I would like to discuss with you both on the record today and off the record in the future. As you know from years on the Hill in the legislative branch, we have to move around to many committees. I am going to have to excuse myself to attend a Veterans Committee meeting, where I am the ranking Republican. But I will return in about 25 or 30 minutes to take my turn at the questioning. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Senator HARKIN. Thank you, Senator Specter. OPENING REMARKS OF SENATOR MARK O. HATFIELD Senator HATFIELD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Secretary, I am also delighted to see you here, and welcome you to our committee. Just as sort of a brief opening, let me express a concern of mine, and then I may followup during the question period. The problem of retraining dislocated forest products workers is illustrated very graphically in my State. In Oregon, about 51 percent of the real estate is owned by the Federal Government-the largest timber-producing State in the Union, as far as housing materials are concerned. Federal policy governing the use of public lands in my State has a tremendous impact upon jobs, and the timber industry is a cornerstone of our economy. Due to the changing character of Federal policy governing the utilization of that material, raw material, we find a significant reduction, probably over the next 5 years it will be about a 50-percent reduction. We have 80 communities in our State that have a one- or two-mill economy. So when you consider the indirect employment as well as the direct and the related employment, we have potential ghost towns in our State. We are estimating that the job loss will rise as high as 25,000 out of the 77,000 currently directly employed in the industry. Therefore, I put a lot of focus on support for the dislocated worker, and would urge your attention to this particular issue. I urge your expeditious consideration by the Department of any applications for emergency discretion grants. I note, for the record, the Department recently awarded Oregon a $2 million discretionary grant under the title III program. In addition, I urge you to provide technical assistance, and a measure of regulatory flexibility as the State feels its way along, so to speak, in a new area. And of course, to perhaps look at some possible demonstration projects under title III. That is the thrust of my interest at this point, and I will reserve other remarks or other comments until we get to the question period. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator HARKIN. Thank you, Senator Hatfield. And again, Madam Secretary, I want to welcome you here in your first appearance before this subcommittee. And as I said in my opening statement that I look forward to working with you this year. We are going to have a lot of problems with our budget, as you know, and trying to get our job done. I also want to thank you for sending your testimony up early, which I like to read over beforehand, and I appreciate that very much. I would recognize, before we start, Senator Gorton for any opening statements. Senator GORTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. No opening statement. Senator HARKIN. Well, Madam Secretary, again, welcome to the subcommittee, and please proceed as you so desire. SUMMARY STATEMENT Secretary MARTIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Two things-when I walked into the room, I wondered if perhaps the temperature was evidencing a coolness, but the warmth of your welcome indeed warms the spirit, and that is the important thing. Because I am relatively new on the job, you were kind enough to be helpful to me both at the committee and on the floor. I would like to say that I bring with me some of the assistant secretaries today, who have some direct insight into areas that I know members of this committee have some special views on. I thought it appropriate that they join me today. And even though this is traditional-as you know, members of legislatures are really very used to testifying by themselves, and so for me this is a little unusual to have these fine people with me-I would like to introduce them. INTRODUCTION OF ASSOCIATES The Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Bob Jones, who has spent a lot of time before your committee on the authorizing end, you know. Tom Komarek is the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management. I also brought Jim McMullen, who is with our Budget Office. So that if there are particular questions I am not familiar with, they can help. I should also add, Mr. Chairman, that, for the first time that we know of, I have already recently testified before the Senate Budget Committee. The Department, for whatever reason, has traditionally not done that, but we are trying to make very sure that we are as open as possible to Members of the Senate and of the other body. Thank you. I would like to have my full statement entered for the record and just go to highlights, so we can better answer your questions. I am pleased to appear before you, and again, thank all of you for the help you gave me. Mr. Chairman, I am also grateful for the solid foundation left to me in the Department by Secretary Dole and by her predecessors. During her stewardship, and she is my immediate predecessor, she built upon the actions of outstanding secretaries that had gone before her and moved the Department in many new and exciting directions. So it makes me extraordinarily fortunate to take the handle of a department which has such a rich history, and I believe has made a positive contribution to the lives of Americans. It is our working men and women in factories, farms, ships, businesses, Government offices, health care facilities, schools, and everywhere else, who have been the backbone of the great economic machine that is America. We have built a democracy which continues to inspire mankind. During my years in public service, I have stood squarely in the corner of America's working men and women. That is where the Labor Department should be, and that is where it will be during my tenure. Before I present the budget, I would like to share the goals that all of us have for the Labor Department, goals that I mentioned during that confirmation hearing in January. And it is part of the spectrum that would affect American workers from the time before they enter the work force, while they are in the work force, and after the retirement years-having served admirably, and working probably in as many as six different careers. First, in order for working men and women to take advantage of opportunities we can provide, I want to make sure they have the skills that form a lifetime foundation. And again, I repeat, the years of the past where you had one job at one place are now not common. They are the exception, not necessarily the rule. Today's person starting in the work force will not have just six different jobs, but six different careers, so when we talk about that base of learning skills, it is real. It is not a particular skill necessarily, but the ability to learn and the chance to learn all of one's life. That is a difference, and it is something you have talked about often, Mr. Chairman. In this day of a global economy, America is faced with new realities. Productivity is no longer the only standard that determines success or failure in our marketplace and the marketplaces of the world. We have to address quality, customization, variety, timeliness, and convenience of our goods and services. Effective preparation and utilization of our work force to meet these new standards will determine America's ability to compete in the global economy. As Labor Secretary, work force preparedness will be among the top priorities. I will work actively with labor, business, educators, and colleagues in the House and Senate, and at the State and local level, where much creative work is being done. I wish to ensure that we understand the international challenge and its complex of human resource development and trade strategies so that Americans can compete better today and tomorrow. My second goal will be to fulfill our obligation to those currently on the job, which includes insuring our workers are as safe as possible and that everyone has an equal opportunity to try to succeed. I am proud to serve a President who is committed to opening doors for all Americans. Equal opportunity in the workplace has long been a passion of mine, Mr. Chairman. As a Member of Congress, I helped, I believe and hope, to make sure that House employees could have a process that could save them from discriminatory tactics and unsafe working conditions. As a working parent, I am committed to supporting and encouraging innovative programs which assist both mothers and fathers in balancing work and family as they search for great equality in their lives. Mr. Chairman, my third goal will be to ensure basic fairness and integrity of the private pension system through enforcement of ERISA. During my five terms in the Congress, I heard time and time again from constituents who were concerned about the safety of their pensions. Safeguarding American's retirement funds is foremost on the agenda to ensure worker's security at the end of employment. So I will work to ensure that that system is safe and meets the needs of today's work force and the retirees of tomorrow. And that will involve changes in the pension system itself. The Department will continue to place strong emphasis on firm and fair enforcement. Vigorous enforcement of our statutes and regulations is critical to the mission of the Department. Just as these provisions mandate, however, what management and labor cannot do, I believe the Department must work to be a can do agency. One of the ways in which that can happen is to provide compliance assistance so that we make sure businesses large and small know what the laws are and strive to achieve them, and the Department makes them sure of its enforcement. We much encourage State and local governments, as well as management, labor unions, and individual workers to cooperate in developing solutions to problems. The Federal Government does not have all the resources, or all the ingenuity, or all the smarts to provide all the answers. It is, after all, in large and small businesses, where the jobs are created. Businesses need the flexibility to continue to create jobs and to remain competitive. And businesses, too, must learn to use their work forces better. Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, as we search together for solutions for competitiveness and to every other problem that faces us, my door will remain open to labor, business, State and local governments, and of course, always, to Members of the Senate and the other body. I hope my mind will remain open, too, to better ways and different times, and to change. Finally, Mr. Chairman, I want to mention that we are all deeply indebted to the hundreds of thousands of men and women who are serving in Operation Desert Storm; 223,000 of them were called away from their jobs to serve their Nation. As our troops return home, let us all be clear that one of the top priorities of the Department of Labor will be to see that those who served in the Persian Gulf are welcomed back to the workplace. Each is entitled to be restored to the position that he or she would have achieved but for that military service. In the event of disability sustained during service, that person should be offered that or another position that meets the needs of that individual. Mr. Chairman, before I provide a summary of the fiscal year 1992 budget, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all that you have done and all the subcommittee you chair on disability policy have done with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Your commitment as chief sponsor in the Senate and floor manager in large measure facilitated passage in the Senate. It shows what both parties, both Houses, and the executive and legislative branches can do with input from private sectors when we work together. We share that concern. The ADA will redefine the American work force by adding a large new protected minority. In the ETA, it is estimated that 12 percent of our JTPA grant participants are disabled. Further, $3.9 million in JTPA pilot and demonstration funding is utilized for projects for people with disabilities to increase the number and quality of job opportunities. Also, the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities continues to play a strong advocacy role in promoting employment opportunities for people with disabilities. My staff in the Office of Federal Contract Compliance, who have responsibility for enforcing section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, are already working with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to coordinate the provisions of the ADA with our section 503 regulations to make sure that the standards under the two laws are consistent. We plan to issue draft coordination regulations by October 1991 and final rules in January 1992. The ADA sends forth a clear message that the employment of millions of workers, heretofore assumed unemployable, is now a moral, economic, and legal imperative in this country. The fiscal year 1992 Department of Labor budget now before this committee now contains a request for new appropriated budget authority in the amount of $7.3 billion. An additional $3.4 billion is requested in trust fund limitations. The total budget for the Department, including permanent indefinite budget authority, is $33.2 billion. As you know, the enactment of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 established limits on spending in the discretionary category, with very specific procedures to ensure that deficit targets are not exceeded. The Department's fiscal year 1992 budget reflects the President's and my commitment to limit spending in the discretionary programs and thus bring the deficit under control. At the same time, this budget contains necessary resources to allow the Department to continue to meet the significant responsibilities we have and provide for new challenges which the Department is about to undertake. The fiscal year 1992 requests for job training grants assumes that amendments to the JTPA. similar, but not totally alike, to those proposed last year, will be passed this year. For youth programa, 31.3 billion is requested, and a total of $1.1 billion is requested for adults. An estimated 508,000 youth and 417,490 adults are expected to be served in these enhanced programs in fiscal year 1982. In fiscal year 1992, 3527 million is requested for economie dialo cation and worker adjustment assistance, which will serve an exthmated 294,000 participants. This will include an additional Wh mix lion for the Clean Air Act which was passed by the House and Senate last year. The budget request for the Job Corps is VX 5 miller. And the request for the Community Service Employment for Ocer Amery cans is $342 & million Also included in the request is 124 m...on for unemploynes de surance expenses, an increase & WA million over the appropr ated 1991 level. And that is a 14 persen Tasse. Mr. Charman The Administrat & prpang & vipplements, ka at Bénin $100 million due to proek. LV & surance works Fr engine with, malion With respect to these acconta ing for employmes and tacite preza labor stancare, and $23.2. fiscal year We are rose & Tea over The changes the net of acctiona creases due to reductors aix; quie, ul. 284 CA A budget |