DeLauro Stands Up for America's Workforce

Fights back against job-destroying Republican spending bill

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3), Ranking Member on the Labor, Education, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, made the following opening statement today at the Appropriations Hearing for the FY12 Budget request of the Department of Labor.

As Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Madam Secretary, for joining us today to testify in support of this budget request.

Let me begin by saying how much I support the good work you are doing at the Department of Labor. I am glad to see America has a Secretary of Labor who clearly believes in her mission, and whose stewardship clearly supports the goal of Good Jobs for Everyone.

And I want to thank you for what you and the president have put forward in this proposal. I know that this budget represents some very difficult choices, and in some cases I may have made different calls. But this budget stands in sharp contrast to the plan outlined by the Majority in H.R. 1, which includes radical spending cuts that will cost Americans jobs and jeopardize our prospects for economic recovery.

To cut the deficit, the Majority could have ended $40 billion in subsidies to oil companies, $8 billion in agriculture subsidies to big businesses, and $8 billion in giveaways to multinational corporations who ship jobs overseas. Instead the Majority wants to eviscerate spending for Workforce Investment Act programs.

This effectively terminates the federal government’s role in workforce development – something that did not occur under the Reagan Administration, not even under President Nixon. Eight million people could lose this vital job aid entirely.

In the past, members of both parties have understood the crucial role of the government in helping Americans help themselves through workforce development. They knew that unemployed and underemployed citizens rely on these services to find a job and retrain. In fact, the Workforce Investment Act supports job training programs all across the country with proven results. WIA programs have seen a 233% increase in participation in recent years – from 3.4 million workers served in 2008 to just over eight million in 2010.

And, even in this tough economy, over half of the people seeking help – 4.3 million Americans nationwide – have found jobs with the help of these services, despite 4 job seekers for every available job. I have visited several career centers in my district in recent weeks, and have seen firsthand the difference WIA makes.

There are 3,000 one-stops in this country and if the Majority’s budget gets enacted into law, millions of Americans will find a sign on these centers that reads ‘Gone out of Business.’ This is a huge loss to many of them who have found employment through the one-stops.

To take just one example, Elizabeth Strader of Eastern Connecticut was able to move from bussing tables in a restaurant to working on a submarine project at Electric Boat, thanks to WIA-supported technical training.

Stories like these happen all across America. In Montana, Gina, a 31-year old woman who had been laid off from her commercial door sales company managed to pursue nurse training through WIA. She now works as a Charge Nurse, and makes much more than she ever did before. In Rock Springs, Wyoming, a dislocated worker named Judson was able, through WIA training, to get his CDL license. He now has a job as a truck driver and can support his family once again.

The jobless are not the only ones to benefit. Businesses also rely on these job training programs, to fill vacant positions with qualified and skilled workers. These cuts will hurt them too – if they cannot find workers right here, they will go elsewhere. We cannot allow that, not when we are trying to create and retain more good jobs in America.

So I am glad to see that, unlike the reckless spending plan outlined by the Majority, this budget maintains funding for employment and training programs, while promoting reform.

It proposes a Workforce Innovation Fund to test new ideas, replicate proven strategies and pursue system reform. Last year we recommended new funding for this proposal, but this year I see that you suggest we re-direct funding from some of the slower-spending accounts within WIA to finance the proposal. In doing this, I am glad to see that the local resources used in One-Stop Career Centers are maintained.

This budget also maintains a commitment to the most vulnerable among us, including small increases for employment and training programs that target Native American communities; Migrants and Seasonal Farmworkers; disadvantaged youth, and our veterans.

The majority claims that they have walled off veterans services from cuts, but their budget does not include the additional resources that the Secretary had requested for returning military personnel and for homeless veterans, and it totally ignores the fact that 130,000 veterans get employment and training services through the WIA.

I am also glad to see that, unlike the majority’s proposal, this budget works to ensure that workplaces are safe. HR 1 would cut OSHA funding by 20% meaning 800 less health and safety inspections. This budget, on the other hand, includes $6 million to improve regulatory standards that protect workers; and $6 million for additional whistleblower investigators, who will enforce laws that protect those who face reprisal for reporting unsafe or illegal activities.

I hope that whatever differences we have, we can all agree that workers who show up at their jobs every day and perform the tasks assigned to them should expect to get the wages and benefits they have earned. The increases here for worker protection agencies such as the Wage and Hour Division, or the Employee Benefits Security Administration, will ensure this happens.

So there is much I support in this budget request, particularly in contrast to the misguided approach adopted by the majority. I look forward to discussing it in more detail.

No investment is more critical than investment in our human capital, and programs like this are the essence of good government – They work to make opportunity real, and benefit above all the families and working people who need help and who have played by the rules. I hope we will do what can to see they have the resources to continue putting America back to work.

Thank you.