[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 30, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H3975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       BUILDING A BETTER AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Garcia) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
impact the COMPETES Act will have on our Nation.
  We are seeing the best economy for American workers in decades, with 
people earning higher wages, better benefits, and better jobs, thanks 
to President Biden's leadership.
  With that said, when I visited with the leadership from the Port of 
Houston in my district a while back, they expressed their gratitude for 
Congress' strong investment in the maritime infrastructure needed to 
keep America's economy moving in the right direction.
  They also expressed concern, however, that more workers will need 
technical training than our current system will be able to provide.
  The America COMPETES Act will be that critical next step in providing 
vital maritime workforce training.
  My home district, Texas-29, will benefit greatly from the large grant 
program for domestic maritime worker training and education included in 
the America COMPETES Act.
  I was proud to see this maritime grant program language included, as 
it was originally part of my bill, H.R. 987, which was one that was 
introduced to strengthen our maritime workforce.
  This investment will provide more Houston area workers the technical 
training, education, and resources needed to become qualified for good-
paying maritime jobs.
  For example, the San Jacinto College Maritime Center in my district 
helps thousands of students learn new skills so they can earn good 
paychecks, paychecks that hold families together.
  Located just outside of Houston, the San Jacinto College Maritime 
Program offers maritime training and deck-level coursework for all 
professional mariners. They cover everything from entry-level deckhands 
on an inland towboat to unlimited tonnage masters on the world's 
largest ships.
  The COMPETES Act will empower the maritime grant program that will 
directly benefit this community college; more workers for maritime 
work.
  But like the San Jacinto Community College in my district, there are 
also similar training centers across the Nation that will benefit. The 
COMPETES Act will help thousands of students learn new skills so they 
can provide comfortably for their families and live a good life with 
good benefits.

  This is another way the America COMPETES Act will strengthen our 
supply chains. While there will be plenty of large-scale improvements 
across the Nation, there will also be many local governments like this 
in our hometowns that will benefit.
  I look forward to President Biden signing this bill into law. And 
this is yet, Madam Speaker, another example of how we are building a 
better America for generations to come.

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