Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment, which would increase funding for youth employment activities under the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act.

As has been stated, about 5 million of our Nation's youth are both out of school and out of work, so we have a choice: Do we invest to help our youth get on a good path towards a good job, or do we pay considerably more later?

We have to choose to invest now. This includes increased funding for youth employment activities that help out-of-school and out-of-work youth, and it helps fund summer jobs, on-the-job training, apprenticeship training, and others. The alternative is to pay much more later in incarceration, teen pregnancy, and public assistance.

When we make these Federal investments now, we make investments in our communities, our Nation, and our shared future, and we save money in the future. Mr. Chair, I support the amendment and urge its adoption.

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Mr. Chairman, this amendment would reduce funding by 10 percent for programs administered by all accounts in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill. By making it across the board, it makes it more difficult for the agencies to actually administer their programs, making it harder, if not impossible, for the government to protect its citizens by enforcing wage and protection laws, ensuring safe workplaces, ensuring education for students with disabilities, support for those with drug addictions.

The bill, as the gentlewoman has already indicated, is already underfunded, and this would just make matters worse. Mr. Chairman, I would hope we defeat this amendment.

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