Before this committee today to discuss your departments fiscal 2018 budget request. As you know, the budget is significantly challenged in terms of the cuts in your department. I think the proposed cuts of 2. 3 billion are about onefifth of the departments operating level. Certainly while i appreciate and many of us appreciate the departments prioritizing limited resources and making decisions to realign programs, the fundamental question is really what you choose to cut and whether you can possibly look at that number and make an argument as to why that much of your previous budget should be cut this year. Its not the first time these kinds of cuts have come in the department. Last year president obama proposed about the same level of cuts, though he proposed somehow these programs would lean heavily on new mandatory spending to bypass what were the actual budget caps in the law then. Of course, those budget caps are in the law still. Instead of making difficult decisions of prioritizing, it would have been easier according to the last administration to just have new mandatory programs. This year the department has submitted a budget that so significantly cuts programs or eliminates them altogether, its really hard for us to figure out your priorities. We look forward to visiting with you about that. I have serious concerns about the worker training reductions, particularly the proposal to cut state grants by 40 and close Job Corps Centers. The president has recognized there are millions of jobs in the country that dont have workers with the skills to take those jobs. We need to make certain our workforce Training Programs and Apprenticeship Programs equip individuals with the skills they need to meet the Workforce Needs of today and tomorrow. While there are no easy answers when it comes to budget limitations, im concerned reducing funding so much and so suddenly and particularly taking so much of that from worker training would further jeopardize our Workforce Development efforts and our ability to compete with and for better jobs and stronger families. As the fy 2018 appropriations process moves forward, its my hope to Work Together with you and everyone on this committee to identify priorities, find Common Ground and how to best spend the taxpayer money that were given responsibility for. Mr. Secretary, i look forward to your testimony. But first id like to go to senator murray for her opening remarks. Thank you very much, chairman blunt. Welcome secretary acosta. Before we talk about this, what i think is an indefensible budget request, i want to reiterate today how appalling it is that we are potentially, if not hours away, from voting on legislation that would spike Health Care Costs for patients nationwide and kick millions of people off of coverage as we have now seen with the cbo numbers. Yet Senate Republicans have yet to hold a single hearing or any kind of open public debate under regular order. Now that weve seen it, its pretty easy to see why. This is going to be a devastating bill and have a tremendous impact on patients and families. So we on this side remain deeply concerned about that. Now, this committee has a history of working together in a bipartisan manner. I sincerely open my colleagues will remember that and urge their leadership to hold open transparent process so people have time to understand what is in store for their health and financial secretary. Secretary acosta, while trumpcare has huge implications for our nations workforce and i plan on asking about that, i first want to address the deeply harmful budget request that has been put forward. As im sure youre aware, connecting workers to sustainable jobs and employers to a Skilled Workforce has been department of labors Central Mission for decades. Thats because we know one of the surest paths to good paying jobs is investing in training and education form indemand skills. Our ability as a nation to attract and keep good jobs here at home and grow our economy will only be realized by tapping into the full potential of our workforce. On the campaign trail, candidate trump promised to put workers first. As president he has consistently pursued an anti worker agenda that benefits those at the top and leaves workers and families paying the price. In fact, the president s recently announced executive order on apprenticeships would loosen standards to make sure businesses getting federal workforce funds actually deliver results. Given the Trump Administrations pattern of lining the pockets of corporations and special interests at the expense of workers, its hard to see this executive order is anything but an another thinly veiled broken promise from the president who promised to put workers first but has failed to do so since day one. The president s budget for the department of labor doubles down on those broken promises. The budget completely disregards the overwhelmingly bipartisan enactment of the workforce innovation and opportunity act in 2014 where republicans and democrats came together to streamline the nations job Training Programs to make sure they are targeted, effective and built to last. Instead, President Trumps budget proposes deep cuts to those investments that provide over 20 million workers with 21st century skills they need to succeed in a rapidly changing global economy. The president s budget would mean that 9 million workers including dislocated coal miners and veterans would lose access to those Critical Services next year. Again, these are precisely the working families trump said he would support and protect during his campaign. Secretary acosta, although important Consumer Protections for those saving for retirement will go into effect tomorrow, i do remain concerned that you still intend to revise and weaken those protections, im hoping youll be similarly guide by the rule of law in addressing the over time rule. This is an opportunity to stand up to the white house when workers and family needs are on the line. I hope you take it. I do remain deeply concerned about President Trumps harmful agenda for workers and making sure they are safe and have security. Democrats are going to continue rigorous oversight to hold you, mr. Secretary, and the Administration Accountable for the damage done to worker safety, security and opportunity. I do hope republicans will join democrats in continuing to reject the devastating cuts in President Trumps Budget Proposal just as we did in fiscal year 2017 omnibus to continue robust investments in job Training Programs that coordinate with the efforts of key workforce partners, business leaders, workforce boards, labor unions, community colleges, nonprofits and state and local officials to make sure all workers can acquire the skills that they need to get a good job and climb the ladder of opportunity and grow the economy. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator murray. Glad to have the chairman of the full committee with us. Senator cochran, do you have anything youd like to start with . Mr. Chairman, i do have a couple questions. Lets get mr. Acostas testimony then and well go to questions after that. Secretary acosta, were glad youre here. The secretary is now serving in his fourth president ially appointed, senateconfirmed job. Most recently he served as dean of the Florida InternationalUniversity College of law. Secretary, were glad youre here. This is always a department where you have your hands full, but meeting the opportunities of the future is an important and we look forward to hearing you talk about that and this budget. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Ranking member murray, chairman cochran, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify this morning. Its an honor to appear before the committee to outline the administrations vision for the department of labor in fiscal 2018 and beyond. Supporting the ability of all americans to find good jobs and safe jobs is a priority for President Trump, and it is a priority for me. Im proud and i remain humbled in leading the department of labor in this critical work. Presently the Unemployment Rate in the United States is 4. 3 . That is a 16year low. One has to go back to 2001. This is great news. Another very important statistic, however is that there are presently 6 million job openings in the United States. That is the highest number since the department of labor started keeping records on open jobs. We can get more americans back to work if we match those who are looking for work with these available jobs. During my short time as secretary of labor, ive heard from many business leaders, governors, mayors and just americans, and they all say there is a skills gap. They tell me workers just dont have the right training to step into many of these vacant positions. The apprenticeship model is a good solution to narrowing the skills gap. As has been mentioned, it is bipartisan. President trump knows the value of apprenticeships from his many years of experience in the Building Trades. The president also knows that this is a model that works across Many Industries and should be expanded across industries both in terms of breadth and scale. High quality, and i emphasize high quality apprenticeships enable employers to be involved in training their future workforce so they can be sure new hires possess the skills needed to do the job. Its called demanddriven education. Apprentices who seek wages, and just importantly skills that enable them to thrive in todays workforce. They earn while they learn. According to the department of labor statistics, graduates of Apprenticeship Programs have a high average starting wage, 60,000, higher than the typical college graduate. They are likely to have a job upon completion of their program and often receive certificates recognizing their education that portable across industry. President trumps executive order on spending apprenticeship has the department of labor to pave the way for more apprenticeships. Getting americans back to work requires eliminating other programs that are less effective in helping americans get jobs. There are many programs intended to help americans find or train for jobs, but some are duplicative, unproven or ineffective. The department is committed to streamlining programs based on rigorous analysis of data to assess program effectiveness. The Department Also believes that giving states more flexibility to administer Department Resources in a way that best suits the state needs will ensure that resources are used as efficiently and effectively as possible. The department believes a vast majority of employers across the nation are responsible actors, fully committed to following Worker Protection laws. The department has placed priority in helping american employers understand and remain in compliance with those laws. But the department likewise takes very seriously its responsibility to enforce the law. Enforcement must go hand in hand with compliance assistance. Well vigorously enforce the law against wrongdoers. A good job should be a safe job. The budget includes funding increases of nearly 17 million to the departments Worker Protections agencies to support these goals. Well focus the department of labor on his core mission by making Smart Investments in programs that work. The budget makes hard but responsible choices. It eliminates programs that are less effective or less efficient and dedicates taxpayer dollars to those that we know that are successful. Americans want good and safe jobs. The department is here to support americans desire to gain and told these jobs. The budget restores the department to this fundamental mission, investing in programs known to be successful. The proposals are evidencebased and reflect the seriousness with which the administration is taking these responsibilities. Let me say in closing, i understand, mr. Chairman, your remarks, and i understand that going back year after year, the budget is a starting point. And as in the past, we look forward to working with your committee as we go forward on discussions regarding these issues. The focus has and will have to be on protecting americas workers. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. Thank you, mr. Secretary. Well have a fiveminute round of questions. Im sure there will be time for a second round if people have more than five minutes of time to use. If youd stay pretty close to that, and i know the chairman is here and has some questions. Ill ask my questions after senator kennedy. Ill come near the end. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, i understand the department is close to finalizing a memorandum of agreement with the city of gulfport regarding the rebuilding of the Job Corps Center in gulfport, mississippi. Can you update us on the status of that situation and share with the committee the estimated completion, if you know that, on the gulfport Job Corps Center . Mr. Chairman, i appreciate the question. The Department Remains committed to serving the youth of the gulfport community. We appreciate the support youve offered as its been important as we move forward. Were working with the consulting parties as we move forward on the memorandum of understanding. We anticipate that mou will be signed sometime this summer most likely, possibly within the next 60 days and it will be followed by the design and construction phase assume that the budget allows us to go forward. And if you would like, im more than happy to ensure the department keeps your staff up to date with the progress as those discussions continue. Thank you. Wed appreciate that. Let me also ask you to share with the committee the number of mississippi businesses and schools who have expressed concern about overburdensome and costly regulations including overtime, joint employer and fiduciary rules that have been issued by the department. Whats the department doing to evaluating complaints like that, particularly those that are Small Businesses in rural areas of our state . What are you doing to take steps, if any, to alleviate concerns about burdensome regulations by the Previous Administration . Mr. Chairman, i dont have the precise number of businesses and schools that have sent letters to the department. I will say this, the department has received correspondence from many business, not only in mississippi but around the nation regarding the burden on regulations. And the department is examining the regulations that are currently on the books. The department is working to ensure that the regulations that are presently in effect are necessary. To the extend some are outdated or unnecessary, the department will look at those regulations and determine how to proceed. Thank you, chairman. Senator murray. Thank you very much. Secretary acosta, as you know i am deeply disappointed as many are that trumpcare is planned to be jammed through the senate this week. Obviously from the cbo numbers, millions will lose their health insurance, costs will rise. As you probably know, this is going to have a devastating impact on jobs as well across the country in our Rural Communities where a lot of our rural hospitals are telling us because of the loss of dollars they will likely shut their doors as well as become much smaller, as well as the Nursing Homes telling us of the devastating impacts. Have you shared with the president any of those job loss numbers . Senator murray, i do not at present have specific job loss numbers with respect to the health care industry. Let me say this more generally. I think the issue is a little more complicated and a little more subtle. Because at the same time some jobs may be reduced, many other jobs may be created. One concern we have heard from employers is the financial burden imposed by high Health Care Costs. I have not seen any analysis that shows a job increase as a result of this bill, and i think that what we are hearing a lot of is the job losses. To me that is really deeply disconcerting. I hope your agency is sharing that with the president. Let me ask you about the job training cuts. A few weeks ago President Trump signed an executive order commemorating Workforce Development week. And what were seeing is it slashed programs by more than 2 billion. Those are programs that help millions of workers find jobs every year, the same workers the president promised to support. Experts estimate that your cuts would mean 9 million adult youth and dislocated workers and veterans will lose access to job training and states would lose over a billion dollars in direct support of worker training. That is a 40 cut to the nations job Training System that governors are telling us they cannot absorb. So i am really disappointed that these are in here. Ive heard you say that they are duplicative and ineffective. But not only did congress streamline Training Programs when we wrote the workforce innovation opportunity act, but evidence now shows that 80 of the adults find jobs after training. So tell me why this major cut is in this after Congress Work really hard, streamlined the bill, cut out the i