[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 23, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          SMALL BUSINESS AND DISLOCATED WORKER OPPORTUNITY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN ELIAS BALDACCI

                                of maine

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 23, 2002

  Mr. BALDACCI. Mr. Speaker, at a time when American workers are facing 
new challenges, it is important to open new avenues to prosperity and 
economic success. Entrepreneurship has long been such a path: it holds 
the promise that anyone can pursue his or her own dream. Workers who 
have been laid off because of import competition deserve to be able to 
pursue such opportunities. They also deserve a helping hand as they 
forge this new path for themselves.
  The Trade Adjustment Assistance Program was designed to help workers 
who are displaced due to foreign competition. It provides assistance so 
that such workers may seek training to gain new skills, and launch 
themselves onto a more stable and prosperous career track. However, the 
program can do more to help people who want to start their own 
businesses.
  This bill will accomplish that goal. It specifies that workers who 
pursue self-employment assistance activities--such as entrepreneurial 
training, business counseling, technical assistance and related 
training approved by an appropriate State agency--can still qualify for 
Trade Readjustment Allowances (extended benefits equal to unemployment 
insurance) under the TAA program.
  In addition, this bill also ensures that displaced workers have a 
more realistic chance to succeed in their new business. People who have 
unexpectedly lost their jobs have rarely had the chance to plan or to 
save the extra resources needed to start a business. On top of that, 
they face ongoing living and medical expenses. Unemployment Insurance 
and TRA can help to meet these costs, but they stop as soon as a new 
business starts, at a time when most businesses are still struggling 
and when the income they bring is most insecure.
  That is why this bill will allow workers who have undergone 
entrepreneurial training to continue receiving TRA during the first six 
months after the start of their new business. This gives displaced 
workers a crucial source of income support, and helps them overcome the 
distinct disadvantage their job dislocation has caused. However, to 
ensure that businesses succeed on their own merits, the bill provides 
for these extended payments to be phased out over time. Thus, workers 
would be eligible for full TRA in the first 14 weeks after they start 
their new business, 75 percent of their benefit in the 6 weeks 
thereafter, and 50 percent of the benefit in the next six weeks.
  This bill not only gives hard-working Americans the freedom to pursue 
a new professional path, it also gives them the means to do so. It 
levels the playing field so that workers who have lost their job 
because of foreign competition have a fair chance at turning misfortune 
into opportunity. As the wave of global economic change forces our 
workers to adapt, we must give them the tools to succeed. This bill is 
a strong step in the right direction.

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