[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 11 (Monday, March 21, 1994)]
[Pages 542-544]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Transmitting the ``Reemployment Act of 1994''

March 15, 1994

To the Congress of the United States:

    I am pleased to transmit today for your immediate consideration and 
prompt enactment the ``Reemployment Act of 1994''. Also transmitted is a 
section-by-section analysis. This legislation is vital to help Americans 
find new jobs and build sustainable careers.
    Our current set of programs was designed to meet the different needs 
of an earlier economy. People looking for help today confront a 
confusing, overlapping, and duplicative tangle of programs, services, 
and rules. Job seekers--whether unemployed or looking for better jobs--
have a difficult time getting the information they need: What bene- 

[[Page 543]]

fits and services are available to them? Where can they get good quality 
training? What do they need to know to find and hold good jobs and to 
build sustainable careers?
    The underlying problem is the lack of a coherent employment and 
training system. Instead, we have many disconnected, category-based 
programs--each with distinct eligibility requirements, operating cycles, 
and program standards. We need a true system of lifelong learning--not 
the current hodgepodge of programs, some of which work, and some of 
which don't. The legislation I am transmitting today is an important 
first step in building this system.
    We need to build a reemployment system because our current 
unemployment system no longer delivers what many American workers need. 
In the past, when a worker lost a job, he or she often returned to that 
job as soon as the business cycle picked up again and the company was 
ready to rehire. The unemployment system was designed to tide workers 
over during temporary dry spells. Today, when a worker loses a job, that 
job often is gone forever.
    Our economy has generated new jobs. In 1993 alone, 1.7 million new 
private sector jobs were created--more than in the previous 4 years 
combined. While the jobs exist, the pathways to them aren't always 
clear.
    The Reemployment Act of 1994 strives to fix this. It is based on 
evidence of what works for getting workers into new and better jobs. 
Programs that work are customer-driven, offering customized service, 
quality information, and meaningful choices. Programs that work provide 
job search assistance to help dislocated workers become reemployed 
rapidly, feature skill training connected to real job opportunities, and 
offer support services to make long-term training practical for those 
who need it.
    The Act reflects six key principles:
    First is universal access and program consolidation. The current 
patchwork of dislocated worker programs is categorical, inefficient, and 
confusing. The Reemployment Act of 1994 will consolidate six separate 
programs into an integrated service system that focuses on what workers 
need to get their next job, not the reason why they lost their last job.
    Second is high-quality reemployment services. Most dislocated 
workers want and need only information and some basic help in assessing 
their skills and planning and conducting their job search. These 
services are relatively simple and inexpensive, and they have been shown 
to pay off handsomely in reducing jobless spells.
    Third is high-quality labor market information, which must be a key 
component of any reemployment effort. The labor market information 
component of the Reemployment Act of 1994 will knit together various job 
data systems and show the way to new jobs through expanding access to 
good data on where jobs are and what skills they require.
    Fourth is one-stop service. At a recent conference that I attended 
on ``What Is Working'' in reemployment efforts, a common experience of 
workers was the difficulty of getting good information on available 
services. Instead of forcing customers to waste their time and try their 
patience going from office to office, the new system will require States 
to coordinate services for dislocated workers through career centers. It 
allows States to compete for funds to develop a more comprehensive 
network of one-stop career centers to serve under one roof anyone who 
needs help getting a first, new, or better job, and to streamline access 
to a wide range of job training and employment programs.
    The fifth principle of the legislation is effective retraining for 
those workers who need it to get a new job. Some workers need 
retraining. The Reemployment Act of 1994 will also provide workers 
financial support when they need it to let them complete meaningful 
retraining programs.
    Sixth is accountability. The Reemployment Act of 1994 aims to 
restructure the incentives facing service providers to begin focusing on 
workers as customers. Providers who deliver high-quality services for 
the customer and achieve positive outcomes will prosper in the new 
system. Those who fail to do so will see their funding dry up.
    The Reemployment Act of 1994 will create a new comprehensive 
reemployment system that will enhance service, improve access, and 
assist Americans in finding good new jobs. This is a responsible 
proposal that is fully offset over the next 5 years.

[[Page 544]]

    I urge the Congress to give this legislation prompt and favorable 
consideration so that Americans will have available a new, comprehensive 
reemployment system that works for everyone.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
March 15, 1994.

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
March 16.