WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03) introduced the Modernizing America’s Apprenticeships Act which would codify the Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Program (IRAP) rule issued by the Trump Administration. IRAPs are high-quality apprenticeship programs that fall under the Department of Labor’s Standards Recognition Entity which provide individuals with opportunities to obtain workplace-relevant knowledge and progressively advancing skills. This comes in response to yesterday’s executive order issued by President Biden to eliminate IRAP and in turn, kill even more American jobs. 

“Missouri continues to be a national leader in apprenticeships ranking second in the nation for completed apprenticeships for the second year in a row, largely thanks to IRAP. Within the next decade, IRAPs were projected to produce over 2 million new apprenticeships across the nation. At a time when some Americans are unable to return to work and local economies are still recovering, eliminating IRAP will only make matters worse.”

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