Building on Reemployment Improvements to Deliver Good Employment for Workers Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Walorski for her hard work on this particular piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1759, the BRIDGE for Workers Act, also known as the Building on Reemployment Improvements to Deliver Good Employment for Workers Act. I am also proud to join Congresswoman Murphy, Congresswoman Torres Small, and Congressman Davis, my colleague from Illinois, in being part of this bipartisan legislation.

Since becoming a member of the Ways and Means Committee, I have been focused on closing the JOBS Act, improving workforce development, and removing barriers to employment.

It is incumbent upon our Federal Government, in coordination with States and local governments, to ensure that those looking for a job have the necessary tools and skills they need to get back into the workforce.

Last Congress, we worked in a bipartisan fashion to codify into law the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments program, bolstering its funding and improving the effectiveness. These reemployment services include career counseling, resume support, individualized reemployment plans, and access to trainings for those receiving unemployment insurance.

The goal of this program is to promote rapid reemployment and, ultimately, shorten benefit durations for all unemployment insurance claimants, not just those most likely to exhaust all benefits.

This bill makes a technical correction to ensure that States have the flexibility to provide reemployment services to all insurance claimants from a variety of backgrounds and help them return to work more quickly. This legislation builds on the recent law that improved the reemployment service program and will ensure that those in need of these services will be able to access them.

With over 7 million unfilled jobs in this country, it is crucial we work with our States, including my home State of Illinois, to provide the necessary resources to fill these jobs. Finding skilled workers is one of the number one issues in my district and many districts across the country: finding enough relief welders, truck drivers, construction workers, machinists, nurses, technicians, just to name a few.

Empowering individuals to get off the sideline and back into the workforce is something this body should always strive to achieve. Every week that a person is out of work, through no fault of their own, is a week too long. This bipartisan fix to reemployment will help these individuals get back to receiving what they want most: a job and a paycheck.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee for their support on this legislation, and I urge its passage in the House.

Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Judy Chu).

Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the BRIDGE Act, which would ensure that all unemployment insurance beneficiaries could use reemployment service grants to get back to work sooner. Currently, only unemployed individuals who are likely to exhaust their unemployment benefits have access to these grants.

I know this change will make an impact in my district. In Pasadena, California, the Employment Development Department administers this program, which offers an orientation to dislocated workers. At the orientations, these clients are given a tour of all the services available, including partner services under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and they are then able to pick out a service that best fits their needs.

But this change would allow all individuals to have access to this program and will help coordinate services better so that staff can help these individuals so that they don't have to figure it out on their own, and then more dislocated workers in my community could find work more quickly.

It would help people like Hector. Just last week, I met with the Los Angeles Workforce Development Board and they told me his story.

Hector lost his job as an account manager, where he was making $44.71 per hour. This forced him to seek public assistance to make ends meet for himself and his family.

Through the help of the staff at the East Los Angeles/West San Gabriel Valley America's Job Center of California, Hector was able to receive a referral for an interview with the Maintco Corporation and was provided a bus pass that enabled him to get to the interview. He was able to quickly secure employment as a finance controller and is now making $55 an hour, which is $11 more than when he lost his job.

We must pass this bill to make sure that individuals who lose their jobs are not out of the workforce for too long. I applaud my colleague, Stephanie Murphy, for introducing this bill, and I urge my colleagues to vote for it.

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