Owens, Burgess

Burgess Owens is a Republican representative from Utah's 4th congressional district who chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee's Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development. As chair, he sets the subcommittee's agenda and directs its legislative priorities, which focus on modernizing workforce training programs, reforming higher education, and promoting skills-based career pathways. The subcommittee oversees federal policies affecting colleges, universities, student loans, and workforce development programs that train millions of Americans for employment.

Owens brings substantial real-world experience to this role. He is a former professional football player who spent ten seasons in the NFL as a safety for the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders, winning a Super Bowl championship in 1980. After leaving professional sports, he worked in corporate sales and founded Second Chance 4 Youth, a nonprofit dedicated to helping troubled and incarcerated youth. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from the University of Miami, where he was among the first African American athletes recruited to play football at the university.

As subcommittee chair, Owens has held hearings on critical workforce issues, including modernizing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to better align training with employer needs, examining deceptive pricing practices in higher education, and exploring learning employment records as tools to build a skills-based talent marketplace. He has also advanced legislation addressing student loan accountability and federal education policies. His sponsored bills include the No Aid for Ghost Students Act of 2026, the Kids in Classes Act, and the Closing the Provider Fraud Gap Act, reflecting his focus on accountability and transparency in education and workforce programs.

Owens was first elected to Congress in 2020, narrowly defeating incumbent Democrat Ben McAdams. He serves as Vice Chair of the full Education and Workforce Committee for the 119th Congress and is one of four Black Republicans in the House of Representatives.