July 26, 2018 | Speaker Ryan Press Office | https://spkrryan.us/2JWqNs9
Summary: At his weekly press conference, Speaker Ryan enrolled a bipartisan bill to overhaul our career and technical education system, helping close the skills gap and match more job seekers with employment opportunities. He also spoke about how the House Republican Better Way agenda has made Americans’ daily lives better.
Overhauling Career and Technical Education
“I am about to sign H.R. 2353, so that we can send it to the president’s desk. I am really excited about this bill. This is a big piece of our Better Way agenda.
“This provides for a complete overhaul of our career and our technical education system.
“I see [Rep.] G.T. Thompson is here, the author of the bill. So I’m very, very, very proud of this effort that he, and all of our colleagues, have put together.
“One obstacle that workers across the country are facing today is that there’s a job that they want, but they don’t have quite the right skills to take that job.
“We call this the skills gap.
“It is a big reason why, right now, we actually have more job openings in America than we have people looking for work.
“That’s a big piece of the skills gap.
“So the demand for skilled workers keeps growing, but Washington has badly been behind the curve on this. We have not properly equipped our education system.
“This changes that. This closes the skills gap.
“Students and workers are now going to have a much clearer path to all of the great career and technical education programs that are out there. We have a bunch of these in Southern Wisconsin.
“I see it all the time where I come from. Great careers, great jobs are being offered, people need work, but they don’t have the skills to get these careers and jobs. This closes that gap.
“There could not be a better time to do this, with the economy back on track, and businesses expanding and hiring again.
“So we’re very excited about this.
“Now, this didn’t get a lot of headlines. This did not get a big, splashy news story. This wasn’t the ticker on the TV. This was not on the front page.
“But this matters.
“It will make people better off. It will make it easier for people to provide for their families.
“This is the kind of thing that I’m in this job for. This is the kind of thing that [Rep.] G.T. Thompson’s in this job for.
“It’s why I’m here. It’s why we come to these jobs: to improve people’s lives. To take good ideas, and turn them into real results that will make a lasting difference for people.”
Delivering Results
“Just look at some of the things that we’ve gotten done in just the last few months alone. We are producing.
“Better care for our veterans. Better access to credit for small businesses. Hope for the terminally ill. More tools to fight transnational gangs like MS-13. More resources to fight opioids, the biggest congressional effort of its kind in history.
“And today—right now, you can see the vote on the floor—the national defense bill to rebuild our military.
“Things like this—things like these—they may not make the cut against the palace intrigue and all the countdown clocks, but we are getting things done to improve people’s lives.
“And, of course, I want to encourage you, I get to do this again, I really enjoy this, I want to encourage you to go to better.gop to see that we’ve been making good on our promises. To see that we’ve been making good on executing our agenda.
“And as a result of our Better Way agenda getting into place, becoming law, people are better off now.
“So go to better.gop to learn more about all of these things.”
