(Washington, D.C.) –
Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) joined 12 Senators in sending a letter
to House leaders urging them to extend the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)
for Workers program that is set to expire on February 12, 2011. TAA provides
job retraining, income support, and health care benefits to workers who have
been adversely impacted by federal trade policies.
“Washington is the most
trade dependent state in the nation. And while trade has created jobs and
economic growth in sectors across our state, in some cases it has disrupted
American jobs and negatively impacted workers and their communities,” said Senator Murray. “TAA helps those
workers hurt by trade get the retraining and the support they need to get back
to work and competing in today’s economy. I will continue to work to keep
family-wage jobs in Washington state while ensuring those who have been
impacted by trade are getting the support they need to get back on the job.”
The letter was
signed by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Harry Reid (D-NV), 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), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Carl Levin (D-MI).
Full text of the letter is below:
February
3, 2011
The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
H-232, U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
H-204, U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Dave Camp
Chairman
Committee on Ways and Means
1102 Longworth Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Sander M. Levin
Ranking Member
Committee on Ways and Means
1139 Longworth Office Building
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.
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