Education

Johnson added, "Through a collaboration between local schools, Portland Community College, the Northwest STEM Hub, Congresswoman (Suzanne) Bonamici's office and myself, we were able to provide virtual tours and training opportunities to showcase the employment opportunities available in manufacturing for a wide range of students." For her part, Bonamici remarked, "I'm a champion for OMIC because it is accelerating our regional economy while creating more opportunities for students and workers." Bonamici said she's modeled a bipartisan bill, the PARTNERS Act, on the business partnerships at

As she starts her fifth full term from northwest Oregon's 1st District, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici says Congress has a lot of unfinished business. She says that business starts with a follow-up coronavirus aid plan to the $2.2 trillion CARES Act last spring — the House's Democratic majority has passed two plans, but nothing has advanced in the Republican-controlled Senate — and does not end there. During a Nov.

A group of St. Helens High School (SHHS) metal and manufacturing class students likely never thought they would be producing learning videos for other schools, but that is exactly what they have accomplished. In a year of unprecedented change, Portland Community College (PCC), Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center Research and Development (OMIC R&D) and the Northwest STEM Hub have remained committed to helping Columbia County high school students explore careers in advanced manufacturing, according to PCC officials.

Rep. Bonamici said she and other members of Congress are demanding that the U.S. Senate work immediately to pass a COVID-19 relief bill. "Oregonians and people across the country are facing these significant challenges and are rightfully demanding that Congress take action," Bonamici said. Bonamici said that Congress had initially passed a bill in May, extending unemployment and other benefits, but it still awaits action by the Senate.

"Such actions not only threaten to exacerbate existing structures of racism in the education system and broader society, but also infringe on an ideal the Department regularly invokes -- free speech," wrote Education and Labor Committee chairman Bobby Scott and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, chair of the panel's civil rights and human services subcommittee.

At the federal level, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills in July that would provide over $60 billion to support and stabilize the childcare industry, but the bills remain stalled in the Senate. "I've heard from many women in Oregon that the lack of child care during COVID-19 is forcing them – and women they know – to leave the workforce," said Bonamici in a statement. "That's extremely troubling.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat from Beaverton, issued this statement after the House vote: "The House passed critical legislation several months ago to stem the loss of life and blunt the worst effects of the pandemic, but the Senate failed to act. This update to the Heroes Act reflects what our country needs now — aid for schools, workers, businesses, childcare, testing and treatment, and more.