[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 198 (Thursday, October 12, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 60581-60582]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-26397]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 198 / Thursday, October 12, 2000 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 60581]]


                Executive Order 13169 of October 6, 2000

                
Assistance to Small Business Exporters and 
                Dislocated

                Workers

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, including the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 
                631 et seq., the Workforce Investment Act, 29 U.S.C. 
                2801 et seq., and the Trade Act of 1974, 19 U.S.C. 2271 
                et seq., and in order to assist small businesses, 
                including businesses headed by underserved populations, 
                in participating in the export of products, and to 
                expedite the delivery of adjustment assistance to 
                dislocated workers, it is hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Policy. By its accession to the World Trade 
                Organization, the People's Republic of China will be 
                required to open its markets to a wide range of 
                products and services provided by Americans. In 
                addition, the United States has recently enacted a new 
                law to facilitate trade with the countries of Sub-
                Saharan Africa and the Caribbean Basin. Federal 
                agencies should take steps to assist small businesses, 
                including businesses headed by underserved populations, 
                in capitalizing on these new opportunities. The 
                agencies should also take steps to assist workers who 
                lose their jobs as a result of competition from imports 
                in their efforts to secure adjustment assistance 
                benefits for which they are eligible.

                Sec. 2. Interagency Task Force on Small Business 
                Exports. (a) The Secretaries of Commerce and Labor, the 
                Administrator of the Small Business Administration, the 
                United States Trade Representative, and the Chairman of 
                the Export-Import Bank shall, within 60 days from the 
                date of this order, establish an interagency task force 
                through the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee 
                (TPCC). The task force shall facilitate exports by 
                United States small businesses, including businesses 
                headed by underserved populations, particularly with 
                respect to the People's Republic of China and the 
                countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean 
                Basin. The TPCC shall submit an annual report to the 
                President on the functions carried out by this task 
                force during the preceding year. As part of its work, 
                the task force shall assess the extent to which the 
                establishment of permanent normal trade relations with 
                the People's Republic of China, and the United States 
                enactment of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, 19 
                U.S.C.A. 3701 et seq., and the United States- Caribbean 
                Basin Trade Partnership Act, 19 U.S.C.A. 2701 note, may 
                contribute to the creation of export opportunities for 
                small businesses including businesses headed by 
                underserved populations.

                    (b) For the purposes of this order, ``businesses 
                headed by underserved populations'' means businesses 
                headed by women or minorities, and/or located in rural 
                communities.

                Sec. 3. Expedited Response to Worker Dislocation. (a) 
                The Secretary of Labor shall expedite the Federal 
                response to worker dislocation through the Workforce 
                Investment Act and the Trade Adjustment Assistance 
                program by proactively seeking information, from a 
                variety of sources, on actual or prospective layoffs, 
                including the media and community and labor union 
                members, and by sharing such information with 
                appropriate state workforce officials. In addition, the 
                Department of Labor (Labor) shall undertake a number of 
                proactive steps to support public outreach activities 
                aimed at workers, employers, the media, local 
                officials, the community, and labor

[[Page 60582]]

                organizations and their members to improve awareness of 
                the adjustment assistance available through Labor 
                programs, including, but not limited to:

(1)

developing a set of methods to inform employers of the services available 
through Labor workforce programs, which will explain the requirements of 
the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, 29 U.S.C. 2101 et 
seq., and provide information on worker adjustment programs, including the 
Trade Adjustment Assistance and the basic dislocated worker programs, 
emphasizing the importance of early intervention to minimize the affects of 
work layoffs;

(2)

improving websites and other modes of communication to provide basic 
information on dislocated worker and Trade Adjustment Assistance program 
contacts at the State and local level;

(3)

developing a National Toll-Free Help Line to provide universal, accurate, 
and easy access to information about public workforce services to workers 
and employers;

(4)

providing on-site technical assistance, in partnership with other Federal 
agencies, when there are layoffs or closures with multi-State impact, or 
when there are dislocations with significant community impact (such as 
areas that have been affected by numerous layoffs of apparel and textile 
workers);

(5)

informing States directly when a secondary worker impact has been affirmed 
by Labor; and

(6)

to the extent permitted by law, and subject to the availability of 
appropriations, providing funding or an outreach campaign for secondary 
workers (i.e., individuals indirectly affected by increased imports from 
other countries).

                    (b) The Secretary of Labor, in consultation with 
                the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade 
                Representative, shall report annually on the employment 
                effects of the establishment of permanent normal trade 
                relations with the People's Republic of China.

                Sec. 4. Judicial Review. This order does not create any 
                right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law by a party against the United 
                States, its officers, its employees, or any other 
                person.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    October 6, 2000.

[FR Doc. 00-26397
Filed 10-11-00; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P