I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 511
To provide for the establishment of a comprehensive and consolidated
workforce preparation and development system in the United States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 13, 1995
Mr. MCKEON (for himself, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. PETRI, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr.
GUNDERSON, Mr. FAWELL, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska,
Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. CASTLE, Mrs. MEYERS of Kan-
sas, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. TALENT, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr.
HUTCHINSON, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. RIGGS, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr.
WELDON of Florida, Mr. FUNDERBURK, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. MCINTOSH,
Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. KASICH, Mr. ZELIFF, Mr. BOEHNER, and Mr. MICA)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and Economic Opportunity
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of a comprehensive and
consolidated workforce preparation and development sys-
tem in the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workforce Preparation
and Development Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) The knowledge and skills of the United
States workforce are fundamental to the economic
competitiveness of the Nation today and in the fu-
ture, however, the United States does not currently
possess a comprehensive, effective, and efficient sys-
tem of workforce preparation and development.
(2) Due to global competition, emerging tech-
nologies in the workplace, the emergence of quality
managing, corporate realignments, and the loss of
many low-skilled jobs, United States workers will in-
creasingly need to enhance their skills on a continu-
ing, lifelong basis through such a workforce prepara-
tion and development system.
(3) Reports from the Comptroller General of
the United States have identified 154 different Fed-
eral programs, totaling $24,000,000,000, and ad-
ministered by 14 different Federal agencies, that
offer some form of education, job training, or em-
ployment assistance to youths and adults.
(4) Such reports point to the many problems of
duplication and fragmentation that exist within the
varied Federal workforce preparation and develop-
ment programs, including—
(A) the additional costs of administering
overlapping workforce preparation and develop-
ment programs at the Federal, State, and local
levels which divert scarce resources that could
be better used to assist all individuals in pre-
paring for and entering the workforce; and
(B) conflicting eligibility requirements, an-
nual budgeting and operating cycles, planning
and reporting requirements, and performance
measurement systems which serve as barriers to
the integration of Federal workforce prepara-
tion and development programs and result in an
inefficient use of resources.
(5) Major goals of any reform of the Federal
workforce preparation and development system must
be—
(A) to streamline and consolidate individ-
ual workforce preparation and development pro-
grams, eliminating unnecessary duplication and
fragmentation in such programs;
(B) to provide maximum authority and re-
sponsibility to States and local communities for
operation of State and local workforce prepara-
tion and development programs;
(C) to stress private sector partnerships
and encourage increased leadership and respon-
sibility on the part of the private sector through
the use of creative incentives for investment in
workforce training (which may include reduced
regulatory burdens, tax incentives, and em-
ployer loans for the training of incumbent work-
ers);
(D) to establish a system which is market-
driven, accountable, provides customer choice
and easy access to services, and reinforces indi-
vidual responsibility;
(E) to improve education, literacy, job
training and employment assistance programs
in the United States, encouraging lifelong
learning and skills upgrading through a seam-
less system connecting elementary, secondary,
postsecondary, adult, and work-based training
and education; and
(F) to establish a comprehensive, inte-
grated labor market information system to en-
sure that workforce preparation and develop-
ment programs are related to the demand for
particular skills in local labor markets, and to
ensure that information about the employment
and earnings of the local workforce, occupations
in demand, skill requirements for such occupa-
tions, and the performance of education and
training providers, are available to job seekers,
employers, teachers, students, and decision-
makers.
(6) Early exposure to career opportunities can
enrich the education experience and provide incen-
tives for students to stay in school and achieve high-
er levels of learning.
(7) Millions of families in the United States are
trapped in a cycle of poverty, dependency, and
undereducation that is linked to illiteracy and low
educational achievement, for which adult education
and family literacy programs have been shown to be
successful in improving the educational attainment
and job skills of parents and their children, contrib-
uting to reductions in crime, welfare dependency,
and enhancing employment opportunities for such
individuals.
(8) In recent years, a number of innovative
States and local communities have begun successful
efforts to integrate Federal workforce preparation
and development programs through one-stop service
delivery systems, however, without exception, such
workforce preparation and development
programs;
(iii) is accountable;
(iv) stresses private sector partner-
ships and encourages increased leadership
and responsibility on the part of the pri-
vate sector for investment in workforce
training;
(v) is market-driven;
(vi) provides customer choice and easy
access to services; and
(vii) reinforces individual responsibil-
ity by stressing attachment to employment,
and at the same time, encouraging lifelong
learning and skills upgrading through a
seamless system connecting elementary,
secondary, postsecondary, adult, and work-
based training and education.
(E) The establishment of a national labor
market information system that provides em-
ployers, job seekers, students, teachers, training
providers, and others with accurate and timely
information on the local economy, occupations
in demand, earnings, and the skill requirements
for such occupations, and information on the
performance of service providers in the local
community.
(3) Consistent with the legislation enacted in
accordance with paragraph (2), the Congress shall
provide for the repeal of existing Federal workforce
preparation and development programs, as appro-
priate.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL WORKFORCE PREPARATION AND DEVEL-
OPMENT PROGRAMS DEFINED.
For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘Federal
workforce preparation and development programs’’ means
programs under any of the following provisions of law:
(1) The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied
Technology Education Act (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.).
(2) The Job Training Partnership Act (29
U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).
(3) The Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49 et
seq.).
(4) The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills
Training Program authorized under part F of title
IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 681 et
seq.).
(5) The Adult Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1201
et seq.).
(6) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.
701 et seq.).
(7) The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of
1994 (20 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.).
(8) Chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.).
(9) Section 6(d)(4) of the Food Stamp Act of
1977.
(10) Veterans vocational training programs au-
thorized under chapter 106 of title 10, United
States Code, and chapters 30, 31, 32, 35, and 41
of title 38, United States Code.
(11) Other Federal employment, education, or
training programs, as appropriate.
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