Remarks at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, June 23, 2003

And when you reduce all rates on people who pay taxes, you're providing capital infusion into the small-business sector of America, And when you couple that with the--increasing the amount of money that can be deducted for capital expenditures in the year of expenses from $25,000 to $100,000, there is tremendous incentive for small-business growth. And that's vital, because 75 percent of new jobs are created by the small businesses of America.

And the bill I signed is going to be positive for job growth. And that's the whole focus of the legislation, is how do we create the number of jobs around our country so people can find work. And if one of those jobs are created, we must have a system which trains people for the jobs which actually exist. We invest $15 billion each year on job training and employment services, which Americans can now access through the more than 1,900 One-Stop Career Centers around the country. And that's positive. That's a consumer-oriented system where we take the opportunities to people in 1,900 different places for people to go and get help. People can check job listings there. They can get help to prepare a resume. And, equally important, they can sign up for job training programs.

And we're taking other measures to improve people's chances of finding work. First, we're working to train Americans for jobs that exist--I've said that twice. That's not the way it used to be. It used to be, "Are you training people?" And it didn't matter what you were training people for, the question was, Are you training people?" Now we're asking the question, "Are you training people for jobs that exist so we can actually help the people we're trying to help?"

In this current economy, in spite of slow times, there are industries such as health care and high technology manufacturing that are looking for well-trained employees. That's a fact. The Department of Labor has got a program called High-Growth Job Training Initiative. What that means is we're forming partnerships with businesses to train unemployed workers in the skills that are in demand.

Connie Mitchell is a person who is involved in one such program. As I mentioned to you, she lost her job. She was at Dulles Airport. And this year she applied to a job training program funded by the Hospital Corporation of America, which is working in concert with the Department of Labor. If anybody here is from HCA, I want to thank you for being a good corporate citizen in America. I know you're working in your self-interests to find people to fill the slots you're looking for, but it's also helpful to team up with the Department of Labor to provide a partnership to help people find work--you're pointing at that; thank you.

The program is paying for Connie's classes at Northern Virginia Community College. She will have a job with HCA when she graduates with her nursing degree. And she said she will have a career with really good training and a really good income. And that's important. We want Connies all across the country to have the same experience that she has had.