Providing for Consideration of H.R. 803, Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. STIVERS. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina for yielding, as well as her sponsorship of this important bill.

You know, job creation and getting Americans back to work is the number one priority facing this country. And in talking to people from my district, talking to people who are unemployed, people who are underemployed, they tell me that they need skills to get back to work.

We need workforce development programs that work. We need to train people for jobs that are here today and jobs that are going to be here tomorrow.

One step we can take is to reform our workforce development program. Our system currently isn't flexible. It has too much red tape, and we need to make sure it works for people who are looking for jobs and connects people who are looking for jobs with employers that have open positions.

We need a nimble system that can respond to our changing economy, and we have to streamline our current system. Today we have at least 47 duplicative or ineffective programs. We need a simpler, more comprehensive system, a system that employers and job seekers can navigate and successfully complete.

The SKILLS Act will address these issues and set up a workforce development program that will train people looking for jobs to get them back to work. That's why I look forward to voting in favor of the SKILLS Act.

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