Statement by the Press Secretary on H.R. 4323, H.R. 4980, S.J. Res. 40

On Monday, September 29, 2014, the President signed into law:

H.R. 4323, the "Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2014," which authorizes appropriations to the Department of Justice for each of Fiscal Years 2015-2019 in the amount of:  $151 million for the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program; $12.5 million for DNA training and education programs; and $30 million for the Sexual Assault Forensic Exam Grant Program;

H.R. 4980, the "Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act," which identifies and protects children at risk of sex trafficking, improves opportunities for children in foster care, extends and modifies state adoption incentive payments, extends the Family Connection Grant Program, and improves international and interstate child support services; and

S.J. Res. 40, which appoints Michael Lynton as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.

White House Announces Recipients of $450 Million in Job-Driven Training Grants

$450 Million in Grants to Nearly 270 Community Colleges Partnering with More than 400 Employers Nationally

Training America’s workers with the skills they need for a good job can help middle class families and help American businesses grow our economy. While America’s businesses have created 10 million jobs over the past 54 months, the longest streak of uninterrupted job growth in our country’s history, we need to do more to train Americans with the skills they need, and connect them with businesses that are looking for skilled workers.

Today, as part of this effort, Vice President Biden, Secretary Thomas E. Perez, and Secretary Arne Duncan are announcing the winners of $450 million in job-driven training grants going to nearly 270 community colleges across the country. The funding is part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) competitive grant program, which is co-administered by the Department of Labor and Department of Education.

The grants will provide community colleges and other eligible institutions of higher education with funds to partner with employers to expand and improve their ability to deliver education and career training programs that will help job seekers get the skills they need for in-demand jobs in industries like information technology, health care, energy, and advanced manufacturing.

Building on the strategies advanced in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, these types of job-driven training partnerships were also identified in the Vice President’s job-driven training report released in July as an important way to successfully prepare and place workers in jobs that pay a middle class wage.

Highlights About Today’s Job-Driven Training Grant Awards:

• Awarding $450 Million to Nearly 270 Community Colleges Partnering with More than 400 Employers Nationally: Today’s 71 grantees build on nearly $1.5 billion in TAACCCT grant funds that have gone over the past three years to strengthen and expand job-driven training partnerships in communities across the country. 

• Partnerships with Hundreds of Employers to Train Low-Wage Workers for Middle-Class Jobs: All grantees are required to partner with employers to develop training  programs to enable workers to build skills that will help them obtain good jobs. Partnerships with employers such as Exxon-Mobil, IBM, Delta, Jetblue, CVS, and Habitat for Humanity, and with labor and community based organizations such as SEIU, Goodwill Industries, Urban League and the United Way, will assist in getting thousands of low-wage Americans access to more internships, apprenticeships, and job-relevant basic skills education and training in order to move up the career ladder into better-paying jobs that employers across the country are looking to fill. 

• Winners Are in High Demand Fields – Including 25 Focusing on IT and Cybersecurity: 25 grantees are developing new training programs for information technology and cybersecurity jobs, which are growing two times the national average. In partnership with employers such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Booz Allen, and SpaceX, these programs will help alleviate the projected national shortage of IT workers.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be 1.4 million additional IT jobs created by 2020 and only 400,000 computer science graduates. 

Building on Progress and Moving Ahead

Many of today’s grantees are building on the efforts of past TAACCCT winners, leveraging curriculum that has been developed through strong partnerships between community colleges, the workforce system, employers and industry groups to transform the way they design and deliver courses through accelerated learning strategies.

Consistent with the recommendation of the Vice President’s job-driven training report, community college grantees in this final round will work with business and industry to upskill thousands of low-wage, low-skill workers and expand competency-based accelerated training pathways to in-demand jobs in information technology, manufacturing, health care, and other fields.

The Administration will continue to take action and work with educators, businesses, labor, and other leaders across the country to train American workers, expand the middle class, and grow the economy.  The Vice President’s job-driven training report identified a job-driven “checklist” as a tool to maximize the effectiveness of over 25 competitive grant programs, to direct state and local training and employment programs to become more job-driven, to make sure all federal employment and training programs are engaging employers, and to improve information on employment results so we know what’s working well and what’s not.

We must continue to invest in these types of partnerships, which successfully train American workers. That’s why the President’s 2015 budget proposes a $6 billion Community College Job-Driven Training Fund to ensure that we are sufficiently investing in partnerships between our nation’s community colleges and employers to ensure all American have access to workplace relevant skills and training.

The President’s 2015 budget proposes investing $6 billion over four years in a Community College Job-Driven Training Fund.  This fund would support competitive grants to partnerships of community colleges, industry and employers to reform job training curricula and launch new programs to train workers for in-demand jobs and careers. This fund will also help to spur the development and adoption of common, industry-recognized credentials and skill assessments to allow employers to more easily identify and hire qualified candidates. $2 billion of these funds will be set aside to double the number of U.S. Registered Apprenticeships within five years.

Scroll down to see the list of winners.

Additional Information and Examples of Today’s Grant Award Winners:

Creating Career Pathways to Upskill Americans for In-Demand Jobs Across the Country.

Grantees are partnering with employers to develop career pathways for individuals to build skills that will help them improve their wages and job quality. These programs will assist in getting millions of low-wage, low-skill Americans access to internships, apprenticeships, and job-relevant basic skills education and training in order to move up the career ladder into better-paying jobs that employers across the country are looking to fill.

• Scale-up Southeast Louisiana for Energy and Advanced Manufacturing Jobs at Delgado Community College ($2.5M).  Southeast Louisiana (SELA) will work with employers such as ExxonMobil, Laitram, U.S. Heritage Powersports, Lockheed Martin and Phillips6, Scale-Up SELA will fulfill the needs of business and industry in Southeastern Louisiana by offering high-skilled, high-wage, competency-based training programs that meet employer and industry needs. The project will focus on taking participants not ready for college-level academic work, including those without a high school diploma, and engage them in training that will teach them academic reading, writing and math skills in the context of real world applications in manufacturing and energy. Partner employers will contribute to program design, implementation, and continuous improvement; provide employment and work-based training opportunities; and resources such as equipment, facilities and instructors. The program expects to train 1,150 students over the next three years for jobs in welding, machining, electrical and industrial maintenance. 

• Maryland Cyber-Technology Job Pathways Consortium ($15M).  Over 130,000 IT jobs are in Maryland--49% above the national average, with thousands of family-sustaining entry-level cyber security jobs that a job seeker can qualify for with a professional certificate or associate’s degree. Fourteen community colleges from across the state of Maryland are coming together with employer partners including IBM, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Rockwell Collins, Booz Allen, Medstar and a number of hospitals to develop training pathways for low-income workers with minimal prior education or experience in Information Technology or Cybersecurity. To increase the likelihood of participant fit and success, participants will get upfront assessments, career planning, and job search support. Students will also accelerate through a two-year degree that is aligned with NSA guidelines for Security & Information Assurance programs. Virtual internships will also be offered to all students to increase their interaction with employers. In the next three years, the program intends to graduate nearly 2,000 students and employer partners have already committed to interviewing qualified graduates. 

• New Aviation Maintenance Accelerated Job Training Program at Cape Cod Community College ($2.5B). The Cape Cod Community College (CCCC) will launch new accelerated pathways for jobs in the aviation industry through unique partnerships with 15 statewide and regional employers including the US Coast Guard, Camp Edwards Army National Guard, two industry associations, and the MA Department of Workforce Development. These partnerships will make CCCC one of only six community colleges in the nation and the only community college in the eastern New England region to offer accelerated Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airframe and power plant (A&P) certification. The Massachusetts Credentials and Careers in Aviation (MCCA) program has worked with JetBlue, Delta, Cape Air, and Island Air, among others, to develop the airframe and power plant certificate modules. This approach will prepare unemployed and underemployed individuals in only 12 months instead of the traditional 24. Through hands-on learning and a guaranteed internship with an employer partner, students will be trained to become Aviation Maintenance Technicians, Avionics Technicians, Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technicians. Due to strong partnerships with employers, an industry-driven curriculum, and an urgent need for employees with the required skills, job placement is projected at 85% of those completing at least one certificate. The CCCC is working closely with the state of Massachusetts to secure employer donations of engines and aircrafts. Student scholarships will also be provided by Cape Cod Pilot Association, the State Space Grant Consortium based at MIT through NASA grants. 

In addition, the Department of Education is releasing a new report on the importance of building  foundational skills in a job-specific context. 

• Department of Education Report on Transform Adult Learning through Work. The Department of Education is releasing a new report with recommendations to transform adult learning in the United States. After months of public engagement with a variety of stakeholders around the country, the recommendations for public-private partnership include strategies that engage employers to support upskilling of more entry-level workers while on the job, encourage the use of assessments and innovative learning tools to improve access to targeted career guidance for youth and adults, and promote better alignment and coordination of public and private programs so that youth and adults experience seamless services. The report highlights unique opportunities for implementing these recommendations as a result of the changed legislative environment made possible by the passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act in July 2014. 

Training for High-Growth Information Technology and Cybersecurity Jobs.

25 grantees are developing new training programs for information technology and cybersecurity jobs.  These jobs span all sectors of the economy, and non-IT industries currently employ two-thirds of private sector IT workers.

•   New Ivy Tech Computing and Informatics School in Indiana ($2.5M). Starting in fall 2014, Ivy Tech will launch a new School of Computing and Informatics, offering eight new IT degree programs with curriculum designed to meet employer needs. The statewide proposal will target all 92 counties of Indiana and will provide IT training for 13,913 participants, with at least 4,412 completing one or more credentials and 4,060 completers placed in jobs or advancing in employment during the grant period.  Ivy Tech will pilot test a competency based, accelerated approach for selected IT courses and degrees. The launch of this school will help address the over 18,000 computer related job openings recorded in 2013. Complementing this effort, local employers are committing to review and recognize curricula, place qualified graduates in jobs, provide workplace exposure and capstone projects and provide internships and cooperative work experience. 

•   Kentucky Consortia for Information Technology Job Pathways in Computer and Medical Fields ($10M). Six Kentucky community colleges, Hazard Community and Technical College (HCTC), Big Sandy CTC, Jefferson CTC, Somerset Community College, Southeast Kentucky CTC, and West Kentucky CTC, have formed a consortium to create a next generation expansion of Kentucky’s online, personalized competency-based learning system to serve more than 700 workers. This consortium will develop five new degrees in major information technology (IT) pathways in the computer and medical fields that include eleven stackable certificates, all of which will be developed in concert with regional and national employers.  The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Foundation, a national industry association for Health Information Technology, as well as the Kentucky Workforce Development Cabinet, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, will assist the EPIC Consortium in these efforts. The consortium will also implement already proven, evidence-based models from Per Scholas and Jobs for the Future’s Jobs to Career program in training low-skill individuals for IT jobs with strong job placement and retention rates and wage gains. 

•   Texas Manufacturing and Electronics Technology Program forVeterans ($3.2M).  The Veterans-Focused Engineering Technology Project (VFETP) will leverage Richland College’s existing programs in manufacturing and electronics technology, robust commitments from employers, and TAACCCT dollars to meet the needs of approximately veterans who need to re-skill to be competitive in the job market. The VFETO will offer certificates in supervisory control and data acquisition and electromechanical maintenance and will work with the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) and the International Society of Certified Electronic Technicians (ISCET) to offer credentials that have been requested by Richland College’s employer partners. The VFETP will also offer veterans and spouses the option to complete most core courses and some field specific courses online, including safety and technical algebra, in their last six months of service, and finish their AAS degrees within one year after discharge. Over 15 employers including Texas Instruments, Oncor, and Raytheon have already indicated that they will hire program completers and have also committed to supporting curricula development, offering internships, providing on-the-job training, and developing applied problems for students. 

In addition, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released a report to the President outlining recommendations to expand opportunity for middle-skill workers through STEM education, job training and matching enabled by IT.

•   PCAST Recommendations to Use Technology for Targeting Job-Skills Training and Matching Talent to Jobs. Today, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released a report to the President outlining three recommendations to expand opportunity for middle-skill workers—people whose jobs require some postsecondary training but not a conventional college degree. PCAST identifies opportunities to provide faster, more effective tech-enabled training, to match workers to jobs and training based on their abilities, and to foster stronger connections between employers and training providers so that that curricula keep up with employers’ needs. PCAST recommends the federal government facilitate private sector leadership by: (1) bringing industry together with government to encourage activities such as standards-setting and approaches to facilitate information exchange across employers, workers, and training providers, (2) continuing to support the research and development of IT to facilitate assessment of skills and training needs, counseling about training and career options, and delivery of training that culminates in credentials that can be validated, and (3)  for the Federal Government to lead by example as a major employer itself. 

Pathways to Careers for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities

The Department of Labor is also releasing $2 million in grants through the Pathways to Careers: Community College for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities Project. These grants will be awarded to two prior TAACCCT grantees to develop, test, and evaluate new integrated education and career training strategies to help ensure that youth and young adults with disabilities acquire the skills, degrees, and credentials needed for high wage, high skill employment.

•   The Pellissippi State Community College (PSCC) Universal Pathways to Employment Project (UPEP) will expand its capacity and, ultimately that of other institutions to deliver integrated education and career training to students with disabilities by implementing model and research-based practices. The PSCC UPEP project will build upon the Guideposts for Success best practices and improve access to training for students with disabilities by braiding funding from three previous TAACCCT grants currently in place at PSCC: 1) RxTN, an online nursing and health care career focused program funded in Round II of TAACCCT; 2) Multi-State Advanced Manufacturing Consortium (M-SAMC), a program focused on the competencies needed for manufacturing line jobs funded in Round III of TAACCCT and 3) Southeastern Economic and Education Leadership Consortium (SEELC), a program which utilizes virtual training equipment funded in Round IV of TAACCCT. 

•   The Onondaga Pathways to Careers (OPC) project will increase access and enrollment amount youth and young adults with disabilities in Career and Technical programs aligned with high-growth industries and occupations.  The project will leverage the State University of New York T.E.A.M. Educational Pathways grant funded in Round II of TAACCCT, which offers employer-validated curriculum, fast-track developmental education, prior learning assessments, and work-based learning partnerships, to expand opportunities for students with disabilities. They will also strengthen the continuum of education and training with multiple "on- and off-ramps" by leveraging the networks, resources, and programs developed through the TAACCCT Advanced Manufacturing project, including the new Advanced Manufacturing Certificate, which was completed with active participation of employers and approved by New York State Education Department for launch in fall 2014. 

Full List of TAACCCT Grant Recipients And Pathways to Career Grantees Announced Today

Readout of National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice's Meeting with the Syrian Opposition Coalition

National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice met at the White House yesterday with a delegation from the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) led by SOC President Hadi al-Bahra and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to supporting Syria’s moderate opposition. Ambassador Rice explained that U.S. and partner nations’ air strikes in Iraq and Syria are targeted at ISIL. She also reiterated that President Assad had lost all legitimacy and that the United States remains committed to pursuing a negotiated settlement that ensures a genuine and broadly inclusive political transition. Ambassador Rice and the SOC discussed ways that the United States can support the moderate opposition to advance our mutual goals of countering ISIL and strengthening the prospects for a political transition.

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Joint Statement on Support for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations

We, the governments of Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt,  Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Rwanda, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Uruguay, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam, reaffirm our support for United Nations peacekeeping operations at a time when they are more critical than ever to international peace and security, and yet also under historic stress.

We applaud the bravery of the men and women serving in UN peacekeeping operations, who face increasingly complex and dangerous environments; and we honor those who have made the supreme sacrifice. We note that UN peacekeeping operations have taken on increasingly significant and challenging roles in response to contemporary threats to international peace and security, and we pledge to assist the United Nations in mobilizing the support that these operations require to achieve their important mandates.

We commend the progress in recent years to make UN peacekeeping operations more effective and efficient, but note that critical reforms are still needed to further strengthen peacekeeping operations to meet evolving security threats and challenges. To this end, we support the Secretary-General’s strategic review, and underscore our commitment to ensure that UN peacekeeping operations have the funding, forces, equipment, training, and capabilities they need. We also affirm the vital roles of the UN General Assembly, including the C34, and the Security Council in reviewing recommendations of the review and deciding on implementation as appropriate.

Through our current contributions to peacekeeping operations and the announcements of new support we have each pledged today, our governments demonstrate our enduring commitment to strengthening UN peacekeeping operations. We call on other UN member states and the rest of the international community to join us and demonstrate similar support by announcing new commitments to UN peacekeeping operations, recognizing that different countries may contribute in different ways, that such support could take a variety of forms, and that a number of member states already contribute in significant ways. Our governments commit to reconvene in one year on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015, to assess the progress made and the challenges remaining, and to catalyze additional commitments to support UN peacekeeping operations.