[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 21, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       JOB CORPS 50TH ANNIVERSARY

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                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 21, 2015

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate Job Corps on the 
occasion of its fiftieth anniversary.
  Five decades ago, President Lyndon Johnson stood before Congress and 
challenged us to end poverty in the United States. Job Corps is a 
critical part of the answer to that challenge. Since 1965, the program 
has helped level the playing field for more than two million 
disadvantaged young men and women through its 125 centers across 48 
states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
  Young people come to Job Corps unsure about their future and often in 
need of a second chance. When they graduate, they are ready to take on 
the challenges and opportunities of the adult world. Put simply, Job 
Corps changes lives for the better.
  Job Corps is not like other career preparation programs. It does not 
just train and educate its participants. It instills in them 
discipline, structure, and the social skills they need to be successful 
in their lives.
  I had the honor of taking part in the opening of Connecticut's very 
first Job Corps center in New Haven in 1996. A year later, I returned 
to serve as graduation speaker. I was amazed at how far the students 
had come.
  Today, the New Haven Job Corps center is among the best in the 
nation. Armed with the right skills, its alumni pursue careers 
everywhere from Yale-New Haven Hospital to the Department of Homeland 
Security.
  Job Corps successfully places more than three quarters of its 
graduates in higher education programs or careers. Thanks to this track 
record of achievement, our nation now has many more skilled young 
people ready for careers as emergency medical technicians, chefs, 
nurses, carpenters, entrepreneurs, and all kinds of other vocations.
  No investment is more critical than investment in our human capital. 
If we want to compete in the global economy, we must invest in the 
workers of tomorrow and give them the skills they need to succeed. For 
half a century, Job Corps has been doing just that.
  I could not be more proud of the role I have played, as Chair and 
Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee that funds Job Corps, 
in supporting the program. I congratulate Job Corps, its staff, and its 
many graduates on fifty years of success.

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