News From Congresswoman
Nydia M. Velázquez
Representing New York's 12th Congressional District - Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens
Ranking Democratic Member, House Small Business Committee

For Immediate Release
June 2, 2004

CONTACT: Wendy Belzer, Kate Davis, (202) 225-2361

Velázquez: Bush Administration Needs to Fund Job Training Programs for U.S. Workers
Small businesses and manufacturers face increased need for skilled employees

WASHINGTON - Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee, today highlighted the need for the Bush administration to increase funding for critical employment and training programs in order to meet the rising demand for skilled, trained workers within the manufacturing sector and small business community.

"As our nation experiences a rising tech industry and a recovering manufacturing sector, we also see the need for skilled workers," Congresswoman Velázquez said. "This growing demand for skilled labor is an increasing trend in this country. As our nation struggles to sustain an economic recovery - we cannot afford to have a shortage of qualified, trained workers within some of our most prominent industries. Sixty percent of all jobs are classified as skilled, while only twenty percent are classified as non-skilled. Our country's failure to meet the demand for these trained workers poses a serious threat to our competitiveness in the global market, and to our ability to sustain an economic recovery."

The manufacturing sector has been hit particularly hard by the shortage of skilled workers. A recent report released by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) stated that over 80 percent of manufacturers claim to have difficulty finding qualified employees, and 60 percent of manufacturers typically reject 50 percent of all applicants because of a lack of skills. High premiums put on employee skills have caused a number of jobs to move overseas because many foreign countries are offering employee training that small manufacturers in the U.S. are unable to afford.

Republicans are in the third week of the "Hire Our Workers" (HOW) initiative, which focuses on lifelong learning. However, despite the fact that the U.S. manufacturing sector has lost over 2.8 million jobs since the start of 2001, the Bush administration continues to drastically underfund employment and training programs such as the Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP) and the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). Both of these federal programs are vital to retraining displaced workers, and allowing manufacturers to tap into assistance from knowledgeable business experts.

"Cutting funding for employment and training initiatives such as MEP and TAA is not the way to help the manufacturing sector sustain an economic recovery while it is already experiencing a shortage of skilled workers," Congresswoman Velázquez said. "These cuts also hurt our small businesses, which create 75 percent of all new jobs and face greater workforce development barriers than their corporate counterparts. If President Bush truly cared about our nation's workforce, then he would start adequately funding employment and training programs that promote skilled employees. The livelihood of our nation's small manufacturers and small businesses depend on it."

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