WASHINGTON, DC -- In recognition of his legislative efforts championing Job Corps, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) this morning received the Congressional Champion Award at the Job Corps 45th Anniversary Celebration Breakfast. Reed was presented with the award by Exeter Job Corps Academy Director Joseph DiPina, who joined Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis and Roy Adams, President and CEO of Adams & Associates who operates Exeter Job Corps, at the event.

Job Corps is one of the most successful programs in the history of the Labor Department with its network of 122 centers across the country. Every dollar invested in Job Corps has doubled its return on income taxes paid and social welfare costs avoided.

"I could not be more proud of Rhode Island's Exeter Job Corps Academy, and I consider helping to get it up and running one of my proudest accomplishments. It was an honor to have Secretary Solis visit Exeter Job Corps earlier this month," said Reed, who toured the Exeter facility with the Secretary on September 8th. "Her visit is a testament to the Administration's commitment to this crucial investment. One that plays a vital role in our current efforts to revive the struggling economy by ensuring that our youth have the tools, resources, and support to find jobs and build careers.

The Exeter Job Corps Academy is a residential youth development program that provides free education and job training in six major fields: manufacturing, construction, culinary arts, health occupations, business, and information technology.

Until Senator Reed got involved in the mid 1990s, Rhode Island was one of only four states nationwide, including Delaware, New Hampshire, and Wyoming, that did not have a Job Corps Center. In 1998, Senator Reed authored an amendment to an appropriations bill giving states without a center priority for funding.

Over the years, Senator Reed has helped direct $15 million in federal funding to Rhode Island for the creation of the Exeter Job Corps Academy, which opened in 2004. The Exeter Job Corps Academy currently serves about 200 students, ages 16-24.

A member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, Senator Reed and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) also spearhead the bipartisan effort to secure funding for Job Corps programs. The fiscal year 2010 Senate Labor-H Appropriations bill includes $1.7 billion for Job Corps programs nationwide. Reed also helped include $250 million for Job Corps in the Recovery Act.