mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman from michigan for yielding me this time . 
i am opposed to this bill because it reflects a misunderstanding of the proper way to build a successful career and a gross misinterpretation of our constitutional tradition . 
with respect to its misunderstanding of the best way to build a career , i think that these personal retraining accounts , although clearly well intentioned , have exactly the wrong effect on an unemployed person . 
the purpose of workforce investment is not to move a person from a position of unemployment to a position of employment for a while . 
the purpose of the workforce investment is to move a person from dependency to opportunity and eventually to prosperity . 
the great dividing line in the american economy is whether one has 2 years of college or not . 
people with more than 2 years of college tend to have stable jobs and high and rising incomes . 
this bill says to a person who is laid off from an industrial industry or some other employer like that take the first job that comes along . 
as the gentleman from washington ( mr. mcdermott ) xz4002620 said , they are virtually compelled to do that . 
the first job is not always the best job . 
but , more importantly , from the public 's point of view , it may be a temporary job . 
it will move the person from a period of unemployment to a brief period of reemployment to another period of unemployment . 
our goal should not be temporary employment . 
our goal should be opportunity and prosperity in the long run . 
with respect to the constitutional misinterpretation , the gentleman from virginia ( mr. scott ) xz4003632 will offer an amendment later in this debate that needs to be adopted . 
we are not opposed to faith-based organizations continuing the work they are presently doing in job training . 
they do a great job and they should continue . 
if the gentleman from virginia 's ( mr. scott ) xz4003632 amendment passes , that work will not be discontinued . 
if the gentleman from virginia 's ( mr. scott ) xz4003632 amendment passes , here is what will happen : we think that with federal money a religious organization should not be able to say we will not hire catholics to serve meals at a clinic . 
we think with federal money , an organization should not be able to say we do not hire jews to do job training . 
we think with federal money , people should not be able to say we do not want evangelical christians or muslims or buddhists doing job counseling . 
this country started because we wanted to get away from religious persecution and discrimination . 
it is an abrogation of our constitutional traditions to enshrine that in the law , and that is what this bill does . 
the gentleman from virginia 's ( mr. scott ) xz4003632 amendment corrects that mistake and it should be adopted . 
