03.05.02

Senator Cantwell Fights for Workforce Training

WASHINGTON, DC- Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) today issued a call for increased funding for workforce-training programs in the fiscal year 2003 federal budget. In a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, as well as in a speech delivered to the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB), Cantwell emphasized the need for a well-prepared, skilled workforce.

In a letter to the leadership of the Senate Budget Committee that was signed by 44 Senators-including 10 Republicans-Cantwell called on Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Ranking Member Pete Domenici (R-NM) to "properly invest in preparing the workforce by adequately supporting federal job-training programs."

Referring to current funding levels for workforce training programs in her speech to NAWB, Cantwell said the federal government is "delivering a trickle of funding while faced with a tidal wave of need." She added that without a serious federal budget commitment, debating the means with which training is delivered would be "like moving deck chairs around on the Titanic."

In their letter to the Senate Budget Committee, the bi-partisan group of Senators noted that unemployment is at its highest level in six years, and "one of the best ways to invest in the long-term economic recovery is to invest in the retooling of our economic engine, our workers."

President Bush's proposed FY 2003 budget calls for a $900 million reduction in the federal workforce-training budget.