Bonamici Appointed to Workforce Protection & Higher Education and Workforce Training Subcommittees

Beaverton, Ore.—Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) today announced that she has been selected to serve on two subcommittees of the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee. Bonamici is now a member of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training and the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.

“As a member of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, I will be well-positioned to advocate for Oregon’s outstanding community colleges and four year universities,” Bonamici said. “I’ll also have an opportunity to promote initiatives that will benefit Oregon’s economy, including legislation to address the skills gap and efforts to integrate arts education with the STEM curriculum to encourage the innovation we need to compete in a global economy.”

In the 112th Congress, Bonamici introduced the WISE Investment Act to help identify local skills gaps and put Americans back to work. Bonamici is also spearheading an effort to transform the discussion of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education by integrating aspects of art and design. The Congresswoman is making the case to her colleagues that a STEAM (STEM +Art) curriculum is essential to generating creative thinking and problem solving that is particularly applicable in the digital age.

Bonamici also earned a position on the Workforce Protection subcommittee, giving her the ability to advocate for workers’ rights. “The Workforce Protection subcommittee will give me the opportunity to advocate for protecting rights in the workplace,” Bonamici said. “From strengthening the Family and Medical Leave Act to protecting Davis-Bacon, there is a great deal that needs to be done. This assignment will give Oregon a seat at the table.”

A description of the subcommittee jurisdictions follows:

The Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training has jurisdiction over education and training beyond the high school level including, but not limited to, higher education generally, postsecondary student assistance and employment services, and the Higher Education Act; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; all domestic volunteer programs; all programs related to the arts and humanities, museum and library services, and arts and artifacts indemnity;  postsecondary career and technical education, apprenticeship programs, and job training including the Workforce Investment Act, vocational rehabilitation, and training programs from immigration funding; science and technology programs; adult basic education (family literacy); all welfare reform programs including work incentive programs and welfare-to-work requirements; poverty programs including the Community Services Block Grant Act and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP); the Native American Programs Act; the Institute of Peace; and all matters dealing with programs and services for the elderly including nutrition programs and the Older Americans Act.

The Subcommittee on Workforce Protections has jurisdiction over wages and hours of workers including, but not limited to, the Davis-Bacon Act, the Walsh-Healey Act, the Service Contract Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act; workers’ compensation including the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, and the Black Lung Benefits Act; the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act; the Family and Medical Leave Act; the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act; the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988; trade and immigration issues as they impact employers and workers; workers’ safety and health including, but not limited to, occupational safety and health, mine safety and health, and migrant and agricultural worker safety and health; and all matters related to equal employment opportunity and civil rights in employment. 

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