November 12, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 180 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H8777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1930
               COMMEMORATING NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP WEEK

  (Mr. GROTHMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, as some of our other Members have, I rise 
to commemorate the observance of National Apprenticeship Week.
  Whether you are talking to people who are manufacturers, whether you 
are talking to people in the medical community, you know that one of 
the biggest problems we have in America today is we don't have enough 
people to fill the vital jobs that are necessary for our economy and 
necessary for the health of our citizens.
  To a certain extent, this is because the educational system has let 
people down, allowing them to spend tens of thousands of dollars and go 
tens of thousands of dollars in debt without getting the skills needed 
in these two vital areas.
  For too long, we have just focused on a vague 4-year degree path, but 
we are right now in a position in which we are ruining people's lives 
or putting them in a very difficult position as they become 30 years 
old, 35 years old, and still don't have a job commensurate with 
repaying these loans.
  Apprenticeships are good for employers, good for workers, and good 
for our country.
  As Members of Congress, people on the Education Committee and others 
must do more to expand and promote the apprenticeship program.

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