Sablan placed the bill in the hopper for new bills on Friday, as the House debated appropriations for military construction and veterans affairs in the coming fiscal year.
Sixteen Members of Congress co-sponsored the legislation, H.R. 3181.
“This is just another example of the many ways that the Northern Marianas — and often the other insular areas — have been overlooked in national policy,” said Sablan.
“The Workforce Investment Act doesn’t provide for Job Corps Centers in the islands. My bill fixes that mistake and should eventually bring new opportunities for our young people to learn a skill and find work here at home or anywhere they want to go.”
Job Corps is a free education and training program, specifically designed for at-risk youth 16 to 24 years old. Once accepted in the program trainees learn a career, earn a high school diploma or GED, and build the skills necessary for finding and keeping good jobs.
“There are 122 Job Corps Centers in the United States,” Sablan explained. “But right now the closest on to the Northern Marianas is in Hawaii. That’s a long way from home for a 16-year-old.
“I believe that with a Job Corps Center right here in the Northern Marianas — perhaps on Rota or Tinian — it would be much more likely that our young people would participate in this great program and would be set on a very productive life path.
“And a Job Corps Center in the Northern Marianas might also become a magnet for students from Guam and other parts of the Pacific, who would feel much more at home here than in Hawaii or in the U.S. mainland.”
The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. Among the co-sponsors are the Committee Chairman, George Miller, D-Ca., Dale Kildee, D-Mi., chair of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, and Lynn Woolsey, D-Ca., chair of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
Sablan is a member of the Education and Labor Committee and both of these Subcommittees.
“I am very grateful for support of Mr. Miller, Mr. Kildee, and Ms. Woolsey. It gives me great hope that H.R. 3181 may move rapidly through the House. And I am also very appreciative of the other Members who gave their support to my continuing efforts to bring learning opportunities of all kinds to the people of the Northern Marianas,” he said.
Job Corps employs a holistic career development training approach.
Trainees are active participants in designing their own program of study.
The Job Corps experience integrates academic and vocational studies together with practice in employability skills and social competencies.
Students learn both in classrooms and in practical, hands-on work situations so that they are well-prepared for stable, long-term, high-paying jobs.
“I truly believe that we have to think about the long-term well-being of the Northern Marianas — 30, 50 years down the road. Education has to be the key to a successful future for all of us. So I will keep looking for ways to use the Northern Marianas seat in Congress to create more educational opportunities for our people,” Sablan said.
