I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4369 

To expand access to apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships among certain 

populations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 

Mr. WALKER (for himself, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. SPANO, Mrs. RODGERS of 

Washington, Mr. WRIGHT, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. MEUSER, and Mr. 

CRAWFORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on 

the Judiciary, Armed Services, and Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To expand access to apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships 

among certain populations, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Nationwide, there are over 585,000 appren6 tices currently obtaining the skills they need to sucVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4369.IH H4369

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1 ceed, while earning the wages they need to build fi2 nancial security. 

3 (2) On June 15, 2017, President Trump signed 

4 an Executive order to double Federal spending on 

5 the Apprenticeship USA program to $200 million a 

6 year, with the money allocated from existing job 

7 training programs. 

8 (3) Businesses from across the country signed 

9 the ‘‘Pledge to American Workers’’, committing to 

10 provide 3,800,000 workers with apprenticeship op11 portunities. 

12 (4) Nationally, 91 percent of United States ap13 prentices are employed after completing their pro14 grams, with an average starting wage above 

15 $60,000. 

16 (5) The Strengthening Career and Technical 

17 Education for the 21st Century Act was signed into 

18 law in July 2018 to promote access to workplace de19 velopment programs such as apprenticeship pro20 grams. 

21 (6) On December 21, 2018, the First Step Act 

22 of 2018 was signed into law, a landmark criminal 

23 justice reform to promote hope and opportunity for 

24 incarcerated individuals. 


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1 (7) Former inmates often face a significant in2 ability to enter the workforce due to a lack of rel3 evant training, negatively impacting their family and 

4 future generations. 

5 (8) Sixty percent of the 650,000 inmates re6 leased every year are unemployed one year after they 

7 are released. 

8 (9) Congress must continue its work to expand 

9 all forms of apprenticeship opportunities to ensure 

10 all American workers have access to the necessary 

11 workforce development tools. 

12 SEC. 2. EXPANDING ACCESS TO APPRENTICESHIPS. 

13 (a) PROMOTION OF ALL FORMS OF APPRENTICE14 SHIPS AND PRE-APPRENTICESHIPS TO CERTAIN POPU15 LATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 

16 Labor, the Secretary of Education, and the Attorney Gen17 eral, shall, in consultation with each other and consistent 

18 with applicable law, promote all forms of apprenticeships 

19 and pre-apprenticeships for— 

20 (1) high school students and participants in the 

21 Job Corps of the Department of Labor; 

22 (2) persons currently or formerly incarcerated; 

23 (3) persons not currently attending high school 

24 or an accredited post-secondary educational institu25 tion; and 


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1 (4) for members of armed services and vet2 erans. 

3 (b) PROMOTION OF APPRENTICESHIPS AND PRE-AP4 PRENTICESHIPS TO CERTAIN INDUSTRIES.—The Sec5 retary of Commerce and the Secretary of Labor shall pro6 mote apprenticeships to business leaders across critical in7 dustry sectors, including manufacturing, infrastructure, 

8 cybersecurity, health care, and construction. 

9 (c) APPRENTICESHIP DEFINED.—For the purposes 

10 of this Act, the term ‘‘apprenticeship’’ means an arrange11 ment that includes a paid-work component and an edu12 cational or instructional component, wherein an individual 

13 obtains workplace-relevant knowledge and skills. 

Æ 


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