Apprenticeship programs in the United States are regulated by the Smith–Hughes Act (1917), The National Industrial Recovery Act (1933), and National Apprenticeship Act, also known as the “Fitzgerald Act.”

The number of American apprentices has increased from 375,000 in 2014 to 500,000 in 2016, while the federal government intends to see 750,000 by 2019, particularly by expanding the apprenticeship model to include white-collar occupations such as information technology.

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The Apprenticeships category has related posts on government agencies and departments and  committees and their Chairs.

The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with promoting economic growth.[clarification needed] Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for business and government decision making, and helping to set industrial standards.

This organization’s main purpose is to create jobs, promote economic growth, encourage sustainable development and block harmful trade practices of other nations. The Department of Commerce is headquartered in the Herbert C. Hoover Building in Washington, DC.

The United States Department of Education (sometimes shortened to the ED, or DoEd) is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government.

It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services by the Department of Education Organization Act, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law on October 17, 1979.

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is a cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States’ policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material. Its responsibilities include the nation’s nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy conservation, energy-related research, radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production. It also directs research in genomics; the Human Genome Project originated in a DOE initiative. DOE sponsors more research in the physical sciences than any other U.S. federal agency, the majority of which is conducted through its system of National Laboratories.

The agency is led by the United States Secretary of Energy, and its headquarters are located in Southwest Washington, D.C., on Independence Avenue in the James V. Forrestal Building, named for James Forrestal, as well as in Germantown, Maryland.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health. With an annual budget of about $8.3 billion (fiscal year 2020), the

NSF funds approximately 25% of all federally supported basic research conducted by the United States’ colleges and universities. In some fields, such as mathematics, computer science, economics, and the social sciences, the NSF is the major source of federal backing.

Source: Wikipedia

Mission:  
The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) generally considers matters relating to these issues. Its jurisdiction extends beyond these issues to include several more specific areas, as defined by Senate rules.

House counterpart: Committee on Education and Labor

Democratic Members (Minority):
Bernie Sanders, Vermont – Ranking Member
Patty Murray, Washington
Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin
Chris Murphy, Connecticut
Tim Kaine, Virginia
Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware
Angela Alsobrooks, Maryland
Ed Markey, Massachusetts
Andy Kim, New Jersey

Republican Members (Majority):
Bill Cassidy, Louisiana,
Rand Paul, Kentucky
Susan Collins, Maine
Lisa Murkowski, Alaska
Roger Marshall, Kansas
Tommy Tuberville, Alabama
Josh Hawley, Missouri
Tim Scott, South Carolina
Jim Banks, Indiana
Mike Crapo, Idaho
Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee

Featured Video: 
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Cmte Hearing on COVID-19

Current: US Senator since 2007
Affiliation: Democrat
Leadership:  Chair, Committee on the Budget
Next Election: 

History: Sanders is the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history but has a close relationship with the Democratic Party, having caucused with House and Senate Democrats for most of his congressional career and sought the party’s presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, coming second in both campaigns. He is often seen as a leader of the U.S. progressive movement.

While a student, he was a protest organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the civil rights movement.  He was elected mayor of Burlington in 1981 as an independent and was reelected three times. He won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990, representing Vermont’s at-large congressional district, later co-founding the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Quotes: How do you feed your family, how do you pay to see a doctor, when you’re spending, 40, 50, 60% of your income on housing? You don’t! With the passage of this historic budget reconciliation bill, we can build the affordable housing that our country desperately needs. July 24, 2021/

Featured Video: Republicans are getting VERY NERVOUS!

Current Position: US Senator since 2015
Affiliation: Republican
Former Position: Physician from 1983 – 2015

Cassidy specialized in the treatment of diseases of the liver at the Earl K. Long Medical Center (LSUMC). n 1998, Cassidy helped found the Greater Baton Rouge Community Clinic to provide uninsured residents of the greater Baton Rouge area with access to free health care.

Featured Quote: 
FEMA and the federal government shouldn’t be reinventing the wheel after every disaster. I’m working on legislation to ensure we learn from what works and what doesn’t to strengthen our response and better help families recover after natural disasters.

Senator Bill Cassidy gives statement after vote to convict Trump

Mission:  
The U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship has jurisdiction over the Small Business Administration and is also charged with researching and investigating all problems of American small business enterprises.

House counterpart: Committee on Small Business

Democratic Members (Minority):
Ed Markey, Massachusetts – Ranking Member
Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire, Chair
Maria Cantwell, Washington
Cory Booker, New Jersey
Chris Coons, Delaware
Mazie Hirono, Hawaii
Jacky Rosen, Nevada
John Hickenlooper, Colorado

Republican Members (Majority):
Joni Ernst, Iowa – Chair
Jim Risch, Idaho
Rand Paul, Kentucky
Tim Scott, South Carolina
Todd Young, Indiana
Josh Hawley, Missouri
Ted Budd, North Carolina
John Curtis, Utah
Jim Justice, West Virginia
Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee

Featured Video: 
Senate Small Business Committee holds hearing on pandemic response

Current Position: US Senator since 2009
Affiliation: Democrat
Former Positions: Governor from 2013 – 2017; State Senator from 2004 – 2010
Other Positions:  Chair, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies – Committee on Appropriations

Shaheen served as the 78th governor of New Hampshire from 1997 to 2003. Shaheen is the first woman elected as both a governor and a U.S. senator.  She served as director of the Harvard Institute of Politics before resigning to run for the U.S. Senate again in the 2008 election, defeating Sununu in a rematch.

She taught high school in Mississippi and moved to New Hampshire in 1973, where she taught school and, with her husband, owned a store that sold used jewelry. She worked on several campaigns, including Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign, and as the New Hampshire campaign manager for Gary Hart in 1984. In 2005, Shaheen was named director of Harvard’s Institute of Politics.

Featured Quote: 
The data doesn’t lie–the #COVID19 crisis had a disproportionate impact on women in the workforce. Now more than ever, we must ensure women have the financial safeguards in place so they can take care of themselves & their families without worrying about their savings running out.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen: New Hampshire’s pioneering senator

Current Position: US Senator since 2015
Affiliation: Republican
Former Positions: State Senator from 2011 – 2014; Auditor of Montgomery County from 2005 – 2011

As Chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee since 2023, Ernst is the fourth-ranking Republican in the Senate. After graduating from Iowa State University, Ernst joined the United States Army Reserve.[2] She served in the Iowa Army National Guard from 1993 to 2015, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.[3] During the Iraq War, she served as the commanding officer of the 1168th Transportation Company in Kuwai

Featured Quote: 
Fentanyl seizures at the southern border surged 78% compared to FY20.   The influx of deadly opioids into the U.S. is continuing to destroy our communities. That’s why I’m backing an effort to help stop this lethal poison from pouring across the border.

On December 4, 1941, the U. S. House of Representatives created the first House Select Committee on Small Business.  The select committee was established in response to a growing number of small business activists and organizations advocating for more protections and better government policies for America’s small businesses. While it had no legislative authority, the select committee became popular with House members and was reauthorized each Congress until January 5, 1975, when it was made a permanent standing committee. House members then granted the new standing committee with certain areas of legislative jurisdiction and oversight functions, increasing its scope and influence.

Senate Counterpart: Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship 

Subcommittees:

• Contracting and Infrastructure
• Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access
• Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development
• Oversight, Investigations and Regulations
• Rural Development, Energy and Supply Chains

Chair: Roger Williams, Texas
Ranking Member: Nydia Velázquez, New York

Majority Staff Director: Ben Johnson
Minority Staff Director: Harrington, Ellen
Meeting Location: 2361 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING (RHOB), WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515; PHONE (202) 225-5821
Web Links

Current:US Representative of TX District 25 since 2013
Affiliation: Republican
Leadership: Chairman of the House Small Business Committee 
District: stretches from Arlington and Fort Worth to some of its outer southwestern suburbs, as well as rural counties east of Abilene.
Next Election: 

History: Williams began his political career as a fundraiser for Governor George W. Bush in his 1994 and 1998 elections. Roger Williams served under Governor Rick Perry as Secretary of State of Texas from 2004 to 2007.

Williams played college baseball for the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs  from 1968 to 1971 and was selected in the 25th round of the 1971 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves, playing in the farm system and reaching the Class A Western Carolinas League. He coached TCU’s baseball team. Williams inherited the family’s automobile dealership from his father, who founded the business in 1939.

Featured Quote: 
This week’s appropriations process has been a sham by the Democrats. By removing the life-saving #HydeAmendment and more they have proved their priority is to push their liberal agenda over helping American families and businesses.

Featured Video: Congressman Roger Williams on The Texan’s Podcast

Current Position: US Representative of NY District 7 since 1993
Affiliation: Democrat
Candidate: 2021 US Senator
Former Position: New York City Council from 1993 – 2013
Other Positions:   Chair, House Small Business Committee
District:  Includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens

Velázquez chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus until January 3, 2011. Her district, in New York City, was numbered the 12th district from 1993 to 2013 and has been numbered the 7th district since 2013. Velázquez is the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in the United States Congress.

The Committee on Education and the Workforce is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 50 members of this committee. Since 2023, the chair of the Education and the Workforce committee is Virginia Foxx of North Carolina.

Senate counterpart: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

Subcommittees:

• Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
• Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
• Higher Education and Workforce Investment
• Workforce Protections

Chair: Virginia Foxx, North Carolina (R)
Ranking Member: Bobby Scott, Virginia (D)

Majority Staff Director: Cyrus Artz
Minority Staff Director: Veronique Pluviose
Meeting Location: 2176 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515; 202-225-4527

Featured Video:  Examining the Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department of Education – 6/24/21
Web Links

Current Position: US Representative of NC 5th District since 2005
Affiliation: Republican
Former Position: State Senator from 1995 – 2005
Other Positions:  House Committee on Education and Labor
District:   
Upcoming Election:

Foxx served as Secretary of the House Republican Conference from 2013 to 2017.[3] She was the ranking member of the House Committee on Education and Labor from 2019 to 2023, and served as the committee’s chair from 2017 to 2019 and since 2023.

Foxx and her husband owned and operated a nursery and landscaping business. Foxx worked as a research assistant and then an English instructor at Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute and Appalachian State University before moving into university administration.

Featured Quote: 
LIFE is the fundamental component to both liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It’s quite clear that Speaker Pelosi fails to recognize that. Absolutely shameful!

‘Funding Bill Insults The Intelligence Of Every American’: Virginia Foxx Rejects Dem Funding Bill

Current Position: US Representative of District 3 since 1993
Affiliation: Democrat
Other Position:  Ranking Member, Education and Labor Committee
District: Cities of Norfolk, Newport News, Hampton, Portsmouth, and part of the independent city of Chesapeake.

In the 118th Congress, Congressman Scott serves as the Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce—his fifth term as the Committee’s Democratic leader. Throughout his tenure, he has advanced legislation that improves equity in education, frees students from the burdens of debt, protects and expands access to affordable health care, ensures workers have a safe workplace where they can earn a living wage free from discrimination, and guarantees seniors have a secure and dignified retirement. Congressman Scott also serves on the Committee on the Budget where he is a leading voice on fiscal policy.  sponsored the Neighborhood Assistance Act, which provides tax credits to businesses for donations made to approved social service and crime prevention programs.