THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Aboard Air Force One)
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For Immediate Release August 11,
2000
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Two years ago this week, I signed the bipartisan Workforce
Investment Act (WIA), launching an historic initiative that Vice
President Gore and I first proposed in 1992 as a way to streamline and
bring greater accountability to our nation's job training system. Today,
with these reforms underway in all 50 states, we reach another key
milestone by adopting the final rule implementing the major provisions
of this landmark Act. I congratulate our federal partners, Congress,
the states, local communities, businesses, and American workers, on how
far we have come.
Largely as a result of WIA?s reforms, states now have established
1,200 One-Stop Career Centers to provide job seekers and employers in
each community with a single, customer-focused point of entry to a wide
range of employment services. Developed with extensive input from the
many people with a stake in our job training system, the final rule
provides additional direction to state and local partners while
preserving their planning and operating flexibility. The rule also gives
state and local partners guidance on creating Individual Training
Accounts that allow workers to choose the training that meets their
needs.
Unfortunately, currently proposed Congressional funding for
workforce development programs, including the Administration's Fathers
Work/Families Win initiative, falls far short of the amount needed both
by American businesses to meet the growing demand for skilled workers
and by working families to gain access to lifelong learning. WIA
provides broad access to employment opportunities, often for people with
disabilities or others who have been excluded, and it should be properly
funded. I call on Congress to fully fund the bipartisan program it
passed two years ago so that all Americans can participate in today's
era of economic opportunity. With WIA up and running across the
country, now is the time to invest in the system we built together.
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