Press Release - Labor Secretary Alex Acosta: "Trump Infrastructure Plan Provides Skilled Jobs"

"The president's plan not only invests in physical infrastructure, it also invests in workforce education."

Trump infrastructure plan provides skilled jobs

By Secretary Alex Acosta

The Columbus Dispatch

April 4, 2018

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The president's plan to strengthen our nation's infrastructure — including modernizing roads, bridges, tunnels and airports — represents an outstanding opportunity for Americans to build their career while building a stronger foundation for our nation. This is a great time to be a job-seeker in America.

I joined President Trump last week at the operating engineers' union training facility in Richfield, Ohio. Their apprenticeship programs are impressive. Apprentice and journeyman operators learn and hone their skills on cranes, scrapers, bulldozers and more. They learn how to perform their jobs safely and efficiently.

If Congress passes the president's plan, jobs like these will be created across industry sectors and in communities around the country. Americans are ready and willing to fill these jobs, and they will need specialized skills to get hired.

The president's plan not only invests in physical infrastructure, it also invests in workforce education. The common-sense proposals put forth in the plan will make it easier for Americans to access skills-based learning by reforming a cumbersome federal bureaucracy that too often limits Americans to using federal assistance for traditional educational programs.

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President Trump's proposal will bring America's infrastructure into the 21st century while creating new jobs. With reforms to help students pursue demand-driven education, the president also will help prepare the American workforce to thrive in good, family-sustaining careers.

Read the full op-ed here.