    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 16 (Monday, April 25, 1994)]
    [Pages 871-872]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Statement on Passage of the School-to-Work Opportunities Legislation

    April 21, 1994

        I am gratified by today's final passage of the ``School-to-Work
    Opportunities Act''. I am particularly pleased that this vital economic
    opportunity legislation passed with such broad bipartisan support.
        This legislation will help millions of our young people enter the
    middle class and secure the American dream for themselves and their
    families. It will give them the opportunity to receive advanced,
    academically rigorous technical training. And it will help them obtain
    the knowledge and skills they need to get jobs that pay well and offer
    real chances for career advancement.
        School-to-work is central to our efforts to guarantee lifetime
    learning for every citizen. In a rapidly changing world economy, what
    you earn increasingly depends on what you learn. We are putting in place
    an ambitious agenda to prepare our people. Last year Congress enacted my
    proposal to make college loans more affordable for middle class
    students. Just 3 weeks ago, I signed into law the Goals 2000: Educate
    America Act, which set national educational standards. And by the end of
    this year, I look forward to signing legislation that will reform and
    expand Head Start, reconfigure Federal aid to elementary and secondary
    education, and transform our outmoded unemployment system into a world-
    class reemployment system.
        This is a time of real ferment and real achievement for America's
    workers and students. Working together, we can continue to break
    gridlock and build new opportunities for American families to prosper in
    a rapidly changing economy.

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