The Honorable Charles Schumer
Majority Leader
United States Senate
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Majority Leader Schumer:

On behalf of the Construction Employers of America (CEA) and the 15,000 signatory contractors and 1.4 million employees we represent, we strongly support Senate passage of the H.R. 447, the National Apprenticeship Act of 2021, which passed the House on February 5, 2021.

Quality apprenticeship programs are vital to the continued growth and success of the construction and specialty trade industries. CEA’s members have long recognized that private investment in high-caliber, accredited, and registered apprenticeship programs is critical to developing the high-skilled workforce. Our members invest approximately $1.3 billion annually in the over 1,100 joint labor management registered apprentice training centers in operation across the country. These centers currently have over 100,000 future construction workers enrolled in these training programs, creating career opportunities and pathways to the middle class.

H.R. 447 would expand and strengthen these privately funded registered apprenticeship programs by codifying standards for registered apprenticeship, youth apprenticeships, and pre-apprenticeship programs. This will provide consistency in quality standards and worker protections across all registered apprenticeship programs, expand workforce development and apprenticeship training opportunities, and ensure candidates for these programs have the skills necessary to successfully complete these rigorous programs. Based upon our members’ extensive experience in supporting joint labor-management training programs, we encourage you to support this important legislation. If enacted, H.R. 447 would strengthen registered apprenticeships and expand access to programs that will build the high-skilled construction workforce of the future.

Thank you for your consideration of this important legislation.

The Construction Employers of America