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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. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, in 1937, a freshman Member of Congress who held my seat, Representative William Fitzgerald, from Norwich, Connecticut, led the effort to pass the first National Apprenticeship Act. After being signed into law by President Roosevelt, this remained largely untouched for 83 years, yet the registered apprenticeship system it created has buoyed the Nation through decades of tumultuous change in our economy and its workforce.

The Fitzgerald Act is simple. It instructs the Secretary of Labor to bring together employers and workers, and using national standards, develop apprenticeship programs and work with State agencies to carry out certifications all across the country. With that elegant framework, the registered apprenticeship program has expanded to 1,200 recognized occupations, enrolling thousands of new apprentices each year. Upon completion of a registered apprenticeship, workers can expect to earn an average of $70,000 per year. All this was achieved with a tiny Federal investment.

Today, we take an historic step to build on its success with the first-ever reauthorization of the Fitzgerald Act to size up and grow its proven model. H.R. 447 creates a dedicated source of funding to State apprenticeship offices that will connect more employers to trainees and launches competitive grants to start apprentices in new sectors of the economy and, thus, recruit underserved populations.

This bill will enact those reforms yet remain true to the crown jewel of Fitzgerald's vision, safeguarding national standards so that workers and employers can trust that the program's skills and certifications are high-quality and, thus, transportable.

In Connecticut, I have seen how registered apprenticeships help first-time employers. Chris Jewell of Bozrah, Connecticut said this about his metal fabrication shop's new participation in the program: ``The training money we received allowed us to take a chance on employees that we felt were ready to make the next step in their career path.''

Those workers and others at Chris' shop are thriving today in high- paying jobs because of the Fitzgerald Act. This bill will multiply that success for millions at just the time our Nation's ailing economy needs it the most. I urge my colleagues to pass this bill.

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