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Washington, DC-- Today Congressman David Wu continued his fight against Republican efforts that would hurt, not help Oregonians who are struggling to train for and find jobs. Congressman Wu voted against the Job Training Improvement Act of 2005 (H.R. 27), which includes proposals that would repeal dedicated funding for vulnerable workers, permit governors to divert funds from adult education, disability and veterans' services, cut job opportunities for youth, create vouchers to replace guaranteed job-training and repeal critical civil rights protections.
"When Oregonians still face one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, we should be focused on finding real solutions to the issues of job training and economic growth, not embracing untested programs and undermining civil rights protections," said Congressman David Wu.
H.R. 27 undermines existing job-training programs by establishing an untested job-training voucher program. It establishes "Personal Reemployment Accounts" (PRAs) which range from $500 to a cap of $3000 with the actual amount of the voucher to be determined by state or local workforce boards. To fund the new voucher scheme, existing resources would have to be shifted from proven, successful job training methods.
The Job Training Improvement Act of 2005 undermines current civil rights protections by allowing faith based grantees to hire and fire employees because of their religion or religious views. Under current law, faith-based organizations do participate in federal job-training programs and cannot discriminate in employment for taxpayer funded jobs. H.R. 27 removes this protection for employees and job applicants of faith-based organizations, for the first time allowing federal funds to be used to deny employment based on religion in federal job training programs.
H.R. 27 repeals dedicated funding for vulnerable workers by block-granting funding for employment services and services to adults and dislocated workers. It also allows governors to divert funds from critical adult education, disability, and veterans' services by permitting them to take funds from adult education, vocational rehabilitation, and veterans' services to use for infrastructure and administrative costs.
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