The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE SKILLED WORKFORCE ENHANCEMENT ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E200-E201 on Feb. 24, 1998.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE SKILLED WORKFORCE ENHANCEMENT ACT
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HON. JAMES M. TALENT
of missouri
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, February 24, 1998
Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to make the point that as this Nation prepares for the 21st century, we are facing a severe shortage of skilled workers in the metalworking industry. For years we have relied on inefficient, big-government programs to train our workforce. This approach has obviously failed and the time has come to change.
The metalworking industry covers precision machinists, die makers, mold makers, as well as tool and die designers. These workers can make just about anything. They produce the parts that are shipped off to larger companies, such as Ford Motor Co. or Boeing, just to name a couple of examples. If you ask a person in the industry ``What do you make?'', he'll respond, ``What do you want?'' and proceed to produce your tailor-made products. These companies are the backbone of manufacturing in America. Without them, mass production of manufactured goods would not be possible. That is why it is imperative we act to help this industry recruit and train new skilled workers. Something must be done.
In my district in St. Louis, we have a large number of small precision machining plants. These plants have good jobs available at good pay but cannot find trained employees. The tax burdens placed on these small firms makes it nearly impossible for most of them to even consider taking on the high costs of training new workers themselves.
The Department of Labor estimates that the need for skilled labor in these trades is 2 percent annually of the current workforce. But with little new blood entering the industry, that percentage climbs to 5 percent when you take into account the aging factor. Indeed, the majority of workers in the industry are fast approaching retirement age.
If we fail to alleviate this shortage of skilled workers, we will soon see the Ford Motor Cos. and Boeings take their business overseas to foreign competitors who have sufficient labor, while American businesses just disappear.
On January 27, I introduced H.R. 3110, the Skilled Workforce Enhancement Act, to return power and resources back to these small business owners so that they can address their need for new skilled workers. My bill would allow these small shop entrepreneurs to train people in their own plants. Currently, such training is cost-
prohibitive to most small businesses. H.R. 3110 would allow the employer to train an individual through an 8,000 hour, 4-year apprenticeship program and, after completion, the trainee would be hired on for at least 1 year. In exchange, the employer will receive a tax credit of up to 80 percent of the wages paid to the apprentice, starting after the 5th year, in 20 percent increments for 5 years. The newly trained employee will have already been paying taxes for 5 years before the employer begins to receive the credit.
We need to pass this bill because it will: I. Provide a needed incentive to have the people who know the industry train the next generation of skilled workers in the metalworking trades; II. shift the responsibility of training from the bureaucracy to the private sector; III. encourage us to keep jobs in this country rather than recruiting from overseas; and IV. give small business some much-needed tax relief.
I would like to thank my constituent, Mr. Bill Bachman, Sr. of Bachman Machine Co., Inc. of St. Louis, MO, for his research, hard work, and most of all, his persistence in getting this legislation introduced. It is a workable solution that he and Mike Mittler of Mittler Bros. Machine & Tool proposed to help solve a real, and increasingly urgent problem in their industry. I would also like to thank John Cox and Becky Anderson of the National Tooling and Machining Association for their assistance on this issue. And I thank my colleagues, Representatives Ron Paul (R-TX) and Steven LaTourette (R-
OH) for being original cosponsors of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, we have people who need good jobs and good jobs waiting for the right people. Let's match them up. I urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to become a cosponsor of the Skilled Workforce Enhancement Act.
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