Industrial Base and Workforce Development for Skilled Trades
4 September 2026
Contents updated on 5 Sept 2026
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House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense U.S. House of Representatives
Follow its sittings08:32 - 08:41
Speaker 1
And we'll discuss all of this as the debate continues. Thanks, everybody.
08:41 - 13:18
Speaker 2
Well, thank you, George, Congressman Whiteside, for your kind introduction. And with that, the committee will come to order. Today, the subcommittee will conduct a field hearing on the defense industrial base and workforce development for skilled trades. I want to thank my colleagues, Congressman Case, Congressman Valadao, for making the trip to Santa Clarita, California. I also want to thank Dr. Rice and the College of the Canyons for hosting this field hearing on topics that are central to your vision and mission and critical to the defense industrial base.
Today, we'll exchange ideas with three witnesses representing government, industry, and academia over two panels. The witnesses for the first panel are Mr. Erik Chuning, Executive Vice President, Maritime Systems and Corporate Strategy, Huntington Ingalls Industries, and Dr. Michael Reed, President of the Pennsylvania College of Technology. Thank you for supporting the defense industrial base and workforce development in skilled trades. As you're keenly aware, the foundational aspects of our industrial base are often taken for granted. We assume that critical manufacturing inputs such as minerals, sub-tier suppliers, skilled labor will always be available.
This assumption is false. We must deeply understand what investments are needed to protect and strengthen the industrial base, and this requires input from a cross-section of stakeholders, which is why we are here today. Over the last several years, appropriation bills have supported significant investments for workforce development for skilled trades, largely for shipbuilding. According to an analysis conducted by McKinsey, published in January of '26, between 200 and 250,000 maritime workers specializing in welding, assembly, fabrication, and frontline management are needed in the next decade. It's worth noting shipbuilding is one of the many industries with a significant demand signal for welding and fabrication.
And obviously, that's shared by the aerospace industry also, which is significant here in Southern California. According to the American Welding Society, approximately 20% of the welding force are approaching retirement, or in 2025, they're estimated to need at least 320,000 new welders by 2029. These estimates are prior to the data center boom, which requires heavily on welders and fabrication. Workforce development of skilled trades is no small matter. Proficiency in skilled trades requires hands-on laboratory work with industrial machinery.
These machines cost millions of dollars, and their industrial power draw requires significant energy load capacity. Additionally, mastery talent is required to teach the next generation and retain professionals in these skilled trades. Recruiting mastery talent requires resources.
The all-in cost to develop a skilled trades workforce is significant. And this assumes academic institutions have access to power infrastructure and not to mention an ability to expand and to meet current demand. Even when resources is provided and infrastructure exists, skilled trades viewed as a valuable or skilled are viewed as a valuable career. As conveyed in the same 2026 McKinsey report, a multi-generation stigma on skilled trades remains pervasive, which in my view undoubtedly decreases the number of people considering a career in skilled trades. We must work together to eliminate stigma on skilled trades.
Decades of innovation have resulted in manufacturing technology and industrial careers that are not nearly as difficult, dangerous, and dirty as years past. I commend the Department of War for partnering with Mike Rowe Works Foundation and the National Labor Exchange to launch the Build Freedom campaign. The mission statement is to build the workforce that builds and defends America. I look forward to learning how Congress can support this effort. In 2024, the subcommittee held a field proceeding on innovation.
Today, the subcommittee is holding a field hearing on industrial base and workforce development for skilled trades. Field proceedings and hearings are reserved for only the highest priorities. As chairman supporting and promoting innovation and the foundation of the industrial base, these are my top priorities. I would like now like to turn to Mr. Case for his opening comments.
13:18 - 14:20
Speaker 3
Thank you very much, Chair, and aloha to all of you. Thank you, Chair, and our witnesses for this opportunity for us all to address critical infrastructure-based workforce challenges that are in turn critical to the defense industrial base that is required for our national defense over the next generation. I express greetings and appreciation from my ranking member, Betty McCollum, for whom I'm filling in today, and a special thanks to our colleague George Whitesides, in whose district we are and who is himself a leader on defense and especially on strengthening our defense industrial base. We all know that our defense industrial base has eroded significantly over the past generation plus, adversely affecting our advanced manufacturing and repair and maintenance capacity across several integral areas, including supply chains, access to critical minerals, and especially our trade workforce. What we are focused on here is not how we got here, but where we must go over the next decades to overcome the challenge.