Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor in support of the nomination of Scott Stump, to be Assistant Secretary of Education for Career, Technical, and Adult Education.

As President Trump and Secretary DeVos continue to roll back protections for students and make it easier for predatory for-profit colleges to take advantage of our students, students need someone at the Department who will remain committed to putting them first no matter what Secretary DeVos tries to pressure him to do.

Although most of the nominees President Trump has picked for the Department have pledged their allegiance to Secretary DeVos and her agenda, I believe Mr. Stump will be different. If confirmed, Mr. Stump would be responsible for advising Secretary DeVos on career and technical education, adult education and literacy, and community college education while overseeing over $2 billion in funding to provide our students and workers with the education and skills they need to compete and get ahead in the 21st century.

Mr. Stump's resume shows he is a nominee who is qualified for this position. He has served as the assistant provost for career and technical education for the Colorado Community College System. He was elected by his peers to serve as the president of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium. He also earned the support of a number of key stakeholders and advocacy groups.

If confirmed, Mr. Stump would be responsible for adult education and literacy, which would help adults get the basic skills they need to be productive workers and family members and citizens, and which would help community colleges ensure students have the education and skills they need to advance in their education and their careers in order to remain competitive in the 21st century.

Finally, the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education at the Department of Education is responsible for implementing the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. It is a critical law that gives students and workers the education and skills they need to succeed, and it provides businesses with a high-quality talent pipeline of workers with in-demand skills to compete in a 21st century economy.

Last month, members of our HELP Committee set partisan differences aside and passed the reauthorization of the Perkins CTE Act, which makes important updates to support an education system that prepares students and workers for an economy and a country that works for everyone.

In order to help students, workers, and businesses compete in a rapidly changing global economy, it is critically important that we pass that reauthorization, which would allow programs to adapt to the unique needs of their communities and continue to provide students and workers with the education and training that is necessary for them to get better jobs, earn higher wages, and climb up the economic ladder.

As Members of Congress, we should always be looking for ways to help make people's lives better, which is why I hope we can advance this long overdue bill to the floor in a timely fashion.

If the Senate confirms Mr. Stump, I hope he will remain committed to putting students and workers first no matter what pressure he gets. If he is able to do that, I look forward to working with him to help provide high-quality education and to ensure that, above all, our focus is on students and their success.

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