WASHINGTON, DC – U.S Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) called for an extension of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, in a letter sent to U.S. House leadership on Thursday. Cantwell joined with 13 other U.S. Senators to call on the House to continue the program, which provides job retraining to workers who lost their jobs due to foreign trade.

“Trade Adjustment Assistance has provided a vital assistance to thousands of Washingtonians that need help getting back into the workforce,” said Cantwell.  “Through retraining, workers impacted by trade have been able to obtain new, well-paying jobs. Every American worker deserves access to additional training and education, so they can update their skills and get back into our workforce. I strongly encourage the House to pass an extension as soon as possible.”

In 2010 alone, nearly $18 million in TAA funds were allotted to Washington state, helping more than 5,000 Washingtonians find new jobs in dozens of industries.  Last December, one of the final acts of the 111^th Congress was to approve a temporary, six-week extension of TAA, maintaining the assistance for these workers. A failure to extend the program further would decrease the number of eligible workers, decrease flexibilities in program coverage and training opportunities for eligible workers, eliminate case management funding, and cause major hardships for hundreds of thousands of hard-working Americans who have lost their jobs due to forces outside their control.

The letter, which was sent to Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, and House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin, urges leadership to “quickly introduce and pass a long-term extension of TAA” before it expires on February 12.

 

“The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Workers program will expire on February 12, 2011 unless Congress takes action, and we are writing to ask for your help,” Cantwell and the 13 other senators wrote in the letter, sent Thursday. “TAA has enjoyed bipartisan support for decades.  We believe that Congress should enact a long-term extension of TAA before it expires.  Because the vehicle for such legislation must originate in the House, we ask that you quickly introduce and pass a long-term extension of TAA.”

 

In addition to Cantwell, signatories to the letter include Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Bob Casey (D-PA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), John Kerry (D-MA), Kay Hagan (D-NC), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Carl Levin (D-MI), and Patty Murray (D-WA).

 

The full letter to House leadership is below:

 

 

February 3, 2011

 

The Honorable John Boehner                                     The Honorable Nancy Pelosi

Speaker                                                                       Minority Leader

U.S. House of Representatives                                   U.S. House of Representatives

H-232, U.S. Capitol                                                    H-204, U.S. Capitol

Washington, DC 20510                                              Washington, DC 20510

 

The Honorable Dave Camp                                        The Honorable Sander M. Levin       

Chairman                                                                     Ranking Member

Committee on Ways and Means                                 Committee on Ways and Means

1102 Longworth Office Building                               1139 Longworth Office Building

Washington, DC 20510                                              Washington, DC 20510

 

Dear Representatives:

 

The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Workers program will expire on February 12, 2011 unless Congress takes action, and we are writing to ask for your help.   TAA has enjoyed bipartisan support for decades.  We believe that Congress should enact a long-term extension of TAA before it expires.  Because the vehicle for such legislation must originate in the House, we ask that you quickly introduce and pass a long-term extension of TAA.

 

TAA is a critical part of our nation’s competitiveness strategy.  It ensures that the workers affected by trade receive the support and training necessary to transition into new jobs in emerging sectors of the economy.

 

In 2009, with bipartisan, bicameral support, Congress overhauled TAA and made important improvements to the program.  Specifically, the reforms made service sector workers eligible for the program, expanded access for manufacturing and secondary workers, almost tripled training funding and promoted incumbent, part-time and longer-term training.  These reforms also improved and expanded access to TAA’s Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC), which helps certified workers to purchase private health insurance.  Until these changes were made, the TAA program had not kept pace with our changing trade and employment landscape, at a time when other industrialized countries were investing more and more resources in labor market programs.

           

As we understand it, you and many members of the House support a long-term extension of TAA. Just six weeks ago, on December 15, 2010, the House passed an 18-month extension of TAA in the original version of H.R.6517.  This extension passed the House by voice, indicating that it had broad bipartisan support, including the support of the leadership of both parties and the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

The length of the extension in H.R.6517 was reduced in the Senate, but as we understand it, this was done not because of opposition to the TAA program, but rather because of a dispute over unrelated trade matters.

 

All told, the reforms to TAA in 2009 help hundreds of thousands of workers, in every state. Over 360,000 Americans have been certified for TAA assistance over the past two years, and over 40 percent of them were certified because of the improvements to TAA that were enacted in 2009.   The 2009 improvements also help ensure TAA program accountability and results by requiring data on performance and worker outcomes, enabling Congress to identify where improvements are needed.  It is critical that we preserve all these improvements to TAA.

 

Thank you for considering our request.  We look forward to working with you on this bipartisan issue.

 

###