State of the Union Addresses of Barack Obama, 2009-2016Obama, Barack
General
State of the Union Addresses of Barack Obama, 2009-2016
Obama, Barack
Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
So tonight I've asked Vice President Biden to lead an across-the-board
reform of America's training programs to make sure they have one
mission: train Americans with the skills employers need and match them
to good jobs that need to be filled right now. That means more on-the-
job training and more apprenticeships that set a young worker on an
upward trajectory for life. It means connecting companies to community
colleges that can help design training to fill their specific needs.
And if Congress wants to help, you can concentrate funding on proven
programs that connect more ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-
filled jobs.
I'm also convinced we can help Americans return to the workforce faster
by reforming unemployment insurance so that it's more effective in
today's economy. But first, this Congress needs to restore the
unemployment insurance you just let expire for 1.6 million people.
Let me tell you why. Misty DeMars is a mother of two young boys. She'd
been steadily employed since she was a teenager, put herself through
college. She'd never collected unemployment benefits, but she'd been
paying taxes. In May, she and her husband used their life savings to
buy their first home. A week later, budget cuts claimed the job she
loved. Last month, when their unemployment insurance was cut off, she
sat down and wrote me a letter, the kind I get every day. "We are the
face of the unemployment crisis," she wrote. "I'm not dependent on the
government. Our country depends on people like us who build careers,
contribute to society, care about our neighbors. I'm confident that in
time, I will find a job, I will pay my taxes, and we will raise our
children in their own home in the community we love. Please give us
this chance."
Congress, give these hard-working, responsible Americans that chance.
Give them that chance. [Applause] Give them the chance. They need our
help right now. But more important, this country needs them in the game.
That's why I've been asking CEOs to give more long-term unemployed
workers a fair shot at new jobs, a new chance to support their families.
And in fact, this week, many will come to the White House to make that
commitment real. Tonight I ask every business leader in America to join
us and to do the same, because we are stronger when America fields a
full team.
Of course, it's not enough to train today's workforce. We also have to
prepare tomorrow's workforce, by guaranteeing every child access to a
world-class education. Estiven Rodriguez couldn't speak a word of
English when he moved to New York City at age 9. But last month, thanks
to the support of great teachers and an innovative tutoring program, he
led a march of his classmates through a crowd of cheering parents and
neighbors from their high school to the post office, where they mailed
off their college applications. And this son of a factory worker just
found out, he's going to college this fall.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account