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National Apprenticeship Act of 2021

Floor Speech

Date: Feb. 5, 2021
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Employment and Affirmative Action

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Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, as co-chair of the Labor Caucus, I rise in support of the National Apprenticeship Act. The Labor Caucus advocates for America's working men and women, and this legislation helps America's working men and women.

You see, America continues to create enormous wealth, and that is a good thing. The problem, however, is that wealth has not been shared with the people who go to work every day.

Since the 1980s, the Dow Jones has gone up 1,500 percent, 15 times, and the GDP has gone up 800 percent, 8 times, but workers' wages have increased by less than 20 percent.

Everybody in America believes, or should believe, that if you are willing to go to work every day, you should make enough money so that you can buy a home, have health insurance, and retire one day without being scared. Unfortunately, that is no longer a reality in America.

We know the more you learn, the more you earn. Sixty percent of Americans, however, do not graduate from college. Working with President Biden, the Apprenticeship Act will make the skills necessary to be a welder, a plumber, a computer machinist, a carpenter, or a skilled laborer available so American working men and women, whether they go to college or not, can live the American Dream again.

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