[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1755]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, Congressman Jim Langevin 
and I serve as the cochair for the bipartisan Career and Technical 
Education, or the CTE, Caucus.
  During the two previous Congresses, we worked to raise awareness of 
the importance of career and technical education. We have also led the 
charge to ensure that CTE programs receive robust funding.
  For nearly a decade, CTE programs were largely marginalized, 
receiving level funding and even taking sizable reductions. The CTE 
Caucus, in turn, has advocated for maintaining funding levels for CTE 
programs. We are pleased that yesterday the House passed modest funding 
increases for CTE programs. This is a good start.
  Mr. Speaker, with so many unemployed or underemployed in this 
country, it is time for us to take a more strategic approach to helping 
Americans get back to work. We can no longer afford to undervalue CTE. 
In fact, we will only succeed if career and technical education is an 
essential element of our strategy.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like, as a point of personal privilege, a valued 
House staff member, Trudi Terry, is retiring before we return from this 
coming week's recess. I want to thank her for her service to this 
country.
  Thank you, Trudi.

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