February 9, 2011<span 12pt;="12pt;" font-family:="font-family:" times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=",">
<span 12pt;="12pt;" font-family:="font-family:" times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=",">WASHINGTON D.C.<span 12pt;="12pt;" font-family:="font-family:" times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=","> – Next week tens of thousands of American workers will no longer have the Trade Adjustment Assistance program available to them and would be denied vital retraining benefits because of Republican infighting in the U.S. House. The nearly 50-year-old Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which helps workers who have lost their jobs through trade and globalization, is in danger of being dramatically cut if House Republicans don’t act before Saturday. Following Republican Study Committee opposition, and other objections from conservative groups, Republican leadership on Tuesday pulled legislation from the House Floor that would have extended the program past its Saturday expiration.
<span 12pt;="12pt;" font-family:="font-family:" times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=",">The Andean Trade Preference Act is also set to expire Saturday without action this week on the House Floor.
<span 12pt;="12pt;" font-family:="font-family:" times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=",">“If Republicans’ inability to move a simple extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance is a preview of the Majority’s jobs agenda, then it is clear America’s unemployed are out of luck,” <span 12pt;="12pt;" font-family:="font-family:" times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=",">said Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee. “In December the House passed – on a voice vote – an 18-month extension of TAA. It is inexplicable that the new Majority can’t do the same today.”
<span 12pt;="12pt;" font-family:="font-family:" times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=",">“The 2009 reforms were created on a broadly bi-partisan basis – House and Senate – to expand and improve the program and now is not the time for Republicans to walk away from the displaced workers it serves,”<span 12pt;="12pt;" font-family:="font-family:" times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=","> said Congressman Sander Levin (D-MI), Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee. “Republicans should act now to extend this vital program at a time when so many working families are still struggling under the weight of the deep economic recession.”
<span 12pt;="12pt;" font-family:="font-family:" times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=",">Background
on TAA
<span 12pt;="12pt;" font-family:="font-family:" times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=",">The
Trade Expansion Act of 1962 created the TAA program to assist workers laid off
as a result of international trade by helping them retrain and acquire skills
needed to compete in the global environment. The Trade and Globalization
Adjustment Assistance Act of 2009, which was enacted as part of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, made significant improvements to the TAA
for Workers program. These improvements were supported by the Chairs and
Ranking Members of the Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Finance
Committee. Specifically, the legislation made service sector workers
eligible for the program, expanded access for manufacturing workers,
significantly increased training funding and promoted incumbent, part-time and
longer-term training. Critically, it also increased the TAA for Workers
Health Coverage Tax Credit subsidy to 80 percent and made several important
changes to the existing credit. These changes are designed to minimize
gaps in coverage and assure access to insurance policies that meet the health
and medical needs of eligible individuals and their families.
Additionally, the Trade and Globalization Adjustment Act of 2009 improved and
made permanent the Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance wage insurance program.
As a result of these changes, more than 170,000 additional trade-impacted
workers were eligible for TAA for Workers benefits and training
opportunities. Furthermore, the Trade and Globalization Adjustment
Assistance Act of 2009 made important reforms to the TAA for Firms program and
tripled its authorization, improved the TAA for Farmers program and created the
TAA for Communities program.
<span 12pt;="12pt;" font-family:="font-family:" times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=",">More information about TAA can be found at: <span times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=",">http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/ProgramOverview.cfm<span 12pt;="12pt;" font-family:="font-family:" times="times" new="New" roman="roman" ,=",">
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