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Washington,
D.C.
–
Senator
Tim
Scott
(R-SC)
called
on
President
Barack
Obama
and
Democratic
Senate
leaders
to
support
an
up-or-down
vote
on
the
SKILLS
Act
following
the
president’s
support
for
high-quality
workforce
training
in
last
night’s
State
of
the
Union
address.
Senator
Scott
introduced
the
SKILLS
Act
earlier
this
month
as
part
of
his
Opportunity
Agenda
to
create
greater
possibilities
for
success
for
American
students,
workers,
and
families.
“The
easiest
way
to
put
Americans
to
work
is
to
make
sure
they’re
able
to
compete
for
jobs
that
are
already
available,”
Scott
Said.
“Unfortunately,
our
workforce
training
and
development
system
falls
short,
even
though
millions
of
jobs
could
be
filled
today
if
workers
had
the
necessary
skills.
Last
night,
President
Obama
called
for
a
major
workforce
training
effort,
and
I
couldn’t
agree
more.
I
hope
the
president
will
encourage
Senator
Reid
to
bring
the
SKILLS
Act
to
an
up-or-down
vote
in
the
Senate
so
we
can
move
forward
with
making
sure
American
workers
get
the
training
they
need
to
get
back
to
work.”
The
SKILLS
Act
provides
sorely-needed
reforms
for
the
government’s
bureaucratic
maze
of
workforce
development
and
training
programs.
The
legislation
specifically
aims
to
help
low-income
workers,
individuals
with
disabilities
looking
for
work,
and
at-risk
youth
by:
• Making
job
training
more
immediately
available.
• Making
the
workforce
investment
system
more
responsive
to
the
needs
of
employers.
• Streamlining
35
separate
federal
workforce
development
programs
into
a
single
Workforce
Investment
Fund.
In
last
night’s
State
of
the
Union
address,
the
president
called
for
a
major
effort
to
enhance
the
nation’s
workforce
development
systems
to
train
and
match
skilled
workers
with
available
jobs:
“I’ve
asked
Vice
President
Biden
to
lead
an
across-the-board
reform
of
America’s
training
programs
to
make
sure
they
have
one
mission:
train
Americans
with
the
skills
employers
need,
and
match
them
to
good
jobs
that
need
to
be
filled
right
now…And
if
Congress
wants
to
help,
you
can
concentrate
funding
on
proven
programs
that
connect
more
ready-to-work
Americans
with
ready-to-be-filled
jobs.”
“The
SKILLS
Act
will
help
to
ensure
that
training
programs
are
doing
what
they’re
designed
to
do
by
creating
opportunities
for
American
workers
while
eliminating
duplication
and
waste,”
Scott
added.
“This
bill
is
a
winner
for
workers,
employers,
and
taxpayers.”
A
version
of
the
SKILLS
Act,
introduced
by
Rep.
Virginia
Foxx
(R-NC),
has
already
been
passed
by
the
House
of
Representatives.
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