Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Chair, I rise as a cosponsor of this amendment, which would prohibit closure of the U.S. Forest Service Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers.

Closing the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers makes absolutely no sense. These 25 centers are among the highest-performing centers in the country. Despite claims to the contrary, they contribute directly to the missions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service by training thousands of students each year in conservation work and firefighting.

At a time when the Forest Service has been struggling to hire dispatchers and firefighters to prepare for the upcoming fire season, it is irresponsible, to say the least, to close these centers and lay off 1,100 Job Corps employees.

Mr. Chair, as the co-chair of the bipartisan Job Corps Congressional Caucus with Congressman Phil Roe, I applaud Representatives DeFazio and Newhouse for their outstanding efforts to stop the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Agriculture from going forward with this reckless and ill-advised decision.

Mr. Chair, I urge support for this amendment.

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