The High Skills, Competitive Workforce Act of 1991 is proposed legislation designed to stimulate cooperation by business, labor, schools and colleges, and state and local governments to improve the education and training of the U.S. work force and to develop new systems and strategies for meeting the economic needs of business and workers. The act has the following provisions: (1) the development of voluntary educational and occupational standards to assess student performance and provide meaningful information on worker skills; (2) school-to-work transition programs and second-chance programs for dropouts; (3) encouragement of businesses to improve their productivity and competitiveness; and (4) increase in the training and education of the U.S. work force, requiring employers to provide training or pay 1 percent of payroll into a state-administered training fund. This document reports the oral and written testimony of witnesses who testified in favor of the bill at a Senate committee hearing. Those providing testimony included Senators Kennedy, Hatfield, and Hatch; Representatives Regula and Gephardt; and spokespersons from the Commission on Skills of the American Workforce and the National Alliance of Business. A summary of the act's provisions is included in the report. (KC)