[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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