mr. chairman , i rise in opposition to h.r. 27 , the reauthorization of the workforce investment act .  the workforce investment act was one of these pieces of legislation that actually helps people .  it was passed back in 1998 .  unfortunately , this is a step backward as it comes before us today .  the bill now here would create block grants to fund the adult dislocated worker and employment service programs .  and as we know , funding through nearly every past block grant program has led to decreases in funding in just about every education or labor program that was block granted .  in addition , the proposal here would reduce and restrict services for in-school youths .  it would fund one-stop infrastructure by siphoning off funds used to serve veterans and individuals with disabilities ; and importantly , the legislation before us here would allow discrimination in hiring based on individuals 's religious beliefs .  under current religious law , organizations are free to make employment decisions using religious criteria with their own money .  why should we allow organizations to discriminate with taxpayer dollars ?  it really would roll back 40 years of civil rights laws and decades of job training laws as we have heard here today .  the workforce investment act was intended to be about helping hard working americans find jobs and help those who have a job receive training to improve their employment prospects .  this is , i repeat , the kind of legislation that could actually help people .  these one-stop centers have been a success .  but this legislation does not provide adequate authorized funding for them and it changes many of the good features that have been part of the workforce investment act .  we could be closing the skills gap , but unfortunately , the bill does not do that .  it is a step backward from the legislation that was passed in 1998 .  