[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 7736-7737]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            PORT OPPORTUNITY, REINVESTMENT AND TRAINING ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANICE HAHN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 23, 2013

  Ms. HAHN. Mr. Speaker, as Memorial Day, the unofficial start of 
summer approaches, students across the country are turning to figuring 
out how they are going to fill their time. But this summer, many of 
those students looking for a summer job face an uphill battle.
  High teen unemployment continues to cast a shadow over communities 
struggling to bounce back from the recession. For many teens, summer is 
a time to find their first jobs and learn their first lessons about 
making and managing money, building vital professional and personal 
skills. Unfortunately, the recovery has not reached many of our 
communities, which impacts these teens as they struggle to find 
employment to keep themselves out of trouble and maybe bring in a 
little extra money to ease the burden on their families today; we are 
diminishing their ability to compete in the workforce tomorrow.
  Last summer, the unemployment rate for teenagers in the United States 
remained intolerably high, at 17.1 percent. The teen unemployment rate 
is even higher for young African-Americans and Latinos, putting them at 
a special disadvantage as they try to enter the adult workforce. Just 
in my community of Compton, the overall unemployment rate jumped to a 
staggering 20 percent, as schools let out for the summer and students 
tried to find summer work.
  That is why I have re-introduced the ``Port Opportunity, Reinvestment 
and Training (PORT) Act'' with my colleague, Chair of the Congressional 
Urban Caucus and PORTS Caucus member, Congressman Chaka Fattah of 
Pennsylvania. This legislation authorizes the creation of a grant 
program at

[[Page 7737]]

ports throughout the country to hire eligible high school students over 
the summer. This is a win-win for the American economy. Our nation's 
ports have long been engines of economic growth, and so there is no 
better place for students to learn the skills they need to compete in 
today's workforce.
  These grants are an investment in the communities that need them 
most. Not only will these grants put money in the pockets of high 
school students facing unprecedented levels of unemployment, but they 
will build a foundation for successful communities and successful 
adults.
  I urge my colleagues to support this crucial investment in our 
students, our communities, and our economy.

                          ____________________