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McGlynn Center children add color to courthouse tunnel

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Schedule announced for first ‘Monday at the Market’

<p>HAZLETON &#8212; Stating his hometown is what &#8220;made me who I am,&#8221; U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta Friday addressed the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce, detailing the work he&#8217;s done in Congress to benefit the residents of Pennsylvania&#8217;s 11th Congressional District.</p><p>&#8220;Hazleton is the community I love and the community that made me who I am,&#8221; Barletta said in his opening remarks, before highlighting legislation he is working on as a member of three House committees.</p><p>Barletta, R-Hazleton, said that as a member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, he recently helped usher passage of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, which invests in the nation&#8217;s career and technical education programs.</p><p>Barletta noted that employers across the 11th District have told him they have plenty of work, but are having a tough time finding employees with the skills needed to fill the available jobs. The Career and Education Act will help to change that, he said.</p><p>&#8220;The best way to help people is to get them a job,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;We have to bring back the entrepreneurial spirit of America again and teach people the skills that are needed.&#8221;</p><p>Barletta said that one of his proudest accomplishments has been helping to expand the SHINE after-school program from Carbon and Schuylkill counties to Luzerne County. Barletta has partnered with state Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, to advocate for SHINE, or &#8220;Schools and Homes in Education.&#8221;</p><p>SHINE receives nearly half of its funding from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. Barletta said he fought last year to restore federal funding for the program, and successfully helped to secure a $25 million increase to the program in the government funding bill Congress passed, and the president signed, in May.</p><p>&#8220;When you can put your parties aside, put your registration aside, and work together for your local community, great things can happen,&#8221; Barletta said.</p><p>As chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, Barletta said he has helped save taxpayers $3.4 billion by implementing policies to reduce and eliminate wasted space in federal office buildings.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m excited because over the next five years, nearly 50 percent of these agencies&#8217; leases will be up, so the amount of money we save the taxpayers will only continue to grow,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;We have changed the way they are doing business.&#8221;</p><p>Barletta is also working with President Donald Trump&#8217;s transportation team to develop an infrastructure bill. He said the president wants &#8220;transformational&#8221; projects to rebuild our nation&#8217;s infrastructure.</p><p>&#8220;I think if you want to be transformational you must build an extra lane on Interstate 81 from New York to Maryland,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;Anybody who has traveled Interstate 81 through the state of Pennsylvania, whether you&#8217;re up in Scranton or down in Carlisle, knows that our interstate really needs that kind of investment in an extra lane.&#8221;</p><p>Barletta pointed out that northeast Pennsylvania has some of the highest deposits of anthracite coal in the world. He said he recently helped to secure a $1 million grant for a pilot program to extract Rare Earth Elements (REEs) from soil at Jeddo Coal Company&#8217;s anthracite mining operation near Hazleton.</p><p>&#8220;Anthracite coal is back,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;Mining today is not the same as it was for our grandfather&#8217;s coal. The technology is different. And we have something here in our backyard that the entire world needs. We have to use it to our advantage to create jobs, create businesses, revitalize our economy, and be a leader.&#8221;</p><p>As a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Barletta has been working to secure our borders and increase national security protections &#8212; efforts he started as mayor of Hazleton more than a decade ago. Last week, the House passed two bills, which Barletta co-sponsored, to strengthen enforcement of our nation&#8217;s immigration laws.</p><p>&#8220;I was with the president last week at the White House, and we met with families that lost loved ones to illegal immigrants who had committed crimes and ended up taking someone&#8217;s life,&#8221; Barletta said. &#8220;I was at the forefront of this long battle, as a mayor of Hazleton who wanted to enforce our laws, and give legal immigrants the opportunity in this country that they deserve, so that there&#8217;s not an illegal immigration population competing for their jobs, making them work for lower wages, and making it harder for their children to get a good education. This is a country of laws, and a country that welcomes people to America and gives them the opportunity to succeed.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Barletta </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Barletta_Lou_2-cmyk.jpg</photo0><caption0>Barletta </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Barletta discusses accomplishments at Red Carpet Breakfast