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Testimony Prepared for delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor
Elaine L. Chao
United States Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
United States Senate
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Chairman Enzi and Members of the Committee:
I am pleased to have the opportunity to testify before you today with my
distinguished colleague, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
Mr. Chairman, America has always been a nation of innovators, entrepreneurs
and opportunity. The engine of growth in our country remains strong. The
United States has one of the highest growth rates of any industrialized country,
growing at an annualized rate of 4% in 2004, and creating 3.1 million new
jobs since June 2003.
But progress also means challenges. We must ensure that the gains in our
economy are shared by all. That's why it is critical that workers have the
opportunity to gain the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century
workforce.
This Administration is addressing the core issue of skills competency through
the most significant education reform in 50 years. But today, a high school
education is only the beginning. The average American worker will hold an
average of 9 jobs between the ages of 18-34. That means learning must be
a lifelong pursuit. Reforming our nation's job training system is essential to
providing workers with opportunities to continually upgrade their skills.
In many respects, our current “stovepipe” approach to workforce investment
still reflects the economy of 50 years ago. Today, we need to do more than
simply fill job orders or slots in pre-determined training classes.
We must improve the outcomes for workers by updating the design of the current
system. We know that a workforce investment system with over a dozen different
funding streams—each with separate rules, reports and definitions—is not
effective in meeting the needs of individual workers. The current system
is too focused on bureaucracy and processes. It should be more worker-centered
and focused on better outcomes for the people it serves.
This Administration believes the solution is a flexible, integrated system.
The keys to success are:
- Strong state leadership,
- Effective execution at the local level, and
the ability to
- Customize solutions to meet the needs of local workers
and employers.
That's why the President has put his Job Training Reform Proposal on the
table. The principles underlying these reforms reflect a new vision and new
approach to workforce investment that will bring the system into the 21st century and better serve our workers.
The first principle is to give state and local communities maximum
flexibility to design a workforce investment system that
meets their needs.
Second, in exchange for greater flexibility, this Administration will require greater
accountability. We will ask states to set increasingly
rigorous annual performance milestones. The long term goal, to be
achieved over a period of ten years, will be to place every person
who receives Federally-funded training in a job.
Third, multiple layers of bureaucracy eat up too much of the available resources.
So this Administration proposes to spend more workforce
investment system resources on actual worker training.
Fourth, this Administration proposes to create a more effective governance
structure by enhancing the role of state and local
officials. The workforce investment system is currently administered with
too much micro-management at the Federal level.
Fifth, this Administration proposes to strengthen the
One-Stop Career Center System. These centers are the foundation of the workforce
investment system. But the funding for the operation of these centers is
uncertain in many local areas.
Finally, this Administration proposes to enhance individual
choice through Innovation Training Accounts. These accounts
will allow individual workers to create their own customized training
program, using a broad range of public and private training resources.
Mr. Chairman, this Administration believes that these reforms will help
transform the public workforce investment system into a worker-centered powerhouse
that will help people succeed in the 21st century workforce. It will create
a workforce system that is responsive to individual communities, can adapt
quickly to local economic conditions and—most of all—do a better job of serving
workers.
Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the President's proposal for reauthorization
of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. Now I would be pleased to respond
to any questions that members of the Committee may have.
[ Written Testimony ]
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