{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.banks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-banks-holds-hearing-on-the-impact-of-ai-on-the-workforce/", "Senator Banks Holds Hearing on The Impact of AI on the Workforce", "2026-07-29", "2026", "2026-07", "Republican", "Senate", "IN", "Jim Banks", "B001299", "www.banks.senate.gov", "banks", "https://www.banks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 This afternoon, HELP Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee Chairman Jim Banks (R-Ind.) delivered the following opening statement at a hearing titled \u201cThe Impact of AI on the Workforce\u201d:\n\nClick here or the image above to view full opening statement.\n\n\u201cFirst, it is an honor and a pleasure to lead the subcommittee. I plan to examine the challenges that American workers face and explore policy solutions to increase opportunity, promote fairness, and support families.\n\n\u201cI appreciate being able to work with you, Ranking Member Hickenlooper, and I intend to be very active in the time we have left.\n\n\u201cBefore I go any further, I ask unanimous consent for Senator Blunt Rochester to waive onto the Subcommittee for the purpose of today\u2019s hearing. I want to welcome our witnesses this afternoon. We have a distinguished panel of artificial intelligence researchers and workforce development leaders to put the impact of AI on the workforce in perspective.\n\n\u201cAccording to Goldman Sachs, AI will drive 7 trillion dollars of worldwide investment and economic activity over the next decade.\n\n\u201cThe 7 trillion-dollar question is, who benefits from that?\n\n\u201cBut it\u2019s not a question for the future. AI is all around us, and employers, workers, and governments are exploring the answer right now.\n\n\u201cAI promises to raise productivity and reshape work. It can also disrupt how the workplace is organized and create anxiety.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s no shortage of doom-and-gloom predictions about mass displacement of workers, but we haven\u2019t seen that begin to happen.\n\n\u201cBased on all the evidence, three things seem to be happening so far: (1) Hiring of entry-level workers is somewhat weaker; (2) AI is transforming tasks more than jobs; (3) And the skills that employers need and how workers learn those skills is changing.\n\n\u201cThe downturn in entry-level hiring is due to several factors, and AI is just one. Some researchers believe the Federal Reserve is partly responsible. I look forward to delving into that today.\n\n\u201cEven in the most AI-exposed occupations, we haven\u2019t seen any significant change in employment, but the way workers allocate their time is changing.\n\n\u201cIn some occupations, things like data entry and simple coding are already mostly automated, but checking AI output is a whole new discipline.\n\n\u201cFinally, when we consider how workers acquire and use skills, we have to think about employment pipelines.\n\n\u201cA lot of workforce training happens on the job. Entry-level workers aren\u2019t just hired to do their jobs, they\u2019re hired to gain experience and grow into more advanced jobs.\n\n\u201cEvery master craftsman was once an apprentice, every doctor started out as a resident, and most of our staffers started as interns.\n\n\u201cThe real challenge is for graduates and young workers to acquire the AI-related skills they need to enter the workforce and get on the first rung of their career ladders.\n\n\u201cIf those opportunities dry up or some young workers can\u2019t access them, it will be a big problem in the labor market over the long term.\n\n\u201cHelping workers master the skills they need to succeed in the AI economy starts with getting better data.\n\n\u201cExisting labor statistics too often fail to tell us how occupations\u2019 tasks are changing, what skills are needed, which occupations will grow and shrink, and how workers move through the labor force because of AI.\n\n\u201cThat is why I introduced the AI Workforce Prepare Act with Sen. Hickenlooper, Sen. Husted, and Sen. Hassan.\n\n\u201cThe Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics need more expertise to analyze and forecast AI\u2019s impacts. They need to share more data with state and local governments and collaborate with private researchers.\n\n\u201cBillions of dollars of spending on workforce development programs rely on good data. But better data is not a goal in itself. We need to make better decisions to beat China in the AI race.\n\n\u201cWe need to train and equip American workers in nearly every industry to compete and win in the AI economy. We also need to make sure small and medium-sized businesses don\u2019t get left behind while the biggest companies race ahead.\n\n\u201cAmerica will win the AI race with China by maximizing the capabilities of all of our companies and all of our workers.\n\n\u201cI look forward to hearing our witnesses\u2019 perspectives on exactly how we can accomplish that.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-07-30T07:32:48Z", "2026-07-30T07:34:08Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.banks.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-banks-holds-hearing-on-the-impact-of-ai-on-the-workforce/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.436626072973013, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}