Committee Statements

Thank you Madam Chair, Ranking Member Dreier, and members of the Committee. I appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony in support of my amendment to the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

Our economy is changing, and so too must our workers. All Americans – whether they are just entering the job market or have been working for years – must be able to adapt to a greener, more technologically-advanced workplace.

The Green Jobs Act, which was authorized under the Energy Independence and Security Act and signed into law in 2007, created a program that was intended to support workforce training for good paying careers while also promoting environmentally efficient buildings, equipment, and infrastructure. Unfortunately, the law restricts participation to entities that partner with labor organizations, effectively excluding 86 percent of the private sector construction workforce.

I think this limitation is both unnecessary and harmful. It discriminates against potential job training partners simply because they do not happen to be affiliated with a labor organization.

The bill we will consider on the House Floor later this week increases the funding authorized for the Green Jobs Act, with a goal of offering training to more workers. Unfortunately, valuable job training partners continue to be unnecessarily excluded from these 21st century workforce development opportunities.

The amendment I’m offering today is simple. It recognizes the importance of green job training, and expands access to that training for more workers, more communities, and more training partners.

This amendment does not undercut green job training, it enhances it by opening the energy-oriented training initiatives under the law to a broader range of employers and training partners who can help develop a skilled workforce to fulfill the jobs of the 21st century.

I do not oppose union partnerships in green job training, and my amendment does nothing to prevent unions from being fully involved in these programs. But union partnership should not be a prerequisite for such opportunities; local communities should have the freedom to decide for themselves whether a direct link to organized labor is a necessary component of a successful partnership.

My amendment is an effort to create a more open, inclusive, and accessible green job training system that will enable all Americans to help rebuild our economy together. I respectfully request that this amendment be made in order, and I thank you once again for allowing me to provide testimony on its behalf.

 

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