Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) released the following statement in response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address this evening:
“Tonight President Obama laid out the next steps for our economic recovery and I support his approach. The President recognizes that we can’t restore the American Dream of fair opportunities for everyone unless we rebuild the middle class and ensure that if you work hard and play by the rules you will be able to provide for yourself and your loved ones.
“I’m especially encouraged that the President has put special emphasis on closing the skills gap, which has been a drag on job creation, particularly in Rhode Island. In meeting with businesses in my District, I have been frustrated to hear repeatedly that they either are or could be hiring, but they can’t find workers who have been trained in the right areas. We simply are not preparing a workforce in our state that meets the needs of expanding fields, like IT, engineering and cybersecurity.
“Fostering collaboration between businesses and educators and increasing opportunities to acquire these skills must be a top priority, and this should be something all political parties can agree on. I look forward to being an advocate for the President’s proposals in this area. There are many other efforts required to get our economy growing and creating high quality jobs, but no matter how many great ideas we have, our businesses won’t be able to generate the jobs they are capable of creating unless they have the right talent to draw from.
“Despite the conventional wisdom about this being an election year, we can’t spend the next 12 months allowing politics and more partisan bickering to get in the way of progress. We must show real leadership and work together on the issues that matter most to our constituents.”
