Hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power - H.R.___, "Title II: 21st Century Workforce

Hearing

I would like to thank my good friend Bobby Rush as well as Bill Flores, Gene Green, and Richard Hudson,
for sponsoring the bipartisan discussion draft that we will be talking about today, entitled 21st Century
Workforce. This discussion draft will become part of our larger energy legislation that we will be rolling out
in the weeks ahead. I also thank our witnesses for appearing before us today.

As we all know, the domestic energy sector is undergoing dramatic changes. Thanks to American
innovations in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, decades of declining oil and natural gas
production have given way to tremendous increases in output. The Energy Information Administration
(EIA) recently projected that the U.S. will eliminate net energy imports by 2030. This abundant and
affordable energy is sparking new manufacturing activity in the U.S.

America's energy and manufacturing renaissance is also leading to a jobs renaissance. Energy and
energy-related employment has been one of the few economic bright spots in recent years -- everything
from those employed discovering and producing energy, to those constructing and operating the
infrastructure to transport it, to the new factories that are powered by it.

But America's energy transformation has taken the job market by surprise. Many in need of work do not
have the skills required to fill these high-paying opportunities, and the Department of Energy's job
programs do not fully reflect current realities.

That is the problem the 21st Century Workforce discussion draft seeks to address. It updates DOE's
energy training programs to better serve today's energy market and today's job seekers.

Just as America's energy situation is changing, so is its workforce. We have growing numbers of
minorities participating in labor markets, but these groups have been historically underrepresented in the
energy sector. The 21st Century Workforce bill would strengthen the outreach to these potential energy
workers. Our goal is nothing less than to have the best trained and most diverse energy industry in the
world.

In addition, there are displaced workers, such as those once employed in the coal sector, who are now
looking for new opportunities in energy. Of course, my hope is to get as many of these men and women
employed again in the coal industry, but for the others the discussion draft has programs to help them
transition into other energy careers.

The discussion draft does not create new programs out of whole cloth, but builds upon the base that
already exists at DOE. And it applies to a wide variety of programs and partnerships with 4-year colleges,
community and technical colleges, and high schools as well as other governmental and private
institutions involved in energy.

Now, I know that on this subcommittee we don't always agree on which energy source is the best. We
have proponents of wind and solar as well as proponents of fossil fuels and nuclear power. However, this
discussion draft is fuel neutral - it does not seek to target any particular energy source, but rather gives
DOE the flexibility to allocate its resources to wherever the job opportunities are. And the focus goes well
beyond energy production to also include downstream opportunities such as those in infrastructure that
were highlighted in DOE's recent Quadrennial Energy Review as well as those in the manufacturing
sector that are made possible by affordable domestic energy.

Energy and energy-related jobs are critical to American economic growth in the years ahead. The career
opportunities are many, and the 21st Century Workforce discussion draft will go a long way towards
ensuring that we have qualified Americans to fill them.

Source