TO THE MEMBERS OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce strongly supports the bipartisan “Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act.” The Chamber will consider including votes related to this bill in our annual How They Voted scorecard.
This long-overdue reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Act would help to ensure that America's students acquire the skills necessary to succeed in today’s high-skilled workforce.
The bill would align career and technical education (CTE) programs to the needs of regional, state, and local labor markets; support effective collaboration between employers and secondary and postsecondary institutions; increase student participation in work-based learning; foster industry-recognized and postsecondary credentials; and improve accountability and data transparency to ensure that CTE programs are adequately preparing students for the jobs of today and tomorrow.
We applaud Republicans and Democrats for collaborating on this important bill, and appreciate the strong leadership of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, particularly Reps. Glenn “GT” Thompson and Raja Krishnamoorthi, in preparing this legislation. The Chamber urges the House to move expeditiously, so the President can quickly sign this significant legislation into law.
Sincerely,
Suzanne P. Clark
Senior Executive Vice President
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
