These four Congressional hearings investigate the role of the federal government in assisting long-term, structurally unemployed workers and in encouraging private sector efforts to retrain Americans. Witnesses who present statements, prepared statements, and articles represent the Urban Institute, Washington, District of Columbia; Forecasting…

This document contains the text of a congressional hearing focusing on successful private and public ventures in job training efforts. The purpose was to learn how to expand or extend programs in the private sector that provide job training to underskilled and undereducated workers in conjunction with the public sector. The bulk of the document…

THE MAJOR PURPOSES OF THE LAW WERE TO STRENGTHEN AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TO EXPAND THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES IN THE NATION THROUGH THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ACT OF 1963, AND TO EXTEND FOR 3 YEARS THE NATIONAL DEFENSE EDUCATION ACT OF 1958 AND PUBLIC LAWS 815 AND 874. IT AUTHORIZED INCREASED FEDERAL GRANTS TO…

This document contains the oral and written statements of witnesses who testified at a hearing on the Reemployment and Retraining Act of 1994 and the WARN [Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification] Amendments Act. Witnesses included Senator Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio, several union and public employment program officials from several states,…

The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program is designed to help the more than 1 million workers per year who lose their jobs because of permanent layoffs or plant closures, due in part because of imports. Studies show, however, that the TAA program fails to meet the seven goals of a successful reemployment assistance program: (1) TAA benefits…

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) is a benefit paid to workers who lose their jobs in industries that face increasing competition from imported goods. TAA is supposed to offset political pressures for protectionist legislation, and it has been justified on grounds of equity and efficiency as well. Research on TAA shows that it has failed to aid…

German primary vocational training is characterized by the Dual System, a system of alternating education with two major partners--business and special vocational education. It coordinates and integrates both theoretical and practical training. Students who complete compulsory education at age 15 may choose this vocational alternating training…

This document contains the text and a section-by-section analysis of the proposed Reemployment Act of 1994, along with President Clinton's message in transmitting the act to Congress. The document reports that job seekers today have a difficult time getting information about jobs and training. The underlying problem is the lack of a coherent…

A study examined implementation of the Redwood worker assistance programs implemented to help mitigate the loss of jobs by timber workers in Northern California upon expansion of the Redwood National Park in 1978. The benefits provided to workers under the Redwood Employee Protection Program (REPP) were generous. As of December 1988, REPP had…

This document records oral and written testimony from witnesses at a congressional hearing on the implementation of the Transition Assistance Program, designed to help veterans make the transition to civilian life. Witnesses included the assistant secretary of labor for veterans' affairs, assistant secretaries of various branches of the armed…

Federal initiatives should be undertaken to reduce long-term structural unemployment in the United States. Long-term structural unemployment has risen during the 1970s and 1980s but is still primarily a problem of disadvantaged workers, not dislocated ones. The impact of technological change on occupations is felt mainly by the employed who are…

This congressional hearing focuses on the Endangered Species Employment Transition Assistance Act of 1992, which would amend the Job Training Partnership Act to provide job training and supportive services to workers dislocated as a result of enforcement of the Endangered Species Act. Testimony includes statements, articles, publications,…

This document contains testimony from two Senate hearings on the Reemployment and Training Act of 1994 by U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich and other witnesses concerning the Act and the need for changes in the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires employers to notify employees of impending layoffs.…

The number of Americans between the ages fifty-five and seventy-four will significantly increase during the next few decades. Within this group is the fastest growing poverty group in the country. For them the right to work is basic to the right to survive. Studies have shown that older workers are able to produce work which is, in quality and…

To provide information to the Congress in its continuing debates over improving science and mathematics (S/M) education as well as to education policymakers, the General Accounting Office (GAO) synthesized past evaluation and research studies and used other methodologies to examine four issues: (1) the nature of the problem and its remedies; (2)…