Job Corps Shipbuilding-Defense Industrial Base Pipeline Act of 2026

This bill directs the Defense Department's National Imperative for Industrial Skills program to use and expand Job Corps centers and registered apprenticeships to train workers for the defense industrial base, including shipyards. Military recruiters would have to tell recruits who fail enlistment test standards about Job Corps and apprenticeship options. The Secretary of Defense could fund changes to the trades taught at Job Corps centers, including new sites near shipyards. The bill also lets Job Corps centers accept grants and donations with public reporting, gives center operators more local hiring and partnership authority, and lets certain service members, recent veterans, and recruits enroll without a new background check.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Jack Reed Democrat sponsor
• 3 cosponsors