[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 112 (Tuesday, July 12, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H4663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING THE NEED FOR A 21ST CENTURY CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION 
                                 SYSTEM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank my 
colleagues on the House Education and the Workforce Committee for their 
support last week in passing a reauthorization that I offered, the Carl 
D. Perkins Act, in the form of the Strengthening Career and Technical 
Education for the 21st Century Act.
  Now, I am proud to say that this bill passed unanimously out of 
committee, which is good news because a reauthorization is badly 
needed.
  It is no secret that our country continues to face significant 
economic challenges, and it is no surprise that many men and women are 
worried about their futures and their family's future. Last week a 
Gallup poll found that 54 percent--just 54 percent--of Americans 
believed today's young people will live a better life than their 
parents.
  As a father, I can say there is nothing a parent wants more for their 
children than a life that is better than their own. When you hear that 
only half of all Americans expect their children to have a brighter 
future than they did, it becomes clear that we need to do better. And 
we can do better, not just for our own kids, but for the neighbor who 
can't find a job, the friend from church who struggles to make ends 
meet, the family that has been trapped in poverty with no pathway out, 
or the high school student who struggles and has no hope or inspiration 
that he or she has what it takes to succeed.
  With the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st 
Century Act, we have an opportunity today to advance reforms that will 
help these and many other Americans, especially young Americans, obtain 
the knowledge and skills that they need to break the cycle of poverty 
and to achieve a lifetime of success. This bill will modernize and 
improve current law to better reflect the challenges and realities 
facing students, workers, and employers.
  The bill will empower State and local leaders by simplifying the 
application process for receiving Federal funds and providing them more 
flexibility to use those resources to respond to the changing education 
and economic needs. These reforms will help State leaders focus on 
preparing students for the workforce--not duplicative or overly 
prescriptive Federal requirements--and enable them to determine the 
best way to do so.
  To increase transparency and accountability, H.R. 5587 streamlines 
performance measures to ensure secondary and post-secondary programs 
deliver results, helping students graduate, prepared to secure a good-
paying job or further their education. The bill also includes measures 
to provide students, taxpayers, and State and local leaders the 
information that they need to hold CTE programs accountable for 
delivering those results.
  Finally, H.R. 5587 will reduce the Federal role in career and 
technical education and limiting opportunities for the Federal 
Government to intervene in State and local decisions and preventing 
political favoritism.
  This is a bipartisan bill, Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle for their help in creating it. I look forward to 
seeing it on the floor of the United States House of Representatives 
hopefully in the near future.

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