When the 117th Congress comes to a close, Congressional CTE Caucus co-chairs Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) will depart from their offices one final time to begin their well-earned retirement. The two public servants have dedicated large parts of their career to advancing the needs of CTE learners, educators and systems, earning them each an ACTE Lifetime Achievement Award this year.
Sen. Portman, alongside his colleague Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), co-founded the Senate CTE Caucus in 2014. As caucus co-chair, he led several bipartisan efforts to expand opportunities in CTE and address the growing national skills gap. Most notably, Sen. Portman has been a leading co-sponsor of the JOBS Act – legislation that would allow the Pell grant to be used for high-quality short-term workforce training programs – since 2015. Since that time, the bill has grown from 2 co-sponsors to 52, making it one of the most widely supported bipartisan education bills. The Senator also successfully included the Educating Tomorrow's Workforce Act of 2017 into the reauthorization of Perkins V. His efforts on these issues, as well as his support of apprenticeships and CTE prison re-entry programs, have made a lasting impact for educators, learners, and the economy.
Rep. Langevin spent 11 years as the co-chair of the House CTE Caucus alongside his colleague, Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA). During his tenure, he became well known as an advocate for CTE funding, career counseling and cybersecurity careers. Langevin co-led the annual bipartisan letter to the House Committee on Appropriations requesting robust funding for the Perkins Basic State grant. Further, he was an original co-sponsor of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, commonly known as Perkins V, which modernized CTE systems. Most recently, he re-introduced bipartisan legislation that would invest funds in CTE to develop the cybersecurity workforce. Rep. Langevin’s contributions will last long beyond his time in Congress.
ACTE warmly thanks both Rep. Langevin and Sen. Portman for their dedication to CTE and congratulates them on their fantastic careers. Their leadership will be sorely missed, but we will work to ensure that their legacies continue in the 118th Congress.
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