Supporting Healthcare Apprenticeships

Floor Speech

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Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce the introduction of my bipartisan Fast Track Healthcare Apprenticeships Act, alongside my friend, Congressman Mike Kennedy from Utah.

Across the country, and especially in Texas, families are feeling the strain of a healthcare system that simply does not have enough trained professionals. Longer wait times, higher costs, and fewer options for care are symptoms of a workforce that is stretched far beyond its limits.

Our bill takes a commonsense approach to address the shortage. It streamlines and modernizes the healthcare apprenticeship approval process, requiring Federal and State labor agencies to act on the application within 45 days, and directs the Department of Labor to digitize and update the apprenticeship agreement forms to make them more accessible.

These changes will help aspiring health workers get trained faster and step into good-paying, stable jobs. It will reduce barriers for employers, strengthen our workforce pipeline, and expand access to care in communities that desperately need it.

Our bipartisan bill supports workers and providers and helps ensure that every family can rely on a healthcare system that is accessible, affordable, and built to meet their needs.

I urge all of my colleagues to join us in supporting this bill.

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