Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006

DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (Senate - October 26, 2005)

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, this amendment supports the administration's request for second-year funding for the Community-Based Job Training Grant Initiative.

Although that is a mouthful, this goes to one of the most basic needs of our country, and particularly our growing economy.

For those who are concerned about offshoring and outsourcing of jobs to other countries, for those who are concerned about American citizens who have not yet attained a living wage in their jobs, this is the answer to all of those challenges, and more.

The primary purpose of the grants that are included in this program is to strengthen the role of community and technical colleges and train workers for the skills required to succeed in high-growth, high-demand industries.

The amendment covers publicly funded institutions of higher education that grant associate degrees. Community-based job training grants are awarded to community and technical colleges that demonstrate they are engaged in a strategic partnership with business and industry. In other words, this is not just the teaching of academic subjects but, rather, working with industry to determine what sort of job skills they need for the good jobs they can provide, if they can find a sufficient number of trained employees to do them.

Applicants for these grants are required to identify workforce challenges and their ability to implement workforce solutions for locally identified high-growth, high-demand occupations.

This amendment will help increase the capacity of community colleges to provide innovative job training strategies in local demand industries. They will be able to develop training criteria with local industry, hire qualified faculty, arrange on-the-job experiences with industry, and use up-to-date equipment.

Community colleges are one of the best kept educational secrets in this country. They are adaptable, flexible, affordable, and accessible by all segments of the community.

This amendment will help community colleges train 100,000 new and experienced workers in demand industries and then increase the retention and earnings of trained workers.

The Labor Department is committed to making all curricula and training techniques developed through the grants available to community colleges nationwide so these grants help more than just the direct recipient of the grant.

This amendment will help millions more workers access education and training for exciting career opportunities and a brighter future. The first grant competition for $125 million was appropriated in fiscal year 2005 and was issued in May. Nearly 400 community colleges submitted proposals and 70 community colleges in 40 States were awarded grants on October 19.

I am particularly proud that 7 of the community colleges in Texas were awarded grants through the first $125 million competition.

I have long been an advocate of these kind of workforce partnerships and initiatives formed with community colleges and local business communities because I have actually seen them succeed.

While in the Senate, I have had the opportunity to visit a number of these initiatives across the State of Texas, in Austin, in Houston, Pasadena, Laredo, Beaumont, Sherman, El Paso, Lubbock, and Victoria.

I remember in particular a young Hispanic woman, a single mom who had been a prison guard in Amarillo, TX who, as a result of a program that she trained in in an Amarillo community college, was able to increase her earnings and brighten her future, as well as get out of her somewhat dangerous job as a prison guard to begin working on the production line for the V-22 tilt rotor being made at Bell Helicopter in Amarillo, TX.

This is only one example of how we can provide the resources to individuals so they can improve their future, improve their skills, and satisfy the needs of employers who search, often in vain, for qualified workers to take these good and very well paying jobs.

I know, in consultation with the distinguished floor manager of this bill, that this contains an offset that causes some concerns. What I would like to do is continue our discussions with Senator Specter, the Senator from Pennsylvania, the distinguished manager of this bill, as we proceed through this process to try to find some way to maximize the funds available to this particular program in the conference and hopefully restore some of the money that would otherwise be cut. I realize the subcommittee is working within allocation caps and we don't want to cause any unnecessary concern. But this is an initiative that I feel so strongly about, and I think the more our colleagues learn about this, the more our colleagues will be supportive of this restoration of these funds for this important initiative.

With that, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be set aside.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I look forward to working with the distinguished Senator from Pennsylvania and the distinguished Senator from Iowa as we try to work in the conference to try to accommodate and indeed try to maximize the funds for this important initiative.

I yield the floor.

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