IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 159 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that infrastructure 
spending bills should include development programs that recruit and 
train individuals from communities with high unemployment rates. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 28, 2017 
Mr. MEEKS (for himself, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. 
WALZ, and Ms. PLASKETT) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
infrastructure spending bills should include development 
programs that recruit and train individuals from commu-
nities with high unemployment rates. 
Whereas America would need to spend approximately $1.44 
trillion over the next 10 years to close the infrastructure 
gap; 
Whereas the infrastructure workforce is aging at a rate 
where approximately 3,000,000 workers will need to be 
replaced over the next 10 years, compounding America’s 
infrastructure crisis; 
Whereas infrastructure jobs include a wide range of employ-
ment opportunities in both the public and private sectors, 
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•HRES 159 IH 
including design, construction, operation, governance, and 
maintenance of America’s assets; 
Whereas infrastructure jobs provide competitive wages with 
low barriers to entry, many of which require on-the-job 
training in lieu of formal higher education; 
Whereas in spite of rising income inequality, infrastructure 
jobs paid approximately 30 percent more to low-income 
individuals than other occupations between the years of 
2005 and 2015; 
Whereas in the fourth quarter of 2016, African-Americans 
and Hispanics between the ages of 25 and 34 had the 
highest unemployment levels at 8.6 percent and 5.3 per-
cent, respectively; 
Whereas the unemployment rate for military veterans serving 
in conflicts since September 11, 2001, has remained 
above the national unemployment rate, with the Federal 
Reserve of Chicago highlighting how wartime deployment 
can limit the types of training veterans receive that are 
transferable to the civilian labor market; and 
Whereas the Federal Government should make concerted ef-
forts, by coordination with State and local governments, 
workforce development agencies, educational institutions, 
including Historically Black Colleges and Universities 
and Hispanic Serving Institutions, to recruit, train, and 
retain America’s next generation of infrastructure work-
ers to close the workforce gap: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) any infrastructure spending bill enacted 
during the 115th Congress should include robust in-
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•HRES 159 IH 
vestments in workforce development programs that 
take meaningful actions to recruit and train individ-
uals from communities with high unemployment 
rates, including African-American communities, His-
panic communities, and American Indian tribal 
areas; 
(2) any infrastructure spending bill enacted 
during the 115th Congress should include robust in-
vestments in workforce development programs that 
take meaningful actions to recruit and train unem-
ployed veterans that have served in a conflict since 
September 11, 2001; and 
(3) any infrastructure spending bill enacted 
during the 115th Congress should include meaning-
ful outreach efforts geared toward underrepresented 
contractors, including minority- and women-owned 
businesses, veteran owned small businesses, service- 
disabled veteran owned small businesses, and 
offerors that employ veterans on a full-time basis. 
Æ 
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