Saving money is great. Reducing our $35.8 trillion National Debt is even better. Even in the best of economies, carefully reviewing our $6.8 trillion national budget and making sure every billion dollars is being spent wisely is important. 

To put it into perspective, there are one thousand billion dollars in a trillion dollars. The United States spends about $19,900 per person to run the federal government every year. Those are big numbers for anyone.

In President Trump’s new budget proposal, the attempt to eliminate the 121 Job Corps centers nation-wide – saving our country $1.7 billion –  we feel, is a massive misstep and a disservice to the ones who look to follow the age-old saying “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” 

For more than 300 socio-economically disadvantaged students who attend Delaware Valley Job Corps Center in Callicoon yearly, as well as over 100 staff members who teach them, the path to a better life is one of those uncompromisable investments. 

In President Trump’s new budget proposal, the attempt to eliminate the 121 Job Corps nation-wide is a massive misstep and a disservice to the ones who look to follow the age old saying “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” 

How can you do that if there are no boots to begin with? 

While we can appreciate cuts in the budget to drive down our incredible national debt, we think it might be better to use a little more discretion, and not eliminate programs wholesale. Now let us tell you why that is, Mr. President, and we beg your ear. 

In the 45 years that the Job Corps has operated in Callicoon, it has become a true member of the community, a good employer, and is a place where young people have drastically changed their lives for the better. It is a place where young people have found education and trade school certifications to open new doors.

We wholeheartedly agree with Maine Senator Susan Collins, who said that “If you cut out the Job Corps, you will be depriving tens of thousands the opportunity to obtain valuable skills and credentials to enter the workforce.”

In Callicoon alone, we have seen these skills and credentials be earned in real time. For proof, just look at the historic Callicoon Depot’s steady preservation – the efforts of which being assisted by the people from the program that faces extermination. In this case, not only are they helping themselves, they are maintaining the physical history that made America Great – railroads! That alone constitutes a little more surgical precision in slashing monies. 

Mr. President, as street-level witnesses of the good that the Job Corps program brings into this world, we can definitively attest that for a percentage of those who really need help and receive it from the Job Corps, the program is anything but “a failed experiment to help America’s youth.” 

Much like public media, such as PBS and NPR, the true backbone and voices of America rely on these opportunities, and deserve funding.

Tell your Federal reps what you think

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand – Tel. (845) 875-4585, kg@kirstengillibrand.com

Senator Charles Schumer – Tel. (518) 431-4070

Congressman Josh Riley – Tel. (202) 225-5441