[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 101 (Wednesday, June 14, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3489-S3490]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Ms. Collins, and Ms. Klobuchar):
  S. 1352. A bill to establish a tax credit for on-site apprenticeship 
programs, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon with 
my colleague from Maine to talk about an important issue, as well, 
something we had long planned to introduce today and did so this 
morning--the reintroduction of a Senate bill focusing on apprentice 
programs.
  My colleague Senator Collins and I, in the past Congress, wanted to 
make sure people understood how important we thought the apprentice 
program was, and we introduced legislation then to create a Federal 
incentive for apprentice programs. We are coming back now in this 
Congress and reintroducing this legislation.
  I know there has been a lot of talk about apprentices this week. We 
just had a roundtable discussion this morning with some of our business 
and labor leaders talking about the skills gap and the need for more 
apprentice investing as it relates to manufacturing. I know the 
President is doing some discussion of the apprentice program too. 
Obviously, it is no surprise to anybody in America that the President 
knows--or at least has used--the word ``apprentice'' in a pretty 
aggressive way throughout his career. So I hope he will tune in and 
listen to what my colleague from Maine and I have to say about this.
  We are saying that it is time in America to have a Federal priority 
on apprentices; that is, the first-ever tax incentive for hiring an 
apprentice. Why do we want a Federal priority? Because we know that in 
America we need to skill and train a workforce for tomorrow, and so 
many people in America aren't training and aren't skilling for those 
jobs.
  In the downturn of our economy, a lot of people lost faith. What 
should they invest their time and money in? There was so much 
transition in the economy that people weren't sure where they should 
skill themselves. As we see a transitioning economy now in various 
sectors, as they continue to modernize, and as technology continues to 
change, people also say to themselves: What should I skill myself in? 
What should I get trained in? Because they are not sure that, at the 
end of that period, they will be right there with what the job market 
wants. That is why apprenticeship is so important today.
  By giving a Federal incentive for the apprentice program, we are 
saying: Hire and train. We are actually saying: The apprentice program 
is earning while you learn, and it will help so many Americans take 
that issue off the table where they weren't sure whether or how they 
should skill themselves. They actually are hired and trained on the 
job.
  This is something we have known as a country for a long time. We know 
the apprentice program has worked. We have seen it across many sectors, 
in building trades and construction. We have seen it in other areas. In 
aviation, for example, in the Pacific Northwest, the Boeing Company has 
taken great advantage of the apprentice program. There are so many 
other sectors. The maritime sector has taken advantage of the 
apprentice programs. What we are saying today is that we need to make 
this a national priority in a more aggressive way. The Department of 
Labor and registered apprentice programs are part of what we make an 
investment in here in the Federal budget. But what we are not doing is 
putting it on steroids, and that is what we need to do now.
  Our legislation would create enough incentives for 500,000 new 
apprentice program individuals over the next 10 years. We think this is 
critically important because we know how much the U.S. economy needs 
these skilled workers. According to the National Skills Coalition, 53 
percent of U.S. jobs are middle-skilled, meaning that they require some 
postsecondary education. Yet only 43 percent of U.S. workers are 
trained at that level. According to the National Association of 
Manufacturers, 67 percent of their members report a shortage of 
available, qualified workers. We are going to need 3.5 million 
manufacturing jobs over the next decade, and this leaves us with a 
shortage of about 2 million.
  So we need to give our businesses the skill levels they are looking 
for so they can be competitive, so they can meet their market needs, 
and so they can make profits and help grow our economy. We can't let 
them be deterred by the fact that they have the opening and they have 
the jobs, but they just don't have the skill level. By doing an 
incentive program, we can help get a national message out: The 
apprentice program is a key part of our economic strategy, and skilling 
a workforce for the jobs of today and tomorrow is the best recipe for 
growing our economy.
  There has been an overall decline in employer-provided training over 
the last two decades. By making this investment now, we are going to 
help U.S. businesses with the investment that should be made and, 
further, as I said, expedite getting people into the programs we need 
to get them into. If we are going to be competitive and our businesses 
are going to compete in this global economy and they are going to 
continue to innovate, they need the workforce to do it.
  I think about the chip fabrication industry. Before Intel came along, 
probably no one knew how to do chip fabrication. But there was a sector 
of our economy that taught and educated people on chip manufacturing. 
That will not be the last innovation our economy sees. In aerospace, we 
have been able to, with composite manufacturing, make lighter weight 
planes. That composite was a huge shift from the aluminum that 
dominated aerospace. But composite manufacturing is a whole new skill 
level in which we are still training and educating the workforce. We 
need to compete in that sector, which is so important to manufacturing 
jobs.
  I would say that every aspect of our economy needs apprentices. But 
what does the apprentice get out of it? Not only do they get a job and 
they get to be skilled on the job, but they also earn more. Over the 
course of their career, a registered apprentice earns about $300,000 
more than a non-apprentice working in the same field. A study done by 
our State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board found 
that completing apprentices earned $13,000 more per year just as they 
started.
  So apprentices are a win-win for us and our economy. They give the 
employer the skills they are seeking to make their companies 
successful, and the individual worker gets trained and hired in a field 
that takes away this uncertainty about our economy, which has so 
plagued us over the last decade or two, and the community gets a more 
successful employment base and successful companies that add to the 
economy of a region and to our country.
  I am so glad to be here with my colleague Senator Collins, who has

[[Page S3490]]

known that this apprentice program has been a success, and that is why 
she and I have partnered for years on this program. We hope now that by 
reintroducing it and getting more of our colleagues to join in, they, 
too, will talk about why apprentices are so important today.
  We hope there is a guy down the street in the White House, who had a 
program called ``Apprentice,'' who takes seriously the bipartisan 
effort of two Senators who have been at this for a few years, and says: 
This is where we should be spending our money and making an investment 
to skill, educate, and employ Americans right now, for today.
  I yield to my colleague from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of the 
Apprenticeship and Jobs Training Act, which Senator Cantwell and I are 
reintroducing today.
  Few issues are as important to the American people as the 
availability of good jobs in our communities. It is crucial that we 
continue to improve job training initiatives to help people find jobs 
in fields with open positions. Many business owners in Maine have told 
me that they do, in fact, have jobs available, but they cannot find 
qualified workers to fill these highly skilled vacant positions. In 
fact, I cannot visit a machine shop in the State of Maine, no matter 
where it is located, and find that they are not looking for skilled 
machinists. There is such a shortage. And those are good jobs. They are 
jobs with good benefits and job security.

  One way for employees to acquire the skills needed to succeed in 
these in-demand fields is through apprenticeship programs. Apprentices 
gain hands-on experience that is invaluable to them and to their 
employers. These programs help workers secure good-paying jobs.
  According to the Department of Labor's Employment and Training 
Administration, more than 49,000 participants graduated from an 
apprenticeship program in fiscal year 2016. In Maine, we have some 
innovative job-training apprenticeship programs at places like Bath 
Iron Works, which builds naval destroyers, and the Portsmouth Naval 
Ship Yard, which has an extraordinary program. Partnering with 
employers like these and others, more than 2,220 individuals in Maine 
worked actively on industry-recognized skill certifications in just the 
last year. That number--impressive as it is--remains insufficient to 
meet the needs of employers statewide.
  We must do all we can to ensure that an adequate pool of skilled 
workers is available. Our legislation would help achieve this goal by 
giving a $5,000 tax credit to businesses that hire apprentices full 
time in high-demand mechanical, technical, healthcare, or technology 
professions. In order for a business to claim the credit, the 
apprentice must be employed for at least 7 months. What we find is that 
the people who go through these apprenticeship programs stay in these 
jobs, thus benefiting both the worker and the employer.
  Our bill also provides incentives for experienced workers who spend 
at least 20 percent of their time passing their hard-earned knowledge 
on to the next generation. These workers would be allowed to receive 
some retirement income early without facing tax penalties. That is a 
way we can ensure that the experienced older worker is passing 
knowledge on to the next generation.
  Finally, our bill would ensure that the brave men and women who 
defend our country are given credit for the skills they learned in the 
military while wearing our Nation's uniform. Training received while 
serving in the Armed Forces would count toward an apprentice's training 
requirement.
  This bill would help to better align the needs of our Nation's 
employers with potential employees. It would promote hiring and the 
creation of new jobs. It would enhance the skills that the people of 
our country need to obtain good-paying, secure employment. The 
Presiding Officer and I were talking about this very issue at lunch 
today and the need to bridge that skills gap.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to support our bill, and I want to 
salute Senator Cantwell for her leadership over many years in working 
on this issue. This is something that should unite us all--Democrats, 
Republicans, Independents. It is not a partisan issue; it is looking at 
ways that we can help more Americans secure good-paying jobs that will 
last them for a lifetime.
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