[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1553 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1553

To provide for additional temporary extended unemployment compensation 
                     for certain displaced workers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 2, 2003

 Mr. English (for himself, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Ney, Mr. Hoyer, Ms. Dunn, 
  Ms. Hart, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Weiner) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for additional temporary extended unemployment compensation 
                     for certain displaced workers.

    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 ``Air Transportation Employees 
Assistance Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``eligible individual'' means an individual 
        whose eligibility for temporary extended unemployment 
        compensation is or would be based on the exhaustion of regular 
        compensation, entitlement to which was based in whole or in 
        part on qualifying employment performed during such 
        individual's base period;
            (2) the term ``qualifying employment'', with respect to an 
        eligible individual, means employment--
                    (A) with an air carrier, at a facility at an 
                airport that involves the provision of transportation 
                to or from an airport, or with an upstream producer or 
                supplier for an air carrier; and
                    (B) as determined by the Secretary, separation from 
                which was due, in whole or in part, to--
                            (i) reductions in service by an air carrier 
                        as a result of a terrorist action or security 
                        measure;
                            (ii) a closure of an airport in the United 
                        States as a result of a terrorist action or 
                        security measure; or
                            (iii) a military conflict with Iraq that 
                        has been authorized by Congress;
            (3) the term ``air carrier'' means an air carrier that 
        holds a certificate issued under chapter 411 of title 49, 
        United States Code;
            (4) the term ``upstream producer'' means a firm that 
        performs additional, value-added, production processes, 
        including firms that perform final assembly, finishing, or 
        packaging of articles, for another firm;
            (5) the term ``supplier'' means a firm that produces 
        component parts for, or articles and contract services 
        considered to be a part of the production process or services 
        for, another firm;
            (6) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Labor; 
        and
            (7) the term ``terrorist action or security measure'' means 
        a terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, 
        or a security measure taken in response to such attack.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL TEMPORARY EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR 
              ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES.

    In the case of an eligible employee, the Temporary Extended 
Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-147; 116 Stat. 
21), as amended by Public Law 108-1 (117 Stat. 3), shall be applied as 
if it had been amended in accordance with section 4.

SEC. 4. MODIFICATIONS.

    (a) In General.--For purposes of section 3, the Temporary Extended 
Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-147; 116 Stat. 
21), as amended by Public Law 108-1 (117 Stat. 3), shall be treated as 
if it had been amended as provided in this section.
    (b) Program Extension.--Deem section 208 of the Temporary Extended 
Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002, as amended by Public Law 108-1 
(117 Stat. 3), to be amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 208. APPLICABILITY.

    ``(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), an agreement entered 
into under this Act shall apply to weeks of unemployment--
            ``(1) beginning after the date on which such agreement is 
        entered into; and
            ``(2) ending before December 29, 2003.
    ``(b) Transition for Amount Remaining in Account.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), in the case of 
        an individual who has amounts remaining in an account 
        established under section 203 as of December 28, 2003, 
        temporary extended unemployment compensation shall continue to 
        be payable to such individual from such amounts for any week 
        beginning after such date for which the individual meets the 
        eligibility requirements of this Act, including such 
        compensation payable by reason of amounts deposited in such 
        account after such date pursuant to the application of 
        subsection (c) of such section.
            ``(2) Limitation.--No compensation shall be payable by 
        reason of paragraph (1) for any week beginning after December 
        26, 2004.''.
    (c) Additional Weeks of Benefits.--Deem section 203 of the 
Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002, as amended by 
Public Law 108-1 (117 Stat. 3), to be amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``50'' and 
                inserting ``150''; and
                    (B) by striking ``13'' and inserting ``39''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ``\1/3\ of'' after 
        ``equal to''.
    (d) Effective Date of Modifications Described in Subsection (c).--
            (1) In general.--The amendments described in subsection 
        (c)--
                    (A) shall be deemed to have taken effect as if 
                included in the enactment of the Temporary Extended 
Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002; but
                    (B) shall be treated as applying only with respect 
                to weeks of unemployment beginning on or after the date 
                of enactment this Act, subject to paragraph (2).
            (2) Special rules.--In the case of an eligible individual 
        for whom a temporary extended unemployment account was 
        established before the date of enactment of this Act, the 
        Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (as 
        amended by this Act) shall be applied subject to the following:
                    (A) Any amounts deposited in the individual's 
                temporary extended unemployment compensation account by 
                reason of section 203(c) of such Act (commonly known as 
                ``TEUC-X amounts'') before the date of enactment of 
                this Act shall be treated as amounts deposited by 
                reason of section 203(b) of such Act (commonly known as 
                ``TEUC amounts''), as deemed to have been amended by 
                subsection (c)(1).
                    (B) For purposes of determining whether the 
                individual is eligible for any TEUC-X amounts under 
                such Act, as deemed to be amended by this section--
                            (i) any determination made under section 
                        203(c) of such Act before the application of 
                        the amendment described in subsection (c)(2) 
                        shall be disregarded; and
                            (ii) any such determination shall instead 
                        be made by applying section 203(c) of such Act, 
                        as deemed to be amended by subsection (c)(2)--
                                    (I) as of the time that all amounts 
                                established in such account in 
                                accordance with section 203(b) of such 
                                Act (as deemed to be amended under this 
                                section, and including any amounts 
                                described in subparagraph (A)) are in 
                                fact exhausted, except that
                                    (II) if such individual's account 
                                was both augmented by and exhausted of 
                                all TEUC-X amounts before the date of 
                                enactment of this Act, such 
                                determination shall be made as if 
                                exhaustion (as described in section 
                                203(c)(1) of such Act) had not occurred 
                                until such date of enactment.
                                 <all>