and these nationally-recognized credentials 
will increase employment opportunities.
  The AMERICA Works Act will benefit business. When businesses clearly 
identify skills they need in their employees, educational institutions 
can tailor programs to teach those skills and workers will be better 
suited to meet their needs--starting on day one.
  This legislation will benefit workers. Stackable credentials benefit 
workers by offering several on-ramps and off-ramps to a two-year 
technical degree: workers in training can exit the system having earned 
a basic, industry-recognized credential that qualifies them for 
employment, but without having completed the full two-year technical 
degree, and they can easily re-enter the system later to move up within 
their field and work toward the more advanced degree.
  The AMERICA Works Act will benefit educational programs. Local 
educational institutes want to provide their students with the most 
useful skills possible. Open lines of communication between businesses, 
workforce boards and workers will better enable them to do just that.
  This legislation will benefit local economies. Local workforce boards 
will have the chance to determine which skills training programs are 
most valuable for their region, today and into the future. Local areas 
with well-trained workforces can more effectively lure new businesses. 
While this bill mentions manufacturing, it would benefit any industry 
that meets the criteria established in the legislation.
  I want to do everything I can to create jobs and make sure our 
workers have the skills needed to help our businesses grow and thrive. 
By incentivizing companies to work with educational institutes and 
develop industry-recognized, nationally-portable,

[[Page S5442]]

and stackable credentialing curricula, we can ensure that we have the 
best businesses, with the best workers, trained at the best institutes.
  I urge my other colleagues to join me in supporting this important 
bill to enhance employment opportunity for hardworking Americans.
                                 ______