Courtney Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Grow the Defense Industrial Base Workforce

WASHINGTON, DC – This week, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Ranking Member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee and a senior Member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, led bipartisan introduction of the Job Corps and Skilled Defense Workforce Act. The bill is co-sponsored by 14 House Members.

“We’re at a pivotal moment for the revitalization of our defense and maritime industrial bases,” Courtney said. “Connecticut’s Second District is the role model for how investments from Congress and the private sector can grow a skilled workforce to meet shipbuilding demand. The bipartisan Job Corps and Skilled Defense Workforce Act takes an all-of-the-above approach to expand that success across the nation, enabling a new generation of Americans to enter good careers in the defense industrial base.”

The bipartisan Job Corps and Skilled Defense Workforce Act would:

• Promote greater alignment between the Armed Services, defense industrial base, and Job Corps in order to prepare young workers to contribute to our national defense.

• Extend eligibility for the Shipbuilding Workforce Development Special Incentive to Job Corps.

• Enable Job Corps to receive grants, in addition to existing authorities to accept charitable donations, to increase opportunities to fund training curriculum.

• Require the Secretary of Defense to ensure military recruits who are ineligible for enlistment be made aware of opportunities to enroll in the Job Corps program to prepare them for enlistment or learn skills that are in high demand in the defense industrial base.

• Streamline Job Corps enrollment for interested servicemembers in pre-separation counseling.

• Provide agility to Job Corps Centers to make staffing and professional development decisions, enter into agreements with local partners, and engage stakeholders, while acting within existing budgets.

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