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Press Releases

NAM Praises Congressional Passage of Perkins CTE Reauthorization

Timmons: Today’s Vote Sending Perkins CTE Reauthorization to President Trump’s Desk Is a Major Step Toward Closing the Skills Gap

Washington, D.C. – National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, which reauthorizes the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Act:

This bipartisan legislation empowers a new generation of American workers to improve their lives with high-tech, high-paying jobs in modern manufacturing, said Timmons. Tax reform and regulatory relief have powered tremendous manufacturing growth, but to fill the jobs manufacturers are creating, we need more workers with the right skills. Our research shows there will be as many as 2 million unfilled manufacturing jobs by 2025 if we don’t take additional steps to upskill our workforce, which is why the NAM has worked so hard to get this bill to the finish line.

Today’s vote sending Perkins CTE reauthorization to President Trump’s desk is a major step toward closing the skills gap and addressing this challenge. But the work does not stop here. Manufacturers are encouraged to have partners in the White House like the president and Ivanka Trump who are laser-focused on worker training and have proposed bold solutions and a national workforce strategy.

The NAM has been a key supporter of Perkins CTE reauthorization. The NAM earlier this year urged the Senate HELP Committee to advance reauthorization legislation and organized a coalition of nearly 500 business and education groups in support of the program. In addition, NAM members highlighted the need to reauthorize Perkins CTE at multiple hearings before Congress.

In the NAM’s latest quarterly outlook survey, manufacturers cited attracting and retaining a quality workforce as their number-one concern.

-NAM-

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs more than 12 million men and women, contributes $2.25 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, has the largest economic impact of any major sector and accounts for more than three-quarters of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the Manufacturers or to follow us on Shopfloor, Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.

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