Tweet - "LIVE: I'm chairing a Senate HELP Committee hearing about continuing to rebuild our nation"s workforce from the COVID-19 crisis by supporting workforce development programs that address systemic barriers to employment."

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"LIVE: I'm chairing a Senate HELP Committee hearing about continuing to rebuild our nation"s workforce from the COVID-19 crisis by supporting workforce development programs that address systemic barriers to employment.

We've seen the highest economic growth in nearly 4 decades & added a record 6M jobs last year--the biggest annual improvement in employment since we started collecting data.

But our work isn't done--& that's especially clear with how unequal this crisis & recovery have been so far

The unemployment rate for Black workers is still 2x the rate for white workers. Black & Latino workers were 2x as likely to report losing income last month. Women have accounted for almost 2/3 of jobs lost during this pandemic. People w/ disabilities face numerous challenges.

These inequities are holding our country back. We can't build back stronger when our workforce leaves out people who are ready & want to seek better jobs or learn new skills, but can't due to discrimination, the lack of affordable child care, the cost of education, & more.

As we recover from this pandemic, we have to do so much better than simply returning to a normal that wasn't working for working families.

That's why our nation's workforce programs are so important--& I've seen firsthand in my own family how impactful they can be.

Our Committee has a bipartisan track record on workforce issues--and as Chair, I look forward to making progress to strengthen programs that help workers overcome barriers and address some of the systemic issues that create them in the first place."

@PattyMurray

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