WASHINGTON – During a Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Hearing today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) highlighted the need to expand support for job training programs across the United States to strengthen the workforce, especially within the manufacturing sector. Duckworth also discussed a bill she recently helped introduce in the Senate, the Community College to Career Fund Act (CC2C), to close the “skills gap,” by creating a grant program to fund workforce training partnership programs between colleges and employers to help prepare Illinois students for jobs in high-demand industries, such as healthcare, advanced manufacturing, clean energy and information technology.
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“Community colleges across Illinois and throughout the country are key partners in solving the skills gap. Both states and the federal government need to invest in our community colleges, so they have the resources they need to prepare Americans for 21st-century jobs,” said Senator Duckworth. “I’m going to continue to work on strengthening Illinois’s economy by improving access to affordable, high-quality higher education programs that meet the workforce needs of businesses, both large and small, throughout Illinois.”
Duckworth has been a champion for public education since she was first elected to Congress. As a Congresswoman, she introduced the In The Red Act, which would strengthen Pell Grants and make community college tuition-free for deserving students to help prepare them for high-skilled jobs. She also made several visits to Harper College to highlight their Advanced Manufacturing Program designed to train students for jobs in manufacturing through rigorous internships, apprenticeships and classroom training. As Senator, Duckworth continues to advocate for the expansion of similar programs across Illinois.
