National Apprenticeship Act of 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. NORCROSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the importance of the National Apprenticeship Reauthorization Act.

Personally, Mr. Speaker, I want to say thank you to Susan Davis and, certainly, Chairman Scott for putting this bill up. I am thankful that so many of the priorities are included in this, ones that I have spoken so highly of.

Last week was National Apprenticeship Week. As many may know, registered apprenticeship programs have literally shaped my life. While my three brothers went to college, I went to the other 4-year school. I did an IBEW apprenticeship program to become an electrician.

``Learn while you earn'' was my life. I understood that, that you could take the knowledge that you learn at night at school in the books and take it right to the job. That is the heart of what an apprenticeship program is.

I supported my young family. I was able to continue that. I literally went from the construction site to Congress.

Education is not one-size-fits-all. We hear that. For many, they don't know if they want to go to college, build the college, or defend the college. We need all of those, and that is how important it is.

The registered apprenticeship system is the most successful Federal workforce training program in the history of the United States. Ninety- four percent of those people will have a job, when they complete their apprenticeship, with a starting wage average of $70,000. It works.

But it is more than just a paycheck. It is about the dignity of a job, the respect that comes with that.

In our country, there are so many ways that you can succeed. Whether you are an apprentice in the shipyard, a medical tech, a Ph.D. from Harvard, they are all the same in terms of value to this great country. We need all of them.

The National Apprenticeship Act invests $3.5 billion in a proven, successful system that has created over 1 million new opportunities. But how important the standards are, particularly in the world that I come from.

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Mr. NORCROSS. Mr. Speaker, why standards are so important is because when storms hit our coast, electricians, linemen, come from around the country to put that system back together. Could you imagine if they all had their own program?

This is why standards count, particularly in the building trades, because when there is not work in your hometown, you go to work in another. We all work together, and that is why this is so important.

Since 1937, we haven't updated it. But just because it is old doesn't mean it is not good.

It is handed down through generations. This is how we have trained and given the next generation a proven, successful model.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the North America's Building Trades Unions that talks about the importance of what we are talking about today. North America's Building Trades Unions, Washington, DC, November 18, 2020. Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Kevin McCarthy, Republican Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy: On behalf of the over 3 million skilled craft professionals that comprise North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU), I write in support of H.R. 8294, the National Apprenticeship Act of 2020.

I first would like to commend the work of the House Committee on Education and Labor for their diligent efforts to maintain the integrity of the Registered Apprenticeship system and for their willingness to engage us on this bill, which reauthorizes the foundational law on which our apprenticeship programs are built. In the eighty-three years since the Registered Apprenticeship system was created, our nation, the economy, our industry and technology have drastically changed. What has not changed is the need to forever protect and enshrine the rights of those individuals who enter an apprenticeship program, and H.R. 8294 continues to protect the safety, well-being, and economic trajectory of the apprentice.

More than two-thirds of all civilian registered apprentices in the United States are trained in the construction industry. Among these construction apprentices, seventy-five percent receive their training at one of the 1,600 privately funded training centers which are jointly administered by construction contractors and building trades unions. Investing over $1.6 billion in private capital annually in our Registered Apprenticeship programs, the affiliated unions of NABTU provide a debt-free ladder of opportunity to those who seek a career in the construction industry. Our joint labor-management programs have long been considered the gold standard of the Registered Apprenticeship system.

The National Apprenticeship Act of 2020 protects many of the hallmarks of the current system. This bill protects the progressive wage scale for apprentices, which is often a target of those in our industry who seek to put profits above the well-being and economic security of the people they employ. This bill protects the time-based model of apprenticeship training that our programs have effectively utilized for decades, while providing flexibility for new industries that wish to enter the Registered Apprenticeship system. This bill also protects apprentices by codifying regulations that recognize collective bargaining agreements contain exceptionally strong apprentice-to-journeyworker ratios that not only ensure on-going, targeted instruction, but also the level of supervision apprentices need to guarantee their safety.

H.R. 8294 also makes some very important changes to the Registered Apprenticeship program that NABTU has long fought for. For the first time, there will be concrete standards associated with pre-apprenticeship programs, which have exponentially grown over the last several years as we continue to work with our industry partners to increase the diversity of apprenticeship candidates by recruiting women, people of color and veterans. No longer can unscrupulous contractors prop up pre-apprenticeship programs without having clear and defined pathways into a Registered Apprenticeship program.

Furthermore, H.R. 8294 codifies the Office of Apprenticeship, with established funding streams to ensure the necessary oversight of the program and expand technical assistance that will grow Registered Apprenticeship opportunities in new sectors. This bill strengthens the National Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship, ensuring that practitioners of Registered Apprenticeship, both industry and labor, are given a voice to offer recommendations to further strengthen the program.

While there are other avenues one may take to be trained in the construction crafts, for generations, the safest, most highly-skilled and productive construction craft workers in the world have received their training through the Registered Apprenticeship system. H.R. 8294, the National Apprenticeship Act of 2020, will ensure the Registered Apprenticeship system not only remains the gold standard in workforce training in the construction industry, but that it is accessible for all industries that seek a productive and highly-skilled workforce. I urge swift passage of this bill, and look forward to working with you to strengthen economic opportunities in every community, both large and small, across our great nation. Sincerely, Sean McGarvey, President.

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Mr. NORCROSS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the National Apprenticeship Reauthorization Act so we can make sure we put America back to work.

Ms. FOXX of North Carolina.

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