S.Amdt. 671

SA 671. Mr. OBAMA submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 605 proposed by Mr. Inhofe to the bill H.R. 3, to
authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and
transit programs, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on
the table; as follows:

On page 410, between lines 7 and 8, insert the following:

SEC. ___. TRANSPORTATION AND LOCAL WORKFORCE INVESTMENT.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Federal-aid highway programs provide State and local
governments and other recipients substantial funds for
projects that produce significant employment and job-training
opportunities.
(2) Every $1,000,000,000 in Federal infrastructure
investment creates an estimated 47,500 jobs.
(3) Jobs in transportation construction, including
apprenticeship positions, typically pay more than twice the
minimum wage, and include health and other benefits.
(4) Transportation projects provide the impetus for job
training and employment opportunities for low income
individuals residing in the area in which a transportation
project is planned.
(5) Transportation projects can offer young people,
particularly those who are economically disadvantaged, the
opportunity to gain productive employment.
(6) The Alameda Corridor, a $2,400,000,000 transportation
project, is an example of a transportation project that
included a local hiring provision resulting in a full 30
percent of the project jobs being filled by locally hired and
trained men and women.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
Federal transportation projects should facilitate and
encourage the collaboration between interested persons,
including State, Federal, and local governments, community
colleges, apprentice programs, local high schools, and other
community based organizations that have an interest in
improving the job skills of low-income individuals, to help
leverage scarce training and community resources and to help
ensure local participation in the building of transportation
projects.
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