[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 77 (Monday, June 19, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H4656-H4657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   COMMUNITY EMERGENCY ADJUSTMENT ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LARSON. Mr. Speaker, we are preparing tomorrow evening to drop an 
important piece of legislation, a bill whose short title is the 
Community Emergency Adjustment Act. It is a very simple and 
straightforward solution for communities who are experiencing sudden 
economic distress. That

[[Page H4657]]

sudden economic distress occurs due to plant closures, mergers and 
acquisitions that lead to dislocation, displacement and layoffs, 
layoffs that occur because of trade or technology.
  I am pleased to announce that we have more than 160 cosponsors, 
bipartisan support, and am equally pleased that all the members of the 
Connecticut delegation have sponsored this legislation, along with my 
good friend the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Baldacci), who we will hear 
from shortly as well, and I especially want to thank the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kasich) for 
their advice in pursuing this legislation.
  I know firsthand why we seek this kind of remedy. We are experiencing 
some 1,700 layoffs within my district. What we know firsthand is that 
there is often a lack of coordination. It is this kind of coordinated 
effort that this piece of legislation seeks to remedy.
  In short, when there is a natural disaster, FEMA comes in and 
provides an opportunity to make sure that it integrates with all the 
Federal agencies the kind of emergency response that is needed when 
communities are experiencing a natural disaster. It is true when there 
have been base closures in the past that the Department of Defense 
comes in and also organizes all the Federal agencies that are impacted, 
and in this way presenting a coordinated effort in assisting the 
communities through these problematic concerns.
  That is not the case currently when layoffs occur, when workers are 
displaced. So, what this bill seeks through the Department of Commerce 
is to create in the Economic Development Administration a coordinating 
entity that will work with our various agencies, that will work with 
the Department of Agriculture, Small Business Administration, the 
Treasury, Labor, HUD, and, of course, the Department of Commerce 
itself.
  The purpose here is to appoint a team leader. Again, when communities 
are experiencing these kinds of layoffs, currently the communities 
involved have to reach out to the various Federal agencies. What this 
will do when a community experiences the economic distress that I have 
talked about is it will provide the Department of Commerce with the 
opportunities to come in and coordinate this assistance, so it will be 
both cost savings, efficient and effective and assist our communities 
and assist those who are being displaced, those who have been laid off, 
with getting the kind of immediate coordinated assistance that they 
expect from the Federal Government.
  I want to thank as well the administration, especially the Department 
of Commerce, for working with us on this approach. We hope to pilot 
this approach by getting them up to Connecticut and having them work 
through some of these particularly thorny areas so that we can 
coordinate in a whole-hearted effort to make sure that workers are 
receiving the kind of relief that they have.
  Mr. Speaker we are seeking original cosponsors on this bill that we 
are going to drop tomorrow evening. As I have indicated, we have more 
than 160 cosponsors to what is a very pragmatic, straightforward 
solution in addressing communities that experience economic distress.

                          ____________________