DeLauro Calls Out Trump Administration for Misguided Action on Apprenticeships

WASHINGTON, DC (June 15, 2017) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today released the following statement regarding President Trump's executive order on apprenticeships. Today, the White House announced that it is reducing government oversight and seeking to expand apprenticeships, despite cutting the apprenticeship programs and gutting the federal workforce system by billions in its 2018 budget. DeLauro is the Senior Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee responsible for funding the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies.

"While President Trump is signing an executive order pledging to support apprenticeship programs, the reality is that his 2018 budget will undermine our public workforce system. Today's executive order is just one more example of President Trump claiming to support America's working men and women, only to then turn around and inflict harm upon millions of them. This executive order would create a duplicative system that does not guarantee quality training opportunities and provides fewer safeguards for workers, unlike the proven, existing Registered Apprenticeship model.

"The Trump Administrations budget slashes support for federal job training by 40 percent for disadvantaged adults, dislocated workers, and at-risk youth, ends the Senior Community Service and Employment Program for 67,000 low-income older Americans, and closes Job Corps Centers across the country. President Trump cannot claim to support American workers with apprenticeships when his budget tells a different story.

"President Trump's executive order could open the floodgates for federal dollars to flow to so-called ‘job training programs,' like Trump University. We cannot allow the American people to be scammed by organizations that rake in million dollars in profit from vulnerable students and give them a shoddy education in return. These students deserve education and training that will give them the resources and tools to succeed, and these bogus organizations will not do that.

"The reality is that President Trump continues to favor the wealthy, corporations, and special interests over the American worker. From putting Americans at risk at Trump University, to putting forward a budget that attacks nearly every facet of life for working families, President Trump is not living up to his promises on the campaign trail. The American worker deserves better."

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