II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2649

To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to authorize the Secretary 

of Labor to provide for 5-year pilot projects to establish a system of 

industry-validated national certifications of skills in high-technology industries and a cross-disciplinary national certification of skills in homeland security technology. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2004

Mr. BINGAMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL

To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to authorize the Secretary of Labor to provide for 5-year pilot 

projects to establish a system of industry-validated national certifications of skills in high-technology industries 

and a cross-disciplinary national certification of skills 

in homeland security technology.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workforce Investment 

5 for Next-Generation Technologies Act’’ or the ‘‘WING 

6 Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Science- and technology-based industries 

4 have been and will continue to be engines of United 

5 States economic growth and national security. 

6 (2) The United States faces great challenges in 

7 the global economy from nations with highly trained 

8 technical workforces. 

9 (3) Occupations requiring technical and sci10 entific training are projected to grow rapidly over 

11 the next decade, at 3 times the rate of all occupa12 tions (according to Science & Engineering Indica13 tors, 2002). 

14 (4) The need for trained technology workers in 

15 national security fields has increased as a result of 

16 the events of September 11, 2001. 

17 (5) National certification systems are well es18 tablished and accepted in fields such as health and 

19 information technology and have succeeded in at20 tracting more workers into those fields. 

21 (6) Business and workers could both be well 

22 served by expanding the certification concept to 

23 other high technology industries. 

24 (7) National certification systems allow workers 

25 to develop skills transportable to other States in re26 sponse to layoffs and other economic changes. 
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1 (8) National certification systems facilitate 

2 interstate comparisons of education and training 

3 programs and help identify best practices and reduce 

4 cost and development redundancies. 

5 (9) National certification systems promote qual6 ity and encourage educational institutions to mod7 ernize programs to ensure graduates pass industry8 required exams. 

9 (10) National certification based on industry10 validated skill standards introduces stricter account11 ability for technical and vocational education pro12 grams. 

13 (11) Certification signals value to employers 

14 and increases applicants’ employability. 

15 (12) Certification offers a planned skill develop16 ment route into employment or professional advance17 ment for working adults and displaced workers. 

18 (13) The National Science Foundation’s Ad19 vanced Technological Education Program, author20 ized by Congress in 1992, has created national cen21 ters of excellence at community colleges that have 

22 established unique linkages with industry to prepare 

23 individuals for the technical workforce under the 

24 program. 
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1 (14) The Advanced Technological Education 

2 Program should be expanded to all institutions of 

3 higher education, as the Nation should invest more 

4 resources in training and education programs that 

5 are responsive to marketplace needs. 

6 (15) The one-stop delivery systems authorized 

7 under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 have 

8 proved to be effective providers of information and 

9 resources for job seekers. 

10 (16) The one-stop delivery systems offer special 

11 opportunities for directing displaced workers to cer12 tification programs that build skills for technical 

13 fields where rewarding jobs are plentiful. 

14 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

15 The purposes of this Act are as follows: 

16 (1) To increase the numbers of workers edu17 cated for employment in high technology industries. 

18 (2) To align the technical and vocational pro19 grams of educational institutions with the workforce 

20 needs of high-growth, next generation industries. 

21 (3) To offer individuals expanded opportunities 

22 for rapid training and retraining in portable skills 

23 needed to keep and change jobs in a volatile econ24 omy. 
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1 (4) To provide United States businesses with 

2 adequate numbers of skilled technical workers. 

3 (5) To encourage a student’s or worker’s 

4 progress toward an advanced degree while providing 

5 training, education, and useful credentials for work6 force entry or reentry. 

7 SEC. 4. SKILL CERTIFICATION PILOT PROJECTS. 

8 Section 171 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 

9 (29 U.S.C. 2916) is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(e) SKILL CERTIFICATION PILOT PROJECTS.—

12 ‘‘(1) PILOT PROJECTS.—In accordance with 

13 subsection (b), the Secretary of Labor shall establish 

14 and carry out not more than 20 pilot projects to es15 tablish a system of industry-validated national cer16 tifications of skills, including—

17 ‘‘(A) not more than 16 national certifi18 cations of skills in high-technology industries, 

19 including biotechnology, telecommunications, 

20 highly automated manufacturing (including 

21 semiconductors), advanced materials tech22 nology, nanotechnology, and energy technology 

23 (including technology relating to next-genera24 tion lighting); and
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1 ‘‘(B) not more than 4 cross-disciplinary 

2 national certifications of skills in homeland se3 curity technology. 

4 ‘‘(2) GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In car5 rying out the pilot projects, the Secretary of Labor 

6 shall make grants to eligible entities, for periods of 

7 not less than 36 months and not more than 48 

8 months, to carry out the authorized activities de9 scribed in paragraph (7) with respect to the certifi10 cations described in paragraph (1). 

11 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—

12 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—

13 In this subsection, the term ‘eligible entity’ 

14 means an entity that shall include as a prin15 cipal participant one or more of the following: 

16 ‘‘(i) An institution of higher education 

17 (as defined in section 101 or 102 of the 

18 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

19 1001, 1002)). 

20 ‘‘(ii) An advanced technology edu21 cation center. 

22 ‘‘(iii) A local workforce investment 

23 board. 
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1 ‘‘(iv) A representative of a business in 

2 a target industry for the certification in3 volved. 

4 ‘‘(v) A representative of an industry 

5 association, labor organization, or commu6 nity development organization. 

7 ‘‘(B) HISTORY OF DEMONSTRATED CAPA8 BILITY REQUIRED.—To be eligible to receive a 

9 grant under this subsection, an eligible entity 

10 shall have a history of demonstrated capability 

11 for effective collaboration with industry on 

12 workforce development activities that is con13 sistent with the goals of this Act. 

14 ‘‘(4) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 

15 grant under this subsection, an eligible entity shall 

16 submit an application to the Secretary of Labor at 

17 such time, in such manner, and containing such in18 formation as the Secretary may require. 

19 ‘‘(5) CRITERIA.—The Secretary of Labor shall 

20 establish criteria, consistent with paragraph (6), for 

21 awarding grants under this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(6) PRIORITY.—In selecting eligible entities to 

23 receive grants under this subsection, the Secretary 

24 of Labor shall give priority to eligible entities that 

25 demonstrate the availability of and ability to provide 
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1 matching funds from industry or nonprofit sources. 

2 Such matching funds may be provided in cash or in 

3 kind. 

4 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 

6 receives a grant under this subsection shall use 

7 the funds made available through the grant—

8 ‘‘(i) to establish certification require9 ments for a certification described in para10 graph (1) for an industry; 

11 ‘‘(ii) to develop and initiate a certifi12 cation program that includes preparatory 

13 courses, course materials, procedures, and 

14 examinations, for the certification; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) to collect and analyze data re16 lated to the program at the program’s 

17 completion, and to identify best practices 

18 (consistent with paragraph (8)) that may 

19 be used by local and State workforce in20 vestment boards in the future. 

21 ‘‘(B) BASIS FOR REQUIREMENTS.—The 

22 certification requirements shall be based on ap23 plicable skill standards for the industry involved 

24 that have been developed by or linked to na25 tional centers of excellence under the National 
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1 Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological 

2 Education Program. The requirements shall re3 quire an individual to demonstrate an identifi4 able set of competencies relevant to the industry 

5 in order to receive certification. The require6 ments shall be designed to provide evidence of 

7 a transferable skill set that allows flexibility and 

8 mobility of workers within a high technology in9 dustry. 

10 ‘‘(C) RELATIONSHIP TO TRAINING AND

11 EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—The eligible entity 

12 shall ensure that—

13 ‘‘(i) a training and education program 

14 related to competencies for the industry in15 volved, that is flexible in mode and time16 frame for delivery and that meets the 

17 needs of those seeking the certification, is 

18 offered; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the certification program is of20 fered at the completion of the training and 

21 education program. 

22 ‘‘(D) RELATIONSHIP TO THE ASSOCIATE

23 DEGREE.—The eligible entity shall ensure that 

24 the certification program is consistent with the 

25 requirements for a 2-year associate degree. 
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1 ‘‘(E) AVAILABILITY.—The eligible entity 

2 shall ensure that the certification program is 

3 open to students pursuing associate degrees, 

4 employed workers, and displaced workers. 

5 ‘‘(8) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of Labor 

6 shall consult with the Director of the National 

7 Science Foundation and the Secretary of Education 

8 to ensure that the pilot projects build on the exper9 tise and information about best practices gained 

10 through the implementation of the National Science 

11 Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education 

12 Program. 

13 ‘‘(9) CORE COMPONENTS; GUIDELINES; RE14 PORTS.—After collecting and analyzing the data ob15 tained from the pilot programs, the Secretary of 

16 Labor shall—

17 ‘‘(A) establish the core components of a 

18 model high-technology certification program; 

19 ‘‘(B) establish guidelines to assure develop20 ment of a uniform set of standards and policies 

21 for such programs; 

22 ‘‘(C) submit and prepare a report on the 

23 pilot projects to the Committee on Health, Edu24 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 
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1 the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

2 of the House of Representatives; and 

3 ‘‘(D) make available to the public both the 

4 data and the report. 

5 ‘‘(10) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

6 In addition to amounts authorized to be appro7 priated under section 174(b), there is authorized to 

8 be appropriated $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 to 

9 carry out this subsection.’’.

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