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Congressman Anthony G. Brown (MD-04) released the following statement after the release of the Department of Defense’s report, “Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States.”

“This report makes clear that the defense industry and the Department of Defense face significant challenges to addressing the 21st century problems they’re faced with,” said Congressman Brown. “The report also revealed a problem that Congress is well acquainted with -- the existence of critical shortages in the defense industry workforce.”

“In order to meet the 21st century challenges that we are faced with head-on, Congress must play a role in modernizing the defense industry workforce. This is an issue that I have been focused on during the 115th Congress, and will continue to use my place on the House Armed Services Committee.

“By exploring avenues in our federal contracting and procurement processes, Congress can stimulate the growth of apprenticeships and job training in the defense industry. The private sector can be, and must be intimately involved in ensuring our workforce has access to the education and training necessary to build a competent, skilled, capable workforce.”

Last month, Congressman Brown introduced H.R. 6684, the Developing the National Security Workforce Act, that would require the Secretary of Defense to consider a contractor’s investment in qualified workforce training programs during the RFP process. More information on the legislation can be found here.