Trade and Globalization Assistance Act of 2007

Floor Speech

TRADE AND GLOBALIZATION ASSISTANCE ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - October 31, 2007)

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Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentleman, and thank the esteemed chairman, for bringing this bill forward.

Mr. Speaker, the real answer to growing job loss in the United States, the declining value of our dollar and to rising trade deficits is to balance America's trade accounts by renegotiating failed deals like NAFTA and China PNTR, by not passing any more of them, by opening closed markets like Japan's and China's, and Korea's and by stopping unfair trade practices globally.

Meanwhile, our workers continue to take the big hits by losing their jobs and benefits. What this bill does is it gives them increased notice when their plants are going to close, and it also provides a landing pad in the form of training and trade adjustment assistance. I just wish that the jobs they are being trained for would be produced. We know that often is not the case.

This is the absolute least we can do for the people of our country. They have paid the price of our failure here in Washington to produce economic policies that make America's economy robust.

I fear, without our doing that, we are going to lose the industrial and defense prowess that made the United States the leader post-World War II. I just thank the committee for providing this bill which will help the casualties reposition a bit.

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The real answer to growing U.S. job loss, the declining value of the dollar, and rising budget and trade deficits is to balance America's trade accounts by renegotiating failed deals like NAFTA and China PNTR and not pass more of them, by opening closed markets like Japan's, China's, and Korea's, and stopping unfair trade practices globally.

Meanwhile, our workers continue to take the big hits--they lose their jobs, they lose their benefits.

This bill gives them some help--by giving them increased notice before their plants are closed, and it revamps trade assistance and training to help them reposition if the jobs exist in the future.

We owe it to our workers and communities to give them a better chance to adjust. They are the casualties of economic policy here in Washington that is not working. This legislation will require employers to provide 90 days of notice in the event of a proposed plant closing or layoff.

Trigger the notification requirements if at least 25 workers lose their jobs during any 30-day period, not 50 workers as in current legislation;

Mandate notice if 100 or more workers are laid off at multiple plants or worksites during any 30-day period;

Cover both full-time and part-time hourly and salaried workers;

Require the Department of Labor to provide model educational information to employers on employer responsibilities and employee rights under WARN, as well as benefits and services available to dislocated workers;

Authorize the Department of Labor to investigate complaints and bring enforcement suits and also to notify Members of Congress who represent the affected areas;

Permit employees to recover back pay and benefits up to 90 days and also liquidated damages (doubling the compensation otherwise available) if an employer fails to give the required notice under the act; and,

Important to note is the legislation's extension of the period for COBRA (comprehensive benefits, including health care) coverage for recipients of trade adjustment assistance. Under current COBRA rules, workers who lose their jobs generally may continue their health benefits for up to 18 months at their own expense. The new legislation would give workers who are 55 years or older and have worked for an employer for 10 or more years the option to elect COBRA coverage until they become Medicare eligible at 65 or until they obtain health coverage through a subsequent employer.

While I support this bill, we must keep in mind that TAA and WARN aren't substitutes for jobs in manufacturing America. An America that does not produce not only loses the most vibrant wealth-producing sector of her economy but her defense and industrial base as well.

TAA and WARN should be used sparingly and for the short term--they are band-aids, not solutions. We need to pass legislation requiring the executive branch to balance our trade accounts, to renegotiate NAFTA/PNTR, and to open closed markets of the world.

It is no secret that we are voting on TAA today, to increase votes for the Peru Free Trade Agreement next week. Our willingness to sell out our Nation's workforce for the consolation prize of trade adjustment assistance promises to damage our country for decades to come.

I have two bills--H. Res. 336 and H.R. 169, the Balancing Trade Act, which will get our country back on the right track. By supporting H. Res. 336, we support fair, people-centered principles that promote free trade only among free peoples. The Balancing Trade Act, which already enjoys bipartisan support, demands that the President acknowledge a problem in our trade policy when our deficit with any one country exceeds $10 billion for more than 3 years. I also have a bill (H.R. 1958) to revoke PNTR from China, and I will be introducing a bill to require the President to renegotiate NAFTA. These bills are steps towards correcting our U.S. trade policy to prevent the kinds of layoffs and job loss that these bills merely ice over.

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