DeLauro Announces Support for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro today announced her support for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize critical job training programs. DeLauro spoke on the House floor to urge her colleagues to vote for the bill. Her remarks as delivered are below and video can be found here.

“I support this bipartisan legislation reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act and the critical job training programs that help unemployed and under-employed Americans find work and get back on their feet.

“No investment is more critical than investment in our human capital. These job training programs make opportunity real, and benefit the families and working people who need help and who have played by the rules. Businesses also rely on these programs to fill vacant positions with qualified and skilled workers.

“This bill, the product of many years of bipartisan negotiations, takes what is already working and improves on it. It streamlines and provides stability to these critical programs, while including important protections for workers with disabilities. It encourages partnerships between the workforce system and our community colleges, while enhancing Adult Education and encouraging innovation in job training.

“Members of both parties have understood the vital role of the government in helping people help themselves by providing access to workforce development. The bill is a good compromise effort that makes good on a critical promise to our workers and businesses. I urge my colleagues to support this very important piece of legislation.”

DeLauro is the senior Democrat on the subcommittee responsible for funding the Department of Labor, which allocates funds to local workforce boards for programs authorized under the Workforce Investment Act.