Tight budgets everywhere, especially in education, mean that we must develop a mutually beneficial partnership between the parties involved - business, government, schools and parents. S. 108 offers an opportunity for the federal government to promote such a partnership. The bill achieves this end by recognizing the great importance of our community colleges in training workers. With more than 1200 of these colleges across the nation, they are in the position to train students in a short period of time in a particular vocation, and to work with local businesses to provide employer-specific courses. Their track record is impressive: Community colleges train more than 11 million workers each year. But there is room for improvement. To maximize their potential for training students for the advancing job market, our nation's nation's community colleges must have the correct tools - state-of-the-art.. tools such as electronic engineering technology, computer software and new medical equipment. They must also have teachers who know how to use this equipment and who know about current developments in these areas. Senator Grassley's bill gets to the root of the problem: It would provide tax incentives to industries which donate equipment for vocational education programs, as well as tax credits to companies which allow employees to teach vocational programs without compensation or which employ temporary full-time vocational education instructors. In my home state of Oregon, as in many states, the budget for higher education has been increasingly hard-pressed. Appropriations for higher education have fallen 3 percent in the last 10 years as the state legislature has looked for ways to hold down spending. At the same time, Oregonians have been and are reluctant to pay - leaving school levies in Dregon with dim - dim prospects of approval. With money short, one of the first things to be cut from a college or vocational school's budget are funds to purchase expensive equipment. And we all know, computers aren't cheap. Senator Grassley's legislation would help cover some of the expense of modernizing equipment with little cost to the federal government. It would also provide incentives for industry to "donate" personnel to help teach students about new technologies so they'll be ready to come out of training and take up a job quickly thus furthering our competitive standing in the international marketplace. In my state, the economy is just beginning to recover from three years of severe recession. Unfortunately, most of the equipment in our community colleges is 5-10 years behind the times. The need for new equipment has been simply far too great for either the colleges or the businesses to meet. Yet, it is a need we must meet. We must train more students to work in high technology fields. To do that, the people and the tools have to be made available to vocational schools. I have often said that to keep pace with our foreign competitors, we must have an educational system which is committed to keeping our 'human capital" as rigorous as our investment capital. S. 108 would help us to achieve that goal. I urge its favorable adoption by thissubcommittee. Thank you very much. Senator GRASSLEY. Thank you. Mr. Conkling. STATEMENT OF GARY CONKLING, MANAGER OF GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, TEKTRONIX, INC., BEAVERTON, OREG., ON BEHALF OF THE OREGON COMMUNITY COLLEGE ASSOCIATION Mr. CONKLING. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Gary Conkling, and I am manager of government relations for Tektronix, Inc., in Oregon, and I am appearing here today on behalf of the Oregon Community College Association. I would ask your permission for my written statement to appear in its entirety in the record. It is the statement of the Oregon Community College Association. If I could be allowed, I would like to make a few oral remarks on behalf of my own company today. Senator GRASSLEY. Yes. The statement will be included in the record as a matter of practice, but specifically for yours. And then would you proceed? Mr. CONKLING. Yes. Thank you. [The prepared statement of Gary Conkling follows:] |