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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today said he is pleased the Trump administration is working toward making the long-awaited restoration of the Gulfport Job Corps Center a reality.
Cochran requested an update on the Gulfport project from Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta, who testified Tuesday before the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee. Since the Center was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Cochran has worked to have the Gulfport Job Corps Center rebuilt with three administrations and the Gulfport community.
“I’m pleased with actions being taken by the administration to move this project forward. It has been delayed for too long. We need a center that operates at full capacity,” said Cochran, who serves on the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Labor Department.
Acosta said his department “remains committed to serving the youth of the Gulfport community.” Acosta said the Labor Department continues to consult with parties in Mississippi on a memorandum of agreement that could be signed this summer.
“It [the MOA] would be followed by design and construction phases assuming that the budget allows us to go forward,” Acosta said.
Over the years, various issues have served to extend and delay plans to rebuild the center. The Labor Department is working with the City of Gulfport, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and others to clear the project for construction.
Congress provided $1.7 billion for the Job Corps program nationally in FY2017. This funding support Job Corps programs in Gulfport, Batesville, and Crystal Springs.
