[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 41 (Monday, October 16, 2000)]
[Pages 2358-2359]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13169--Assistance to Small Business Exporters and 
Dislocated Workers

October 6, 2000

    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 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

[[Page 2359]]

            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.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
October 6, 2000.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., October 11, 
2000]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on 
October 12. This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.