Today, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02), Congressman Ted W. Lieu (CA-33), and Congressman Matt Cartwright (PA-17) issued the following statements upon introduction of the “New Collar Jobs Act.” This legislation seeks to improve our economy and our security by re-educating industrial workers for high-demand jobs in cybersecurity.

“Enhancing and protecting cybersecurity is one of the biggest challenges to safeguarding our economy and national security,” said Congresswoman Kuster. “This important legislation will give workers new opportunities to train in the skills necessary to stand out in the 21st Century workforce while providing companies and the federal government with critical cybersecurity expertise.” 

“I am proud to introduce the New Collar Jobs Act, a bill that will help re-educate our workforce with the skills needed to defend our nation against cyberattacks,” said Congressman Lieu. “I am deeply concerned about the many devastating cyberattacks and threats to our national security, particularly in the industrial sector. With high unemployment impacting this sector and the many cyber threats to power plants and manufacturing plants, our legislation will re-tool our workers for careers of the future. Our vision is to improve our economy and national security by re-educating industrial workers with high-demand skills in cyber to fill these ‘New Collar’ jobs – positions that have competitive salaries, career growth potential, and cannot be outsourced.”

“The New Collar Jobs Act would spur job growth in economically distressed areas while addressing the shortage of the cyber-security workforce,” said Congressman Cartwright. “I am proud to cosponsor this bill that works to both stimulate the economy and strengthen our national security, and I look forward to advancing this important piece of legislation.”

The New Collar Jobs Act fosters job growth by re-educating workers. It will help our country by 1) creating jobs in economically-distressed regions supporting the infrastructure and industrial sectors, 2) educating workers in early to mid-career stages to be qualified for higher paying, sustainable jobs, 3) addressing a critical shortage of specialized workers with operations technology and cybersecurity knowledge, and 4) establishing a workforce to provide information security for critical infrastructure and manufacturing organizations making our nation safer.

The full text of the New Collar Jobs Act can be found here, and the summary here.

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