Burgess Owens

Six years of serving in the U.S. House of Representatives has taught Utah Rep. Burgess Owens an overarching lesson: Congress reflects its electorate.

“That’s really what it comes down to,” said Owens at Tuesday’s Sutherland Institute forum at the University of Utah.

“I had no idea some of the characters that were being sent to D.C. We have guys there that (made me say), ‘Whoa, my goodness, how in the world did they get here?’”

“Well,” he answered, “it’s because the people in their district voted them in.”

So it’s essential that Utahns engage in the political process and take ownership of who they are electing, said Owens.

“Don’t get so busy that you forget that the representation in D.C. will come back to either bless you or bite you,” he said. “And if you’re engaged — if you stand up and speak your voice and your vision — you’ll be blessed, and so will your district and so will our country.”

The former Super Bowl-winning NFL veteran also offered a “pep talk” Tuesday with his audience of students gathered at the university’s Hinckley Institute of Politics.

Figure out your dream, said Owens — then cling to it tightly.

“Life goes up and down. You’re going to have to come to the point where you realize that your dream is worth getting you through the bad, tough times.”

Failures, detractions and setbacks are coming, he warned.

“But if you hold on to what’s important to you, at some point you’ll come through it,” promised Owens. “I personally believe there’s a God in heaven that knows each and every one of us — and he has given us a mission.

“If you find out what that mission is and tie into it, you will be rewarded in the end.”

‘Digital wallets’: Linking worker talents and industry

During his discussion Tuesday with Sutherland Institute’s Nic Dunn, Owens highlighted several higher education initiatives that he has championed in Congress, including the MATCH Act.

Sponsored by Owens, The Modernizing Access to Talents, Credentials and Hiring Act — or MATCH Act — calls for establishing a skills-based workforce system that supports “talent marketplaces that connect workers, students, employers and training providers by using standardized and interoperable data.

The legislation, which recently passed out of a House committee, is designed to modernize the nation’s workforce system by improving how a person’s skills, credentials and work experience are recognized and verified, according to Owens.

“The MATCH Act says we’re going to connect talent to opportunities,” he said. “We’re not going to look at resumes. We’re not going to look at things we just can’t grab hold of. We’re going to look at skill sets.”

Owens envisions the MATCH Act empowering young people growing up in barriers such as foster homes to build skill set “digital wallets” that will allow them to discover previously unseen employment opportunities.

The congressman is equally enthused about the Connecting Talent to Opportunity Challenge that was launched by the Education Department earlier this year to help states design and build integrated Talent Marketplaces that link an individual’s learning and skills with industry and jobs.

“Every state has a chance to build their system and their culture based on what the state actually has to offer,” said Owens.

“And then, based on that, colleges, business ownership and state data … can be transferred to each other. That’s how you can identify what the skill sets might be — and the opportunities.”

Mining education to fill nation’s critical mineral gaps

Owens also discussed the Mining Schools Act — legislation he recently sponsored to provide grants to mining-related programs at accredited colleges and universities such as the University of Utah.

If approved by Congress, the Energy Department would establish a competitive grant program that mining schools can use for student recruitment, while also enhancing programs focused on critical minerals and other related activities such as supply chain analysis and mineral economics.

The nation faces a stark deficit in the critical minerals supply chain, said Owens. That’s a national security issue. “We’re putting out, in over 14 different mining schools, about 300 mining engineers. China’s putting out 3,000 a year.”

Today’s college students, including some found in Tuesday’s audience, will determine the ultimate outcome of the nation’s critical minerals challenges. The Mining Schools Act, said Owens, can help ensure a positive outcome by supporting students and mining programs.

Socialism, communism and Marxism dangers

The recent launching of Trump Accounts, added Owens, will allow more American kids to take ownership of their futures.

Trump Accounts are savings accounts designed to help children invest money for college or other “qualified expenses” such as purchasing a first home or starting a business.

Under the new savings program, every American child born during Trump’s second term — Jan. 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2028 — will be eligible to receive $1,000 from the Treasury Department, via Trump Accounts.

The tax-advantaged investment account is in the child’s name, but parents or guardians function as account custodians until the child-investor turns 18. Parents are not required to contribute to the account, but they can if they choose.

Owens asserted that a three-fold combination of a quality education, a national system of talent marketplaces and an empowering capital foundation such as Trump Accounts can ensure a solid future for the rising generation of Americans.

“The biggest thing that the Trump Account is going to do is allow us to never buy into socialism, communism and Marxism.”

Those ideologies, argued Owens, undermine America’s core values: faith, family, education and the free market. “The greatest threat to our country is having young people not understand the difference in capitalism and socialism.”

Ignorance and freedom can’t coexist, he added. “The wiser we are, the freer we are.”

Defending school choice actions

A longtime school choice advocate, Owens also voiced his support Tuesday for the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit that allows taxpayers to receive a federal income tax credit up to $1,700 for donations to organizations that award school choice scholarships.

Like any other operation, education functions best when it is grounded in merit and competition, said Owens. Offering American families the choice of where their children go to school will improve lives and outcomes.

“If we can’t educate our fellow citizens to be free, then we will, as a country, not be free,” he said. “So even though you’ve had a great education, please don’t ever vote for other people not having a good education. It’s about our children.”