During a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) spoke about the possible elimination of the Job Corps program.
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00:00Thank you. The chair recognizes representative Watson Coleman. Thank you
00:06madam chair and a welcome to you madam secretary. A question regarding a study
00:12that you all referred to as I think as related to the decisions that you made
00:17with Job Corps whose study was that? Yeah so that so that was a Job Corps
00:23transparency report and really it's the most comprehensive report that has been
00:28done out of the Department of Labor in order to discover what has actually been
00:33happening. So that's your your study? I'm very concerned about Job Corps because I
00:41know Job Corps deals with with individuals from 16 to 24. It provides
00:47them not only opportunity to get a an education in a college but also hooks
00:55them up with unions for apprenticeships were things that are very important
01:01and responsive to the market but also provides them residential removal from
01:08very dangerous areas. It gives them a new lease on life. They are a mixture of
01:15people predominantly minority all low income and I'm wondering what is it that
01:21we're proposing to do that is better than that because I don't I don't agree that
01:27Job Corps has done its job as best it can. What I do think is that we don't
01:33necessarily hold people up to the standards that we expect and so I would
01:38like to know as quickly as possible because I have one other area to question
01:42what is your proposal to deal with that population specifically to give them
01:48safety and security and where they're living opportunities to go to college
01:53opportunities to engage in apprenticeships. Sure so working with our
01:58respective state partners as well to understand it's very different in every
02:01state and very different in every congressional district as well and and so I
02:06did pull up these numbers because I knew this would be so important to many of you
02:09here and I know Congresswoman that you I don't believe you have a Job Corps in
02:14your actual district but next to it next to it I believe yeah very close but the
02:20cost per enrollee there is fifty six thousand dollars and the cost per
02:24graduate for yours is two hundred and sixty eight thousand per graduate and only
02:29one-third of those students are graduating across the board not yours but
02:32across the board and students go on to make about sixteen thousand dollars a year so
02:37just the discrepancy alone concerns me but that doesn't mean the
02:40population we should forget about. So that's why that's really important to
02:44follow through. That's right. Number one how they're employed is another function of
02:51how this country deals with minorities in particular. Yes and so through the
02:56apprenticeship program whatever I can do to work with you I know I'm gonna I'm gonna
03:00I'm gonna be working with you and I'm sorry I missed your call. No that's okay. It
03:05befuddles me why we don't understand the significance of affirmative action and
03:10contract compliance. They both came into existence because there was verified
03:16studies of the underutilization and the lack of opportunity for women and
03:23minorities and that they were treated discriminatorily in both the contract
03:28world as a an MBE or WBE or even just an employee as well as in the work world and
03:35it seems to me that the president is held bent on eliminating that opportunity
03:43just to create equity among people in this country who have been treated
03:49discriminatorily. Well absolutely not we won't discriminate against any of our
03:53Americans. Well we are we are and and I appreciate that obligation. I appreciate
03:58your rhetoric but I'm watching what he's saying and what he's doing. Well I think
04:03that it's really important that we collectively recognize we have an
04:09obligation to everybody. That's right. We'll lift all Americans. I've had one other
04:12question regarding these these a job course. They're a private partner private
04:20public partnerships. So in each state or wherever they exist is it a different
04:26private entity that's in relationship with the government or is it one big
04:34the operators are different. Pardon? Operators can be different. Are they
04:39primarily is there any one that's really owning the majority of them? Across the
04:46board there has been across the board and and in this report I think you'll get
04:52that information of exactly what's happening but I would like my team to be
04:55able to update you in more detail so that you do fully understand. I really
04:58appreciate it and and you know the last I would like to see the study I would like
05:03to have conversations with you and I would also like to understand what is the
05:08justification for eliminating the program that provided jobs of whatever nature to
05:16older people who were a low income and needed that additional income. Well I
05:21just feel like we're punishing older people who need to work. Well my goal is
05:27certainly not that but because those are subject again to litigation on the grant
05:30funding I won't be able to specifically talk about that right at this moment but I
05:33I would love to talk to me about how you're going to protect them even
05:36irrespective irrespective of any kind of lawsuit against your eliminating this
05:43particular program. What is your vision to protect those individuals of that ilk
05:49that age group who need to work? Sure. How do you plan to ensure that? We will fulfill the
05:55mission of the Department of Labor and as the Secretary of Labor I will focus on all
05:59the American workers wherever they are in their continuum of the workforce and that is
06:03the job of the Department of Labor and we'll continue on that road that I can
06:06guarantee. Thank you ma'am I yield back.