[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 16, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 16, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        REEMPLOYMENT ACT OF 1994

                                 ______


                          HON. WILLIAM D. FORD

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 16, 1994

  Mr. FORD of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure today to 
introduce the Reemployment Act of 1994, the Clinton administration's 
comprehensive proposal to reform Federal assistance to dislocated 
workers, meaning those Americans who have been permanently laid off or 
are long-term unemployed.
  I am joined by more than 30 of my colleagues, including 10 Members of 
the Committee on Education and Labor, in introducing as a separate bill 
the retraining provisions in order to focus the attention of the House 
and our committee on that part of administration's proposal.
  It is gratifying to have a Labor Secretary, Robert Reich, come to the 
House and to my committee and articulate the challenges he sees before 
us and suggest what we need to do about them. Secretary Reich appeared 
before the committee this morning, presenting the administration's case 
for the Reemployment Act, a week after President Clinton unveiled it at 
a White House ceremony.
  The President and the Secretary propose to consolidate a number of 
dislocated worker assistance initiatives and establish a single place--
so-called career centers--where unemployed people can apply for 
unemployment benefits and receive information about jobs and job 
training. Under the bill, people caught between jobs could continue to 
receive unemployment benefits for 52 weeks, in addition to the standard 
26 weeks of benefits, while undertaking training.
  The bill would direct the Federal Government, in cooperation with 
State and local entities, to develop a national labor market 
information system containing data on the local economy, industries, 
and employers; available jobs and candidates; and consumer reports on 
education and training providers. The system would be available to 
Americans at the one-stop centers.
  The bill would consolidate six programs that serve dislocated 
workers: the Economic Dislocation and Worker Assistance Act; title III 
of the Job Training Partnership Act, or EDWAA; the Trade Adjustment 
Assistance Program; separate assistance for workers affected by NAFTA; 
the Clean Air Act Employment Transition Program; defense 
diversification, and defense conversion.
  We have a confusing system, and the Secretary has spent months 
figuring out how to improve the system. I look forward to working with 
the administration and with my colleagues to make appropriate 
adjustments and pass the bill.
  The administration has budgeted $13 billion over 5 years to fund the 
bill, $11 billion in discretionary spending. An additional $2 billion 
would be spent on the income support provisions. The $1.5 billion 
proposed for fiscal 1995 is discretionary.
  Mr. Speaker, the administration's plan follows earlier initiatives 
focused on developing a strong work force for today and tomorrow. The 
Committee on Education and Labor has approved or is considering the 
School-to-Work Opportunities Act and education reforms including Head 
Start reauthorization, Improving America's Schools Act, Goals 2000 
Educate America Act, National and Community Service Act, and direct 
loans for college students.
  It is encouraging to have a President who constantly summons us to do 
all we can to provide our children with the education and training they 
need to fulfill our hopes for them.
  Mr. Speaker, I also want to inform my colleagues that I will be 
introducing a bill this week containing amendments to the plant closing 
bill, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN.
  WARN requires most employers to tell workers 60 days in advance when 
they plan to close a plant, enabling them to find a new job--or get 
started on finding one--before they are dumped in the street. We were 
able to enact WARN after 14 years in 1988, when Ronald Reagan allowed 
it to become law without his signature. Naturally, to dissuade him from 
vetoing the bill, it had to have some unfortunate loopholes, and it 
also lacked an enforcement mechanism.
  Senator Metzenbaum and I intend to report legislation that would 
close those loopholes and meet the original intention of the act: to 
ensure that workers have the best opportunity to avoid the pain of 
unemployment and remain contributing members of our society.

                          ____________________