Colleagues, Here is the draft of our letter in response to the Senate HELP Committee's invitation. I'm sorry that I couldn't get it to you sooner. Please review and provide suggestions/additions/corrections as quickly as you can. Two points to bear in mind: There is a LOT more that this could say, but there isn't time to wordsmith it and get it in. I'd like to submit this tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. I drew the text for this from various sources, so there may be infelicities of sentence structure and/or vocabulary. I'd appreciate editorial attention to those. For reference, here is what the HELP Committee is requesting: Senator Patty Murray, Chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and Senator Richard Burr, Ranking Member are pleased to announce the beginning of bipartisan discussions to support, update and expand workforce training programs, support and expand the National Apprenticeship Act, and encourage innovation.  Senators Murray and Burr encourage comments from all stakeholders on how to achieve these goals by April 9, 2021.   Specifically, Senators Murray and Burr would like to hear from stakeholders with proposals regarding: how to enhance or improve workforce training in direct relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery, including ways to address workforce needs of the health care and public health sectors; reforms to programs authorized under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; ways to develop, modernize, and diversify the national apprenticeship system, including innovative approaches such as youth apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship; and strategies to encourage innovation to address worker and industry needs.   In the coming weeks, the Senate HELP Committee will consider these proposals as part of its efforts to bring forth a bipartisan workforce package.  Senators Murray and Burr intend to markup this package in early summer. Thanks, Deborah Deborah Kennedy Executive Director http://www.national-coalition-literacy.org/