[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 32 (Monday, August 14, 2000)]
[Page 1852]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Workforce Investment Act

August 11, 2000

    Two years ago this week I signed the bipartisan Workforce Investment 
Act (WIA), launching an historic initiative that Vice President Gore and 
I first proposed in 1992 as a way to streamline and bring greater 
accountability to our Nation's job training system. Today, with these 
reforms underway in all 50 States, we reach another key milestone by 
adopting the final rule implementing the major provisions of this 
landmark act. I congratulate our Federal partners, Congress, the States, 
local communities, businesses, and American workers on how far we have 
come.

    Largely as a result of WIA's reforms, States now have established 
1,200 One-Stop Career Centers to provide job seekers and employers in 
each community with a single, customer-focused point of entry to a wide 
range of employment services. Developed with extensive input from the 
many people with a stake in our job training system, the final rule 
provides additional direction to State and local partners while 
preserving their planning and operating flexibility. The rule also gives 
State and local partners guidance on creating individual training 
accounts that allow workers to choose the training that meets their 
needs.

    Unfortunately, currently proposed congressional funding for 
workforce development programs, including the administration's Fathers 
Work/Families Win initiative, falls far short of the amount needed both 
by American businesses to meet the growing demand for skilled workers 
and by working families to gain access to lifelong learning. WIA 
provides broad access to employment opportunities, often for people with 
disabilities or others who have been excluded, and it should be properly 
funded. I call on Congress to fully fund the bipartisan program it 
passed 2 years ago so that all Americans can participate in today's era 
of economic opportunity. With WIA up and running across the country, now 
is the time to invest in the system we built together.