mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , i rise in strong opposition to this bill . 
this bill is nearly identical to the wia bill that passed this house last congress on a near party-line vote . 
it was a bad bill then , and it remains a bad bill now . 
h.r. 27 represents a missed opportunity to ensure that more , not less , job training happens for the millions who are unemployed or looking to upgrade their skills . 
this legislation fails to increase the amount of actual training services that will be provided to unemployed , dislocated , and underemployed workers . 
instead , this legislation focuses on moving around and changing the bureaucratic elements of wia without focusing on getting more resources to the consumers of these programs . 
h.r. 27 is largely the same proposal backed by the administration for the past 2 years . 
just a few weeks ago , president bush spoke to individuals in omaha , nebraska . 
there he met a woman in her late 50s who is a mother of three children . 
she told him that presently she was working three jobs to ensure she could provide for her family . 
the president 's response was the following , and i quote exactly : `` uniquely american , is n't it ? 
i mean , that is fantastic that you 're doing that. '' what insensitivity . 
is this the attitude of this administration when it comes to the challenges of working adults and families ? 
i think this quote from the president speaks for itself . 
it will go down in history with marie antoinette 's famous quote : `` let them eat cake. '' mr. chairman , this bill is not going to help this mother of three or the millions of americans seeking job training . 
this bill is objectionable for four primary reasons . 
first , the bill block-grants the adult worker , dislocated worker , and employment service program . 
this effectively repeals the wagner-peyser act and the employment service , the national program used to match job seekers with employment opportunities . 
termination of the employment service will translate into higher unemployment and less jobs . 
the elimination of the employment service and wagner-peyser marks another example of the republican majority terminating a new deal program . 
wagner-peyser was first enacted in june of 1933 in the first term of president franklin delano roosevelt . 
it is shameful that we are eliminating a 70-year-old program that has helped so many achieve and maintain work . 
in my hometown of flint , michigan , we had two parts of the unemployment office , one where you applied for the unemployment benefits and the other where you went in and were seeking a job and they would put the unemployed and an employer together . 
that would be decimated by this bill . 
second , h.r. 27 allows governors to siphon off resources currently providing veterans , adult learners , and individuals with disabilities with critical services . 
instead of helping vulnerable and needy individuals , these resources would fund infrastructure costs of the one-stop centers . 
many of these individuals have nowhere else to turn to receive help , and this bill would exacerbate this problem . 
h.r. 27 requires programs which provide these critical services to give up resources , but it also takes away any say over how they are allocated or used . 
they no longer will have a voice on the local boards . 
we should not be taking funds from these programs . 
these lost resources will translate into disruptions and lost opportunities to people who presently rely on these services . 
we should provide a separate source of funding for these one-stop centers . 
third , the bill allows discrimination in hiring based on religion with wia funds . 
the bill turns back the clock on decades of civil rights protections in our job training programs . 
this is simply wrong . 
focus hope in detroit , michigan , is one of the best , if not the best , job training program in the state of michigan . 
focus hope was run until his death by father william cunningham , a classmate of mine in the seminary . 
he trained thousands of people in inner-city detroit as a catholic priest assigned by his bishop there , and he did not care whether those who were training people to run a lathe , to do engineering or whatever it was , he did not care whether they were catholic , whether they were protestant , whether they were morman , muslim or had no faith at all . 
all he cared was they knew how finally , mr. chairman , h.r. 27 creates personal reemployment accounts which voucherize the job training system and cuts individuals off from other training services . 
the money they do not spend to get a job , they can keep and use for any purpose . 
workers do not need a bribe to get back to work . 
research on similar schemes have proven that pras are not an effective means of providing job training . 
mr. chairman , this bill does not respond to the needs of underemployed and unemployed individuals . 
it misses an opportunity to improve our job training system . 
i urge members to join me in opposing passage of this legislation . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
