|
|
|
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
WHEREAS, On November 20, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson |
|
announced that Camp Gary in San Marcos, Texas, would serve as the |
|
site of a new federal vocational training facility, and for more |
|
than 40 years, the Gary Job Corps Center has contributed to |
|
fulfilling the hopes and dreams of thousands of disadvantaged |
|
youths in Texas; and |
|
WHEREAS, The Gary Job Corps Center, the largest such facility |
|
in the nation, has provided ongoing training and education classes |
|
for at-risk youths in Texas, offering instructional classes in over |
|
two dozen fields, including business computers, auto diagnostics, |
|
health care, heating and cooling, and construction trades; ESL |
|
(English as a Second Language) courses are also available, along |
|
with driver's training and academic subjects leading to the |
|
completion of a GED; and |
|
WHEREAS, The accomplishments of the Gary Job Corps Center |
|
extend beyond the classroom to assisting in the construction of |
|
community facilities in Central Texas, and in 2002 students |
|
assisted the United States Army Corps of Engineers with an effort to |
|
prevent flooding in Austin; the center has been recognized numerous |
|
times over the years, receiving four awards at the 2005 Job Corps |
|
Region IV Vocational Conference in Dallas, including first place |
|
for vocational production and an award for the center's Business |
|
and Industry Council; and |
|
WHEREAS, Unfortunately, the United States Department of |
|
Labor National Office of Job Corps is considering the elimination |
|
of 240 student training slots at the Gary Job Corps Center by April |
|
2007; the elimination of these slots would result in approximately |
|
360 Texas youths losing the opportunity to participate in Job Corps |
|
programs at the center; additionally, 63 staff positions would be |
|
permanently eliminated, the local community would experience an |
|
economic loss of nearly $4.5 million, and local employers would |
|
lose the valuable asset of well-trained employees; and |
|
WHEREAS, While Texas has not been immune to a nationwide |
|
decline in Job Corps enrollment, the state is committed to the |
|
success of the Gary Job Corps Center and is prepared to assist the |
|
center in recruitment efforts to achieve and maintain 100 percent |
|
capacity; the at-risk youths of Texas deserve every opportunity |
|
afforded to them, and the elimination of the student training slots |
|
at the facility would be a detriment not only to prospective |
|
students, but to the State of Texas as a whole; now, therefore, be |
|
it |
|
RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
hereby urge the United States Department of Labor to reconsider the |
|
proposed reduction in student training slots at the Gary Job Corps |
|
Center in San Marcos, Texas; and, be it further |
|
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward an |
|
official copy of this resolution to the secretary of the United |
|
States Department of Labor. |