I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2000 
To provide for a competitive grant program for apprenticeship and internship 
programs through the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 23, 2015 
Mr. VEASEY (for himself, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. TONKO, Ms. WILSON of 
Florida, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, and Mr. LAN-
GEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Science, Space, and Technology 
A BILL 
To provide for a competitive grant program for apprentice-
ship and internship programs through the Manufacturing 
Extension Partnership Program. 
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 ‘‘Bridge to Manufac-
turing Jobs Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) In 2012, Deloitte found that the United 
States has 600,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs in 
the United States. 
(2) According to the Georgetown University 
Center on Education and the Workforce, the United 
States is likely to experience a shortage of about 
5,000,000 workers with technical certificates and 
credentials. 
(3) According to the Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics, apprenticeship occupations are projected to 
grow more than 20 percent from 2012 to 2022. 
(4) The Department of Labor found that work-
ers who completed an apprenticeship earn an aver-
age starting salary of $50,000. 
(5) Employers who support apprenticeship pro-
grams gain skilled workers, build a pipeline of em-
ployees, and reduce staff turnover. 
(6) Other countries, including Germany and the 
United Kingdom, have successfully implemented ap-
prenticeship programs. For example, Germany, even 
with less than one-third of the United States popu-
lation, has almost 2,000,000 apprentices with almost 
500,000 sponsoring companies. 
(7) The Federal Government can play an im-
portant role in facilitating the development of ap-
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prenticeship and internship programs at manufac-
turing companies, in particular through the Manu-
facturing Extension Program. 
SEC. 3. COMPETITIVE GRANTS TO FACILITATE APPREN-
TICESHIP PROGRAMS. 
Section 25(f) of the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k(f)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (B); 
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 
subparagraph (D); and 
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 
the following: 
‘‘(C) may be related to projects designed to 
facilitate the development and implementation 
of apprenticeship programs, internship pro-
grams, or student work-based learning pro-
grams to help serve the workforce needs of con-
sortia of manufacturing companies; and’’; and 
(2) by amending paragraph (5)(A)(i) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(i) create jobs and recruit and train 
a diverse manufacturing workforce, includ-
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ing through outreach to women and mi-
norities;’’. 
Æ 
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