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A group representing congressional staffers who served in the military is urging lawmakers to hire more veterans. According to nonpartisan HillVets, fewer than 3 percent of staffers in Capitol Hill offices are military veterans — a number below nearly every federal agency. "We have a number of veterans who are consistently looking for positions, who are very well-qualified, but, for whatever reason, they're just not getting positions," HillVets co-founder Justin Brown said in an interview Tuesda... Read more

Five-term U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx understands people have a negative view of Congress. But she thinks part of the problem is that very word: Congress. “Congress is short-hand,” Foxx said. “Congress is both the House (of Representatives) and the Senate. They really need to segment them. The Senate is totally dysfunctional. The House is not.” Foxx said the House – where she has represented North Carolina’s 5th District for 10 years – has been enormously productive. “We’ve passed over 400 bills to ... Read more

The House on Wednesday passed a bill by voice vote to streamline public data about institutions of higher education. The bill, H.R. 4983, would direct the Secretary of Education to create a "College Dashboard" website to display data from colleges' most recent academic year. The information would include the number of enrolled students, student-faculty ratio, percentage of undergraduates who received their degree or certificates, average price for students receiving financial aid, the percentage... Read more

Federal job training programs will see their biggest overhaul in 16 years after President Obama put his signature Tuesday on a law intended to streamline a tangled web of programs. It's the first major rewrite of federal job training programs since Congress passed the Workforce Development Act in 1998 — when Netscape was the Web browser of choice, résumés were on paper and largely sent in the mail and newspaper want ads were the primary way of learning of job openings. "Even back then, even in 1... Read more

Federal legislation to streamline job training and make it more relevant to employers’ needs – a bill with some “made in North Carolina” elements – is headed to President Barack Obama’s desk. U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican from Banner Elk who chairs the House committee education and its subcommittee on higher ed and workforce training, was one of the authors of the legislation. It also includes parts of the AMERICA Works Act, which was introduced by U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat from Gr... Read more

Republicans and Democrats in Congress say they got something done: A bill with overwhelming support in the House and Senate, which will streamline and improve workforce training, on Friday was on its way to the president's desk for his signature. U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., the chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, was one of the authors of the legislation. It also includes parts of the AMERICA Works Act, ... Read more

Both parties hailed a new workforce bill unveiled Wednesday as a win as they try to build momentum to get it passed in both chambers this year. Advocates, however, cautioned that — while any bill is better than no bill — Congress’ stab at modernizing workforce policy doesn’t go far enough. “We’ve got a situation where the House and Senate are coming from such different perspectives,” said Jim Hermes, associate vice president of government relations for the American Association of Community Colle... Read more

Rep. Virginia Foxx took Labor Secretary Tom Perez to task over the Obama administration's approach to workforce development programs at a hearing on Capitol Hill this morning. Recently, Foxx — who spearheaded a House-passed workforce bill called the SKILLS Act — has repeatedly criticized President Barack Obama for saying he would like to streamline federal workforce programs but has not taken action to do so. Foxx's bill would consolidate dozens of programs. She asked Perez if the president stil... Read more

After more than four decades, and the efforts of Rep. Virginia Foxx and local veteran’s organizations, Jim Judson was re-awarded military decorations he earned during his service in Vietnam in a ceremony on March 21. “It really meant the world to me, that Rep. Foxx and (Ashe County Veterans Service Officer) Darryl Vaughn would take this on for me,” Judson said. “Foxx has done a lot for me, and that’s touching ... because for many years, I’ve felt Vietnam vets never really had a welcome home.” A ... Read more

House Republicans next week will call up a bill that tries to reduce the proliferation of unfunded federal mandates on state and local governments, companies and other entities. In 1995, Congress passed the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), which was meant to stop the government from writing laws and issuing regulations that come with stiff compliance costs and not enough funding. But members of both parties say UMRA only went so far and that it needs to be strengthened and expanded. "Transpa... Read more