[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 101 (Thursday, June 26, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4124-S4126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT

  Mr. COONS. Madam President, something important, something unusual, 
something worth noting happened this week, happened yesterday in this 
Chamber that I don't want to let pass without a few moments of comment.
  Yesterday a broad bipartisan majority of this Senate came together to 
pass the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
  First, I congratulate Senators Murray, Isakson, Harkin, and Alexander 
who led so capably on this bill. Senators Murray, a Democrat of 
Washington, and Isakson, a Republican of Georgia, spent years working 
through the details, policy, and language, and months making sure that 
they got this bill to a point where the Senate and the House in a 
bipartisan, bicameral way could adopt legislation.
  What is this about? It is about something simple, important, and 
powerful: investing in America's workforce so we can compete with 
anyone around the world in the 21st century.
  This is an area I have focused on a lot here in the Senate which I 
believe is critical to our Nation, our competitiveness, to 
strengthening our middle class, and to growing good jobs.
  In manufacturing, it is a core challenge for us to ensure that our 
workers have the training employers are looking for, and that our 
manufacturing companies are globally competitive. Manufacturing is 
important to America, to our future, to our middle class, to our 
communities, and to our families because it pays well, it drives 
innovation, it contributes greatly to other sectors in our economy and 
in communities.
  That is why a few months ago I launched the Manufacturing Jobs for 
America initiative that has brought together dozens of Senators. We 
initially pulled together Democrats from across my caucus to introduce 
34 bills, some of the best and broadest ideas we could bring to the 
table about how to accelerate America's recovery of employment and 
steady growth in manufacturing. Roughly half of these bills are 
bipartisan.
  Part of the goal of this Manufacturing Jobs for America initiative 
was to put good ideas out on the floor and get them in the mix as we 
debate things going forward. So I wish to take a moment today and 
celebrate that the ideas of many of our partners in this campaign, 
ideas drawn from many of the bills that are part of this initiative, 
ended up being important parts of the Workforce Innovation and 
Opportunity Act that was passed this week.
  Let me briefly touch on the five most important who contributed ideas 
that were embedded in this bill that passed.
  First, the Adult Education and Economic Growth Act which was 
sponsored by Senators Reed and Brown. In our rapidly changing economy, 
ensuring we can train Americans of all ages for all jobs is critical. 
Senator Reed's bill takes an important step in that direction by 
investing in adult education, expanding access to technology and 
digital literacy skills and improving the coordination of State and 
local programs.
  A bill that was endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers 
is the AMERICA Works Act, sponsored by Senators Hagan and Heller.
  Another challenge we face is ensuring employers can quickly recognize 
whether a worker has the skills they need. So Senator Hagan's bill 
helped solve this by ensuring we prioritize programs that invest in 
training that delivers portable national and industry-recognized 
credentials. This encourages job training programs to match the skills 
of workers with the needs of local employers, training individuals for 
the jobs currently available in their communities right now.
  A third bill that contributed importantly to this bill that was 
enacted here yesterday, adopted by the Senate yesterday, was the 
Community College to Career Fund Act, sponsored by Senator Franken and 
Senator Begich. Senator Franken came to the floor yesterday and gave 
another passionate, important floor speech in support of these ideas. 
It is something that as I presided--and I have been with Senator 
Franken in caucus and have heard him speak many times. It is about 
equipping workers with the skills they need by investing in 
partnerships between our community colleges and our employers. Senator 
Franken, Senator Begich, myself and others have seen this work in our 
home communities. We have seen community colleges learn from 
manufacturers what today are the actual relevant modern manufacturing 
skills they need and then deliver customized training courses that make 
a difference in the skills, in the lives, in the college affordability 
and access of those who seek to join today's manufacturing workforce.
  The fourth bill, the On-the-Job Training Act, cosponsored by Senators 
Shaheen and Cochran, contributes to the idea that we need to invest in 
on-the-job training. Because of Senator Shaheen's leadership on this 
bill, we will now make new and important investments so workers can 
learn what they need to do in the job that needs to be filled, rather 
than in an academic setting and then search the skills that may match 
the skills they learn. On-the-job training in this bill sponsored by 
Shaheen and Cochran is an important contribution to modernizing 
America's workplace skills.
  The last, the SECTORS Act, cosponsored by Senators Brown and Collins, 
is a provision that helps meet the fundamental challenge of connecting 
our schools with our businesses by requiring State and local workforce 
investment boards to establish sector-based partnerships.
  With all of these bills there is an important and common theme. In 
the 21st century, rapid economic change is a given. In order to 
compete, in order to grow our economy and grow employment, in order to 
be productive and to have a successful and growing workforce, we need 
to be able to adapt as

[[Page S4125]]

quickly as our economy does and we need to invest in modernizing the 
skills of the American worker.
  With the passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 
yesterday, we have made a strong statement that in a bipartisan way we 
are willing to invest in America's workers, the jobs of today and the 
jobs of tomorrow. This is just one of many encouraging moments here in 
the Senate that sometimes go without note or commentary in our 
communities at home, but I thought it was important to bring to the 
floor today this range of five different bills, three of them 
bipartisan, all of them strong, whose ideas were part of the package 
adopted on the floor yesterday and that I am confident will be adopted 
by the House and signed into law by our President. This Senate can, 
will, should continue to make bipartisan progress in investing in 
American manufacturing.
  I thank the Chair.
  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I strongly support the bicameral, 
bipartisan Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, WIOA. This long 
over-due reauthorization will help Americans to develop the skills 
necessary to participate in today's global economy. I would be remiss 
if I did not commend the leaders of the Senate Health, Education, Labor 
and Pensions Committee--especially Senators Harkin, Alexander, Murray, 
and Isakson--for their hard work on crafting this important jobs bill 
which will benefit job seekers and their families, employers, and the 
economy. Their House counterparts--Representatives John Kline, George 
Miller, Virginia Foxx, and Rubeen Hinojosa of the House Committee on 
Education and the Workforce--also deserve our praise and thanks.
  Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act, WIA, in 1998. It 
expired in 2003, but Congress has relied on annual appropriations bills 
to extend WIA's authorization 1 year at a time. These appropriations 
bills often have made modest policy changes. Some of the policy changes 
have been retained in subsequent years but continuity isn't guaranteed. 
This patchwork approach to improving our workforce education and 
development system is far from ideal, especially as the labor market 
changes rapidly in response to the global economy.
  As our Nation continues the long, arduous climb out of the worst 
recession since the Great Depression, effective education and workforce 
development opportunities are vital to sustaining a building and 
sustaining a vibrant middle class. The Workforce Innovation and 
Opportunity Act will allow local workforce investment boards to create 
a system which prepares workers for the 21st-century labor market and 
helps employers find the skilled labor needed to compete and create 
good jobs here in the United States.
  Let me provide a report on the workforce development progress we have 
made in Maryland. The Workforce Investment Network for Maryland is 
comprised of Maryland's 12 workforce investment area/workforce 
investment boards. The network reports assisting more than 216,000 
Marylanders with job placement assessment, job search workshops, resume 
preparation, and myriad other services from July 2012 to June 2013. 
Nearly 16,000 job seekers completed job training programs, with several 
thousand receiving nationally recognized certificates and credentials. 
Through an aggressive outreach process, the Workforce Investment 
Network for Maryland engaged more than 7,700 businesses and was able to 
match nearly 44,000 jobs seekers with employers.
  In Maryland, our local workforce investment boards know how to 
respond to the needs of the local community. The field of cyber 
security is projected to grow by 41 percent over the next 8 years, and 
jobs in this expanding field pay a median hourly wage of $38 per hour. 
Maryland is a hotbed of activity in the cyber security field since it 
is home to the U.S. Cyber Command, the National Security Agency, the 
Defense Information Systems Agency, the Navy Fleet Cyber Command, and 
hundreds of Federal contractors and private technology companies. In an 
effort to address the lack skilled cyber security workers and increase 
the number of qualified workers in the pipeline, a three-way 
partnership--the Pathways to Cybersecurity Careers Consortium--was 
created to bring together the efforts of six workforce development 
agencies, three community colleges, and the local business community. 
The partnership, led by Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation, 
was awarded a $4.9 million community-based job training grant to create 
the Pathways to Cyber Security Program. The grant was intended to 
assist 1,000 new, dislocated, underemployed, recently separated 
veterans, and incumbent workers in obtaining cyber security 
certifications identified as critical industry shortages by regional 
businesses and government agencies. I am proud to report that nearly 
1,150 workers have received training in the program, 755 program 
participants have received cyber security certifications, and 721 
program graduates have been hired by an employer or improved their 
skills with an existing employer. Some of the graduates of the cyber 
security programs have begun to work with a number of Federal agencies 
in my home State.
  As I have traveled across Maryland, I have seen firsthand the 
positive effect of effective programs in action. This past March, I had 
the opportunity to visit students at Chesapeake College's Continuing 
Education & Workforce Training Culinary Arts Program. The students in 
the culinary arts program learn the principles of food preparation, 
obtain a nationally recognized safe food handling certificate, and 
finish the program ready to enter the workforce in local area hotels 
and restaurants. Having tasted a number of dishes the students 
prepared, I can tell you their training is going well. I was impressed 
by the dedication and enthusiasm of the students. One of them travels 
more than 2 hours by bus, one way, to attend class each day. I am 
confident these men and women will continue to hone their skills and 
enhance their employment prospects.
  Our Nation's at-risk youth present special challenges we must 
overcome. Aaron Sierak, a resident of Aberdeen, MD, dropped out of high 
school during his junior year. After he became discouraged about his 
future and expressed a desire to change, he learned about the 
Reconnecting Youth dropout recovery program run by the Harford County 
Public Schools in partnership with the Susquehanna Workforce Network. 
The Susquehanna Workforce Network helped Aaron obtain his GED, enroll 
in Harford Community College, and obtain a Pell grant to help cover the 
cost of his first year of tuition. Aaron now plans to obtain an 
associate's degree and registered nursing certification so he can find 
work in a high-demand--and rewarding--occupation.
  The Workplace Innovation and Opportunity Act improves upon the 
existing youth services that helped put Aaron back on a path to 
economic mobility and a middle-class livelihood. WIOA places a priority 
on out-of-school youth by requiring that 75 percent of youth services 
funding at the State and local level be targeted to career pathways for 
youth, dropout recovery efforts, and education and training programs 
that lead to the attainment of a high school diploma and a recognized 
postsecondary credential.
  The Workplace Innovation and Opportunity Act is bipartisan, bicameral 
legislation that will improve our workforce development system and help 
put Americans back to work, preparing workers for the 21st-century 
workforce and helping businesses find the skilled employees they need 
to compete and create even more domestic jobs. WIOA creates a 
streamlined workforce development system by eliminating 15 existing 
duplicative programs. It applies a single set of outcome metrics to 
every Federal workforce program under the act. It creates smaller, 
nimbler, and more strategic State and local workforce development 
boards. It integrates intake, case management, and reporting systems 
and strengthens program evaluations. And it eliminates the ``sequence 
of services.'' Finally, WIOA empowers local boards to tailor services 
to their region's employment and workforce needs with on-the-job, 
incumbent worker, and customized training and pay-for-performance 
contracts.
  According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the 
Workforce, by 2022 the supply of United States workers with 
postsecondary

[[Page S4126]]

education--including 6.8 million workers with bachelor's degrees and 
4.3 million workers with a postsecondary vocational certificate, some 
college credits, or an associate's degree--will fall short of the 
demand for workers with those credentials by 11 million. This mismatch 
will impede our economic growth and harm our international 
competitiveness. It also represents a huge lost opportunity for 
millions of hard-working Americans and their families. To maintain our 
position as the world's economic leader, we need to educate and train 
our workers to fill the skilled jobs of the knowledge-based economy. 
And the workforce development system needs to pivot from short-term 
crisis intervention to long-term human capital development. WIOA does 
that, and the substitute amendment the Senate has passed demonstrates 
that here in Congress, we can come together to work on legislation that 
will boost the economic recovery and help all Americans.

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