On false asylum claims. A lot of these people being taken advantage of. What is your office doing to prevent people who are not in this country legally from taking jobs away from American Workers, and b, making sure that their employers are obeying all the laws, particularly with regard to age . Secretary su thank you very much for that question, congressman. I think one of the things you might be referring to is recently a Division Found a large number of children working in exploitive child labor conditions. This was a company that had hired over 100 children, ages 1317, working, doing sanitation, cleaning work at the Meat Processing facilities. Mr. Grothman can i give you a followup . How many of these children were living with their parents . Secretary su i dont have a specific number on that. Many of these children were Migrant Children. As a result mr. Groth man do you like mr. Grothman do you look for that . Do you try to find the parents . Secretary su we look for child labor mr. Tkpwo tman if somebody is taken advantage of one of the things is you call the parents. Do you call the parents . Do you look where they are . Secretary su in this case what happened was again, some of the kids were 13 years old and working the night shift. Mr. Grothman if i found a 13yearold in the night shift i would want to call the parents quickly. Do you look for the parents . Secretary su what we did here. The white house started an Interagency Task force that does include some of our sister agencies. Some of the questions that you are asking mr. Grothman the question is, if you find a 13yearold working the night shift illegally, the first thing i would do is contact the parents and find out whats going on. There has been some concern in this town about in the last Administration Children being separated from their parents. Albeit relatively small compared to this sea of people working illegally. Do you look for the parents . Do you check it off or see whether they have parents . Secretary su some of that work involves the work of other agencies in the federal government. We do work together. This is not an answer of we are not paying attention of the the Interagency Task force includes the department of Homeland Security mr. Grothman anybody checking to see whether the kids are here with their parents or sent north by the drug cartels . Whats going on . Secretary su all important and relevant to the issue at hand. For the department of labor our work was to make sure mr. Grothman you dont consider that a concern. In 2005, you wrote that we live in a society built on White Privilege and systemic racial subordination. When i look at this statistics, people come here from all around the globe. People are not of european descend sk epbt. Frankly whose ancestors live in china, india, cuba all doing better than native born. When you look at all these groups, not of european ancestry, if we define doing well as financially well, it looks like, again and again and again we see people coming to this country from all across the globe doing better than the native born. You made that comment in 2005. We live in a society built on White Privilege and systemic racial subordination. Given the successes of people of indian, ancestry, india, china, philippines, cuba, historic i dont know if still true, Second Generation from the caribbean, do you still stand by this idea running down america we are a society built on White Privilege . Secretary su the other thing i said and more recently is we are a nation where the American Dream has was available to certainly my family. Mr. Grothman i regret saying that. Its an inflammatory thing to say about our country. Will you recant that statement . Secretary su i will certainly say that in all the things that we have talked about today and the work that i have done and my record over the last two years as deputy secretary but also the decades before, do i believe in equal opportunity for all communities. Mr. Grothman you made an inflammatory statement saying that our society is built on White Privilege. People here from all around the globe do financially better of people of european heritage of the india, china, cuba, philippines wherever you look chair foxx i need you to wrap up. Try to get an answer. Mr. Grothman could you comment on that . Or do you regret saying this . Secretary su this is a nation of opportunity. That is i believe that. I am a product of that. I am grateful for that. And i also believe that the work of this department of labor is make sure there are opportunities for everybody who is looking for a good job. It doesnt matter where you liv chair foxx thank you, ms. Su. Miss bonamici ms. Bonamici thank you for being here. I send my gratitude to you for you are your capable and steadfast leadership of the department of labor. Your qualifications to serve in this role and strong record as a champion for workers and businesses. Those are clear. I share the sentiments of many of my colleagues on my committee in urging the senate to quickly move forward with your confirmation. I find your personal story very inspiring. Its my understanding your parents had a small business. A pizza franchise. And with that they were able to send you and your sister to college. Look how far you have come. Its a very, very inspiring story. I have been a long time proponent of high quality Apprenticeship Programs because we know they work. I serve as in the kongal apprenticeship office. I understand its effective of building a pipeline of diverse and skilled workers with a pathway to a goodpaying job and help businesses thrive and succeed. Im happy about the the work in the district i represent. A high school in oregon operates the hillsborough kwro e advanced manufacturing apprenticeship. Located in what is sometimes known as the Silicon Forest in oregon. The first industry supported Youth Apprenticeship Program in our state. Its a twoyear program that provides a pathway for High School Students to get hands on paid training that prepares them for a career in advanced manufacturing. The Program Provides employers with skilled, diverse work force to help our nations competitive edge. Your leadership will make more programs like this available to more people across the country. I am a grateful for the work with the womens bureau leading to an increase in Labor Participation among women workers. I had the pleasure recently of meeting with Oregon Tradeswomen an amazing trailblazing organization in oregon that opens up pathways to women with careers in construction, manufacturing, mechanical, utility trades. I know the department of labor and the department of commerce supports the department of commerce and the department of energy in the he implementation of these historic investments that we have made to grow domestic manufacturing. I appreciate your leadership in making these pathways available to more women. Getting more women in the work force. As this Committee Considers reauthorizing the Work Force Innovation and opportunity act, i want to highlight the potential of strategics strategies and partnerships, particularly those that link employers with Community Colleges and other institutions of higher education. Another example from oregon, an Innovative Partnership between industries, universities, Community PortlandCommunity College where the University Researchers and students work on industry, developed research problems, and provide students with hands on experience to get the skills they need to become skilled workers. Portland Community College has the willow creek campus that forged lasting relationships with the oregonbased advanced manufacturing and semiconductor companies. There is lots of great work being done at the state level that we could replicate. I want to ask you, madam acting secretary, the department of labor has emphasized sector strategies as an evidentbased approach to effective training in many of its competitive grants. The reason they are so effective is that they encourage important partnerships between Community Colleges, training providers, and other relevant stakeholders, much like we have seen in oregon. We know that employers are vital in developing these programs. They could use some assistance in creating and maintaining the partnership. What are sector strategies why are they so effective . What is department of labor doing and continuing to do to apply this evidencebased approach and grants and work . Secretary su congresswoman, thank you so much. I dont think i could more effectively describe the benefits of Training Programs and Work Force Partnerships that really work. You have just done. I appreciate that. As you have said i think that partnerships are critical to delivering on the really important need and opportunity we have right now to connect people, including people who have been left out of good jobs in the past. You mentioned to the, tent there are jobs extent there are jobs where women are underrepresented, i met with women across the country when given a chance, to lay pipe underground or work in the Construction Trade not only do an amazing job but find their own pathway to the middle class and lift up their families. All of these things i think need to happen in partnership. I do believe that the department of labor rule will help solidify those partnerships to bring people together. Thats probably why our funding, sector based fund something about that. You talk about apprenticeships. They are one key tool within those partnerships also. They are a proven, tried and true model. The average starting wage after completing an apprenticeship is 77,000. People who finish the program earn an average of 300,000 more over their career compared to their peers who do not. This is not just a job but a life changing opportunity. Ms. Bonamici i hope you have the opportunity to meet these people. I yield back. Chair foxx mr. Allen, you are recognized for five minutes. Mr. Allen thank you, madam chair. Thank you acting secretary for being here this morning. First question, you dont need to answer that in writing to the committee, but we had chairman powell come and talk about the situation with Interest Rates and the economy. He said their responsibility was full employment. Obviously inflation below 2 . He says we are at full employment. Then i said well, sir, do you know that the current work is about 62 which is the lowest its been in 20something years. He said thats not my job. Thats your job. As members of congress weve got to figure out whats going on in the work force out there. Right now we have we had a high in 2002 of almost 70 worker participation. If you do the math thats about 10 Million People we cant figure out where they are. Could your department do a study and find out where these people are and why they are not working . Or given the opportunity to work . So we can train those folks up and give them that great dignity and respect they deserve and a good job so they can live the American Dream . Secondly, moving on to environmental and social governance factors, when making investment decisions, your department you had a rule and that is precisely why congressman barr and i last Congress Introduced the ensuring sound guidance act to ensure retirement account managers consider only monetary factors in returns when making decisions on behalf of their client unless other wised authorized. We are currently in the process of reintroducing a version of that bill this congress. Yes or no, should maximizing assets for retirement be a Pension Plans top priority . Do you agree . Secretary su thank you very much. I do agree after a worker has worked a lifetime and save for retirement that they should expect to be able to maximize those savings. Mr. Allen can you deal with that rule . Before the Department Published the final e. S. G. Rule last year, the Employment BenefitsSecurity Administration stated in march, 2021 the departments rationale for undertake agnew rule was based on private meetings in which unnamed parties expressed confusion about the 2020 rule and how to interpret them. This means the department based its decision to eskinned and revise the e. S. G. Rules behind closed doors. Why were these meetings held in private and not the public . Why were the attending names and dates of these meetings not disclosed . Secretary su thank you for that question, congressman. I am not aware of private meetings that were undisclosed. Mr. Allen can you get back with me and can you investigate that and have someone in your Organization Look into it and get back to me on why that happened . Secretary su i will, sir. Mr. Allen will you commit to providing the committee with a list of all attending names and dates of all the meetings regarding the november, 2022e. S. G. Rule making process within 30 days of this hearing . Secretary su thank you very much, congressman. Mr. Allen yes or no. Will you do that . Secretary su will i certainly what i said earlier about mr. Allen send me a letter why you cant do that and well deal with t we all know that keeping Retirement Plan costs low is an important part of ensuring as Many Americans as possible can achieve a secure retirement. Bolstering retirement accounts for americans your recent proposed amendments to longstanding convention would impose significant new costs on our retirement system and by extension American Workers and retirees. I have heard many concerns from stakeholders that the amendments to this policy will have negative impacts on workers, retirees, plan sponsors, unions, and Financial Institutions as the department done or will you commit to doing a detailed and realistic cost benefit analysis of these proposed amendments that reflect input from stakeholders . Will you do that . Secretary su our e. S. G. Rules did not require Financial Advisors to do anything in particular. What it did was give them the flexibility mr. Allen you dont do a cost benefit analysis . Do you know what it is . Secretary su i do. I guess im clarifying what the rule it wasnt a requirement. It was allowing Financial Advisors to take into account whatever factors in order to do what you said. Which i agree with we should maximize the retirement savings. Mr. Allen get back to me. Madam chair, i yield back. Chair foxx thank you, mr. Allen. Mrs. Mcbath, you are recognized for five minutes. Mrs. Mcbath thank you so much for taking the time to be with us here today and for your strong history of fighting to ensure every american has access to goodpaying jobs. One of the folks i hear most about when folks are coming to d. C. Or when im back home in georgia is about work force shortages. I hear that again and again and again. Whether you are building a hospital or trying to find nurses and support staff to take care of the patients who will be treated there, there is a serious disconnect between the good careers that are available in todays economy, and the skills that are needed to perform these jobs. Forces like the inside wire and telecommunications and construction electricians programs offered at the atlanta japc electrical center, in my district in georgia, they pay their students to learn. Instead of being forced to take out thousands of dollars in loans to better themselves through education, they are being paid a decent wage and given room to grow while they attain the skills necessary to move their families and country forward. Secretary su, its clear we need to be doing more to get americans into these careers so we can see the full benefit of our bipartisan investments to the infrastructure package and the chips and science act that were sign into law by President Biden. What has the d. O. L. Done under your leadership to encourage Work Force Development programs . You spoke most candidly about that. I want to give you more time to expand upon that. Are particular programs you would like to highlight for us at this time . Secretary su thank you very much, congresswoman, for that question. Also for highlighting other examples of how the work force system at its best does its work. I think one of the things that your example highlights, too, this relates to a question asked from the other side of the dais, how are we lifting up the ideas, innovation of local communities. Much of Work Force Development works best when it is placebased, meeting specific needs in communities. We have seen our job, the department of labor, as helping to support those innovations on the ground. Our sectorbased investments are very much about that. Its about supporting employers coming together in their communities with other work force partners to design Training Programs that are going to meet their needs. Its about working with employers to signal and forecast what the jobs that they are creatin