[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4711 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4711

To establish an Office of Community Economic Adjustment in the Economic 
Development Administration of the Department of Commerce to coordinate 
the Federal response in regions and communities experiencing severe and 
  sudden economic distress, to help these regions and communities in 
   restructuring their economies, and to expand the authorization of 
                   appropriations for these purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 21, 2000

 Mr. Larson (for himself, Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania, Mr. Kasich, Mrs. 
 Johnson of Connecticut, Mr. Murtha, Mr. Shays, Mr. Meeks of New York, 
 Mr. Dooley of California, Mr. Delahunt, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. LaFalce, Mr. 
   Pomeroy, Mr. Moakley, Mr. Taylor of Mississippi, Mr. Clement, Mr. 
 Traficant, Mr. Tanner, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Gejdenson, Mr. Ford, Mr. Neal 
    of Massachusetts, Mr. Rangel, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. George Miller of 
California, Mr. Wu, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Ackerman, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson 
     of Texas, Mr. Spratt, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Maloney of 
 Connecticut, Mr. Hoeffel, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Crowley, 
 Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Turner, Mr. Mollohan, 
Mr. Dingell, Ms. Waters, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Baldacci, Mr. Tierney, 
   Mr. John, Mr. Shows, Mr. Sawyer, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. 
  Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mr. Allen, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Hinojosa, Ms. 
 Schakowsky, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Ms. Carson, Mr. 
 Moore, Mr. Owens, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. Berkley, Ms. Jackson-Lee of 
 Texas, Mr. Bonior, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Mr. Borski, Mr. Brady of 
  Pennsylvania, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Holden, Mr. Klink, Mr. Kanjorski, Mr. 
Stupak, Mr. Mascara, Mr. Doyle, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mr. Matsui, 
    Mr. Hill of Indiana, Mr. Kleczka, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Thompson of 
California, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. Stark, 
    Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Weiner, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Blagojevich, Mr. 
 Kucinich, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Evans, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Meehan, 
 Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Skelton, Ms. Danner, Ms. Slaughter, Mrs. 
Thurman, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Pastor, Mr. Price of 
 North Carolina, Mr. Sandlin, Ms. Norton, Mr. Boucher, Mr. Etheridge, 
  Mr. Phelps, Mr. Engel, Ms. McCarthy of Missouri, Mr. McGovern, Mr. 
 Coyne, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Clay, Mr. Wynn, 
    Mr. English, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Payne, Mrs. Fowler, Mr. Barrett of 
   Wisconsin, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. Goode, Mr. 
 Andrews, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Baca, Mr. Filner, Mr. Moran of Virginia, 
 Mr. Berry, Mr. Snyder, Mrs. Emerson, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Gillmor, 
 Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Ehlers, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Ms. Lee, 
     Mr. Serrano, Mr. Baird, Mr. Frost, Mr. Wise, Mr. Pickett, Mr. 
   Gutierrez, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Menendez, Mrs. Clayton, Mr. Scott, Mr. 
 Deutsch, Mr. Boyd, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Conyers, Mrs. Mink of Hawaii, Mrs. 
Maloney of New York, Mr. Condit, Ms. Hooley of Oregon, Mr. Weygand, Mr. 
Olver, Ms. Kilpatrick, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Mr. Underwood, Mrs. Meek 
of Florida, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Stenholm, and Mr. Kuykendall) introduced 
      the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on 
    Banking and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish an Office of Community Economic Adjustment in the Economic 
Development Administration of the Department of Commerce to coordinate 
the Federal response in regions and communities experiencing severe and 
  sudden economic distress, to help these regions and communities in 
   restructuring their economies, and to expand the authorization of 
                   appropriations for these purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Community Economic Adjustment Act of 
2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) When a community suffers a significant loss of jobs 
        over a relatively short period of time whether from industrial 
        or corporate restructuring, new requirements in Federal laws or 
        regulations, reduction in defense expenditures, depletion of 
        natural resources, natural disasters, changing trade patterns 
        or other reasons, it can experience sudden economic distress.
            (2) Federal departments and agencies with existing programs 
        that support workers and communities in States and local areas 
        in their efforts to recover from this economic distress do so 
        in a capacity defined by the mission of the department or 
        agency.
            (3) Federal departments and agencies providing such 
        assistance include the Department of Agriculture, Department of 
        Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Education, 
        Department of Labor, Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development, the Department of the Treasury, and the Small 
        Business Administration.
            (4) To date, no Federal department or agency has unique 
        authority to coordinate these often independent efforts across 
        the Federal Government in the same manner as the Federal 
        Emergency Management Agency is charged to coordinate the 
        Federal response to a disaster or the Department of Defense's 
        Office of Economic Adjustment is charged to coordinate the 
        Federal response for communities experiencing base closures and 
        realignments.
            (5) There is a recognized need for the Federal Government 
        to be able to coordinate its response to communities 
        experiencing sudden economic distress both at the national 
        level and in the community itself, and to further be able to 
        coordinate the Federal response with State and local efforts.
            (6) The Office of Economic Adjustment of the Department of 
        Defense has successfully provided such coordination across the 
        Federal Government for communities experiencing defense base 
        closures and is a good model on which to base any government-
        wide coordination effort with respect to communities 
        experiencing sudden economic distress.
            (7) The mission of the Economic Development Administration 
        of the Department of Commerce includes helping States and local 
        areas to design and implement strategies for facilitating 
adjustment to changes in their economic situation that are causing or 
threaten to cause serious structural damage to the underlying economic 
base which may occur suddenly, and as a result, is the most appropriate 
place in the Federal Government to locate an office to coordinate 
Federal response to communities experiencing sudden economic distress.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to help communities to adjust to such economic 
        dislocation by providing for targeted and integrated Federal 
        responses by authorizing the Secretary of Commerce to 
        coordinate the Federal response through an Office of Community 
        Economic Adjustment which will employ methods and techniques 
        proven successful by the Defense Department's Office of 
        Economic Adjustment in connection with defense base closures; 
        and
            (2) to increase authorization of appropriations for 
        community adjustment programs of the Economic Development 
        Administration to provide the Secretary of Commerce with more 
        resources for grant assistance for communities to support the 
        development and implementation of adjustment strategies that 
        are designed to restore vital economic activity and create new 
        jobs.

SEC. 3 OFFICE OF COMMUNITY ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT.

    Title V of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 
(42 U.S.C. 3191) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 508. OFFICE OF COMMUNITY ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary is authorized to establish in 
the Economic Development Administration an Office of Community Economic 
Adjustment (hereinafter in this section referred to as the `Office'). 
The head of the Office shall, not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of the Community Economic Adjustment Act of 2000, develop 
an operating plan for the Office.
    ``(b) Duties.--The Office shall--
            ``(1) coordinate the Federal Government's response to 
        communities experiencing sudden economic distress caused by a 
        loss of jobs due to plant closures, significant layoffs, or 
        significant relocation of jobs to other communities for any 
        reason, including shifting patterns in international trade, 
        natural disasters or other problems, by--
                    ``(A) identifying relevant programs and resources 
                to ensure that communities are aware of all available 
                Federal resources that complement or support state and 
                local resources and programs; and
                    ``(B) working with the Departments of the Treasury, 
                Agriculture, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, and 
                Education, the Small Business Administration, and other 
                agencies to ensure that communities receive Federal 
                assistance in a targeted, integrated manner;
                    ``(C) assigning a project manager as appropriate to 
                work with an affected community to carry out 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B);
            ``(2) provide technical assistance, planning grants, and 
        other assistance under this Act to help communities organize 
        themselves, develop, and carry out economic adjustment 
        strategies for replacing industry and jobs that have been lost 
        or are threatened by the economic downturn;
            ``(3) help eligible applicants in completing applications 
        for other assistance that may be useful in alleviating the 
        economic distress in the communities; and
            ``(4) perform such other duties as the Secretary may deem 
        appropriate.''.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Title VII of the Public Works and Economic Development Act (42 
U.S.C. 3231) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 704. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR COMMUNITY ADJUSTMENT 
              ASSISTANCE.

    ``(a) In General.--In addition to amounts made available under 
section 701, there is authorized to be appropriated $35,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2001 through 2005 for community adjustment 
assistance under the economic adjustment program of the Economic 
Development Administration, of which--
            ``(1) $10,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated for each 
        such fiscal year to the Office of Community Economic Adjustment 
        established under section 508(a) for the conduct of the duties 
        of the Office under section 508(b), of which not to exceed 
        $1,500,000 may be made available for salaries and expenses of 
        the Office; and
            ``(2) $25,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated for each 
        such fiscal year for additional economic development program 
        funds in addition to the amounts available for such purposes 
        for communities successfully completing planning grants (as 
        described in section 508(b)(2)) to implement their approved 
        plans.
    ``(b) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) are authorized to 
remain available until expended.''.
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