[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8057-8058]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, next week the Senate will consider a trade 
adjustment assistance amendment introduced by my colleagues Senators 
Wyden and Coleman. I am a co-sponsor of this amendment, which is 
offered on the JOBS bill, to which we will be returning next week.
  I also want to acknowledge Senators Rockefeller and Bingaman, who 
have worked hard to produce a strong amendment.
  This amendment is the right thing to do. And now is the right time to 
do it.
  The JOBS bill is about creating jobs and about keeping existing jobs 
in America. But we all know that--no matter how strong we make this 
JOBS bill--some workers may still see their jobs move overseas.
  Since 1962, trade adjustment assistance--what we call ``TAA''--has 
provided retraining, income support, and other benefits so that workers 
who lose their jobs due to trade can make a new start.
  The rationale for TAA is simple. When our government pursues trade 
liberalization, we create benefits for the economy as a whole. But 
there is always some dislocation from trade.
  As President Kennedy said, ``those injured by . . . trade competition 
should not be required to bear the full brunt of the impact.'' ``There 
is an obligation,'' he said, for the federal government ``to render 
assistance to those who suffer as a result of national trade policy.'' 
We meet that obligation through TAA.
  The TAA program has not been static over time. Several times, 
Congress has revised the program to meet new economic realities.
  Most recently, in the Trade Act of 2002, Congress completed an 
important overhaul and expansion of the TAA program. I am very proud to 
have played a leading role in passing this landmark legislation.
  But I am also the first to admit that our work is not done. Economic 
realities continue to change, and TAA must continue to change with 
them.
  I am co-sponsoring the Wyden/Coleman amendment, because it makes 
common sense changes that help TAA keep up with the times.
  Most importantly, the amendment extends TAA to service workers. Right 
now, we only give TAA benefits to workers who make things. That means 
American workers in the service sector cannot access this program.
  But today, more than 80 percent of non-farm U.S. jobs are in the 
service sector. And the market for many services is becoming just as 
global as the market for manufactured goods.
  Trade in services is a net plus for the U.S. economy. In fact, the 
service sector generated a trade surplus of nearly $74 billion in 2001.
  Just as we have seen with trade in manufactured goods, however, trade 
in services will inevitably cost some workers their jobs.
  Indeed, there have been some well-publicized examples in the papers. 
Examples abound of service-sector jobs--even high tech service jobs--
relocating overseas. Software design. Technical support. Accounting and 
tax preparation services. Radiology.
  Over the past 3 years, somewhere between a quarter and a half million 
service jobs have moved to other mainly low-wage countries.
  This trend has hit home in my State of Montana. Recently, a large 
technical support call center closed in Kalispell. At least 550 
Montanans lost their jobs while jobs were created in Canada and India.
  Another Montana employer laid off workers doing medical billing and 
data management. Those workers applied for TAA and were turned down--
not because the layoff wasn't trade related, but simply because they 
are service workers.
  That's not right. Extending TAA to cover service workers is a simple 
matter of equity. When a factory relocates to another country, those 
workers can apply for TAA. When a call center moves to another country, 
those workers are not eligible for TAA. But they should be.
  This amendment also makes some modest changes to eligibility rules to 
make it more user-friendly for workers. It removes some of the steps 
that workers have to take to meet the tests for shifts in production, 
alternative TAA, and to qualify for the health insurance tax credit. 
And it makes the health insurance options available to TAA recipients 
more affordable.
  The amendment provides for better data collection and reporting. That 
way Congress and the public will have a better idea who is using TAA 
benefits and how participants are faring in the job market.
  The amendment also helps trade-impacted communities to better plan

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their economic redevelopment and job creation strategies. That way 
workers who complete TAA retraining have a better chance of finding 
jobs in their communities.
  Hard-working American workers deserve this safety net. Despite what 
some opponents of TAA suggest, no worker would choose to lose his job 
so he can qualify for TAA. These benefits will always be second best to 
a job. But they can really make a difference in helping workers make a 
new start.
  It is also critical to note that TAA can make an important difference 
in public attitudes. Surveys show that most Americans feel a lot more 
comfortable with globalization, offshoring, and trade when they know 
they will get help if their jobs are threatened.
  That's why 66 percent of Americans responding to a recent poll agreed 
with the following statement: ``I favor free trade, and I believe that 
it is necessary for the government to have programs to help workers who 
lose their jobs.''
  The world is changing and TAA must keep up with the times. This 
amendment will help our government to keep its promise to the American 
people to make trade work for everyone.
  I commend my colleagues Senator Wyden and Senator Coleman for 
offering this amendment. I look forward to voting on it next week.

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