I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2308

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to provide trade adjustment assistance 

for communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 3, 2003

Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. 

MCNULTY, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. PRICE of 

North Carolina, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. ACKERMAN, and Mr. HONDA) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to provide trade adjustment assistance for communities, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trade Adjustment As5 sistance for Communities Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to assist communities neg8 atively impacted by trade with economic adjustment 

9 through the integration of political and economic organiza-
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1 tions, the coordination of Federal, State, and local re2 sources, the creation of community-based development 

3 strategies, and the provision of economic transition assist4 ance. 

5 SEC. 3. TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR COMMU6 NITIES. 

7 Chapter 4 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

8 U.S.C. 2371 et seq.) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘CHAPTER 4—TRADE ADJUSTMENT 

10 ASSISTANCE FOR COMMUNITIES 

11 ‘‘SEC. 271. DEFINITIONS. 

12 ‘‘In this chapter: 

13 ‘‘(1) AFFECTED DOMESTIC PRODUCER.—The 

14 term ‘affected domestic producer’ means any manu15 facturer, producer, farmer, rancher, fisherman or 

16 worker representative (including associations of such 

17 persons) that was affected by a finding under the 

18 Antidumping Act of 1921, or by an antidumping or 

19 countervailing duty order issued under title VII of 

20 the Tariff Act of 1930. 

21 ‘‘(2) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY PRODUCER.—

22 The term ‘agricultural commodity producer’ has the 

23 same meaning as the term ‘person’ as prescribed by 

24 regulations promulgated under section 1001(5) of 

25 the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1308(5)). 
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1 ‘‘(3) COMMUNITY.—The term ‘community’ 

2 means a city, county, or other political subdivision of 

3 a State or a consortium of political subdivisions of 

4 a State that the Secretary certifies as being nega5 tively impacted by trade. 

6 ‘‘(4) COMMUNITY NEGATIVELY IMPACTED BY

7 TRADE.—A community negatively impacted by trade 

8 means a community with respect to which a deter9 mination has been made under section 273. 

10 ‘‘(5) ELIGIBLE COMMUNITY.—The term ‘eligible 

11 community’ means a community certified under sec12 tion 273 for assistance under this chapter. 

13 ‘‘(6) FISHERMAN.—

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fisherman’ 

15 means any person who—

16 ‘‘(i) is engaged in commercial fishing; 

17 or 

18 ‘‘(ii) is a United States fish processor. 

19 ‘‘(B) COMMERCIAL FISHING, FISH, FISH20 ERY, FISHING, FISHING VESSEL, PERSON, AND

21 UNITED STATES FISH PROCESSOR.—The terms 

22 ‘commercial fishing’, ‘fish’, ‘fishery’, ‘fishing’, 

23 ‘fishing vessel’, ‘person’, and ‘United States fish 

24 processor’ have the same meanings as such 

25 terms have in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
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1 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

2 1802). 

3 ‘‘(7) JOB LOSS.—The term ‘job loss’ means the 

4 total or partial separation of an individual, as those 

5 terms are defined in section 247. 

6 ‘‘(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

7 the Secretary of Commerce. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 272. COMMUNITY TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE 

9 PROGRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Within 6 months after the 

11 date of enactment of the Trade Adjustment Assistance for 

12 Communities Act of 2003, the Secretary shall establish a 

13 Trade Adjustment Assistance for Communities Program 

14 at the Department of Commerce. 

15 ‘‘(b) PERSONNEL.—The Secretary shall designate 

16 such staff as may be necessary to carry out the respon17 sibilities described in this chapter. 

18 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION OF FEDERAL RESPONSE.—The 

19 Secretary shall—

20 ‘‘(1) provide leadership, support, and coordina21 tion for a comprehensive management program to 

22 address economic dislocation in eligible communities; 

23 ‘‘(2) coordinate the Federal response to an eli24 gible community—
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1 ‘‘(A) by identifying all Federal, State, and 

2 local resources that are available to assist the 

3 eligible community in recovering from economic 

4 distress; 

5 ‘‘(B) by ensuring that all Federal agencies 

6 offering assistance to an eligible community do 

7 so in a targeted, integrated manner that en8 sures that an eligible community has access to 

9 all available Federal assistance; 

10 ‘‘(C) by assuring timely consultation and 

11 cooperation between Federal, State, and re12 gional officials concerning economic adjustment 

13 for an eligible community; and 

14 ‘‘(D) by identifying and strengthening ex15 isting agency mechanisms designed to assist eli16 gible communities in their efforts to achieve 

17 economic adjustment and workforce reemploy18 ment; 

19 ‘‘(3) provide comprehensive technical assistance 

20 to any eligible community in the efforts of that com21 munity to—

22 ‘‘(A) identify serious economic problems in 

23 the community that are the result of negative 

24 impacts from trade; 
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1 ‘‘(B) integrate the major groups and orga2 nizations significantly affected by the economic 

3 adjustment; 

4 ‘‘(C) access Federal, State, and local re5 sources designed to assist in economic develop6 ment and trade adjustment assistance; 

7 ‘‘(D) diversify and strengthen the commu8 nity economy; and 

9 ‘‘(E) develop a community-based strategic 

10 plan to address economic development and 

11 workforce dislocation, including unemployment 

12 among agricultural commodity producers, and 

13 fishermen; 

14 ‘‘(4) establish specific criteria for submission 

15 and evaluation of a strategic plan submitted under 

16 section 274(d); 

17 ‘‘(5) establish specific criteria for submitting 

18 and evaluating applications for grants under section 

19 275; 

20 ‘‘(6) administer the grant programs established 

21 under sections 274 and 275; and 

22 ‘‘(7) establish an interagency Trade Adjustment 

23 Assistance for Communities Working Group, con24 sisting of the representatives of any Federal depart25 ment or agency with responsibility for economic ad-
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1 justment assistance, including the Department of 

2 Agriculture, the Department of Education, the De3 partment of Labor, the Department of Housing and 

4 Urban Development, the Department of Health and 

5 Human Services, the Small Business Administra6 tion, the Department of the Treasury, the Depart7 ment of Commerce, and any other Federal, State, or 

8 regional department or agency the Secretary deter9 mines necessary or appropriate. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 273. CERTIFICATION AND NOTIFICATION. 

11 ‘‘(a) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than 45 days after 

12 an event described in subsection (c)(1), the Secretary of 

13 Commerce shall determine if a community described in 

14 subsection (b)(1) is negatively impacted by trade, and if 

15 a positive determination is made, shall certify the commu16 nity for assistance under this chapter. 

17 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION THAT COMMUNITY IS ELIGI18 BLE.—

19 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY DESCRIBED.—A community 

20 described in this paragraph means a community 

21 with respect to which on or after October 1, 2003—

22 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Labor certifies a 

23 group of workers (or their authorized represent24 ative) in the community as eligible for assist25 ance pursuant to section 223; 
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1 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Commerce certifies a 

2 firm located in the community as eligible for 

3 adjustment assistance under section 251; 

4 ‘‘(C) the Secretary of Agriculture certifies 

5 a group of agricultural commodity producers 

6 (or their authorized representative) in the com7 munity as eligible for adjustment assistance 

8 under section 293; 

9 ‘‘(D) an affected domestic producer is lo10 cated in the community; or 

11 ‘‘(E) the Secretary determines that a sig12 nificant number of fishermen in the community 

13 is negatively impacted by trade. 

14 ‘‘(2) NEGATIVELY IMPACTED BY TRADE.—The 

15 Secretary shall determine that a community is nega16 tively impacted by trade, after taking into consider17 ation—

18 ‘‘(A) the number of jobs affected compared 

19 to the size of workforce in the community; 

20 ‘‘(B) the severity of the rates of unemploy21 ment in the community and the duration of the 

22 unemployment in the community; 

23 ‘‘(C) the income levels and the extent of 

24 underemployment in the community; 
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1 ‘‘(D) the outmigration of population from 

2 the community and the extent to which the out3 migration is causing economic injury in the 

4 community; and 

5 ‘‘(E) the unique problems and needs of the 

6 community. 

7 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION AND SPECIAL RULES.—

8 ‘‘(1) EVENT DESCRIBED.—An event described 

9 in this paragraph means one of the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) A notification described in paragraph 

11 (2). 

12 ‘‘(B) A certification of a firm under section 

13 251. 

14 ‘‘(C) A finding under the Antidumping Act 

15 of 1921, or an antidumping or countervailing 

16 duty order issued under title VII of the Tariff 

17 Act of 1930. 

18 ‘‘(D) A determination by the Secretary 

19 that a significant number of fishermen in a 

20 community have been negatively impacted by 

21 trade. 

22 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary of Labor, 

23 immediately upon making a determination that a 

24 group of workers is eligible for trade adjustment as25 sistance under section 223, (or the Secretary of Ag-
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1 riculture, immediately upon making a determination 

2 that a group of agricultural commodity producers is 

3 eligible for adjustment assistance under section 293, 

4 as the case may be) shall notify the Secretary of 

5 Commerce of the determination. 

6 ‘‘(3) LOOK BACK.—In any case in which an 

7 event described in paragraph (1) occurred on or 

8 after January 1, 1998, and before the effective date 

9 of this chapter, the Secretary shall, not later than 

10 45 days after such effective date, determine whether 

11 the community is negatively impacted by trade, and 

12 if a positive determination is made, shall certify the 

13 community for assistance under this chapter. 

14 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION TO ELIGIBLE COMMUNITIES.—

15 Immediately upon certification by the Secretary of Com16 merce that a community is eligible for assistance under 

17 subsection (b), the Secretary shall notify the community—

18 ‘‘(1) of the determination under subsection (b); 

19 ‘‘(2) of the provisions of this chapter;

20 ‘‘(3) how to access the clearinghouse established 

21 by the Department of Commerce regarding available 

22 economic assistance; 

23 ‘‘(4) how to obtain technical assistance provided 

24 under section 272(c)(3); and 
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1 ‘‘(5) how to obtain grants, tax credits, low in2 come loans, and other appropriate economic assist3 ance. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 274. STRATEGIC PLANS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible community may de6 velop a strategic plan for community economic adjustment 

7 and diversification. 

8 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR STRATEGIC PLAN.—A 

9 strategic plan shall contain, at a minimum, the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) A description and justification of the ca11 pacity for economic adjustment, including the meth12 od of financing to be used. 

13 ‘‘(2) A description of the commitment of the 

14 community to the strategic plan over the long term 

15 and the participation and input of groups affected 

16 by economic dislocation. 

17 ‘‘(3) A description of the projects to be under18 taken by the eligible community. 

19 ‘‘(4) A description of how the plan and the 

20 projects to be undertaken by the eligible community 

21 will lead to job creation and job retention in the 

22 community. 

23 ‘‘(5) A description of how the plan will achieve 

24 economic adjustment and diversification. 
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1 ‘‘(6) A description of how the plan and the 

2 projects will contribute to establishing or maintain3 ing a level of public services necessary to attract and 

4 retain economic investment. 

5 ‘‘(7) A description and justification for the cost 

6 and timing of proposed basic and advanced infra7 structure improvements in the eligible community. 

8 ‘‘(8) A description of how the plan will address 

9 the occupational and workforce conditions in the eli10 gible community. 

11 ‘‘(9) A description of the educational programs 

12 available for workforce training and future employ13 ment needs. 

14 ‘‘(10) A description of how the plan will adapt 

15 to changing markets and business cycles. 

16 ‘‘(11) A description and justification for the 

17 cost and timing of the total funds required by the 

18 community for economic assistance. 

19 ‘‘(12) A graduation strategy through which the 

20 eligible community demonstrates that the community 

21 will terminate the need for Federal assistance. 

22 ‘‘(c) GRANTS TO DEVELOP STRATEGIC PLANS.—The 

23 Secretary, upon receipt of an application from an eligible 

24 community, may award a grant to that community to be 

25 used to develop the strategic plan. 
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1 ‘‘(d) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—A strategic plan devel2 oped under subsection (a) shall be submitted to the Sec3 retary for evaluation and approval. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 275. GRANTS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, upon approval of 

6 a strategic plan from an eligible community, may award 

7 a grant to that community to carry out any project or 

8 program that is certified by the Secretary to be included 

9 in the strategic plan approved under section 274(d), or 

10 consistent with that plan. 

11 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL GRANTS.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

13 in order to assist eligible communities to obtain 

14 funds under Federal grant programs, other than the 

15 grants provided for in section 274(c) or subsection 

16 (a), the Secretary may, on the application of an eli17 gible community, make a supplemental grant to the 

18 community if—

19 ‘‘(A) the purpose of the grant program 

20 from which the grant is made is to provide 

21 technical or other assistance for planning, con22 structing, or equipping public works facilities or 

23 to provide assistance for public service projects; 

24 and 
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1 ‘‘(B) the grant is 1 for which the commu2 nity is eligible except for the community’s in3 ability to meet the non-Federal share require4 ments of the grant program. 

5 ‘‘(2) USE AS NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—A supple6 mental grant made under this subsection may be 

7 used to provide the non-Federal share of a project, 

8 unless the total Federal contribution to the project 

9 for which the grant is being made exceeds 80 per10 cent and that excess is not permitted by law. 

11 ‘‘(c) RURAL COMMUNITY PREFERENCE.—The Sec12 retary shall develop guidelines to ensure that rural com13 munities receive preference in the allocation of resources. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 276. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

15 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

16 such regulations as are necessary to carry out the provi17 sions of this chapter. Before implementing any regulation 

18 or guideline proposed by the Secretary with respect to this 

19 chapter, the Secretary shall submit the regulation or 

20 guideline to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and 

21 the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep22 resentatives for approval. 

23 ‘‘(b) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds appro24 priated under this chapter shall be used to supplement and 

25 not supplant other Federal, State, and local public funds 
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1 expended to provide economic development assistance for 

2 communities. 

3 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

5 $350,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2007, 

6 to carry out this chapter. Amounts appropriated pursuant 

7 to this subsection shall remain available until expended.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

9 (a) TERMINATION.—Section 285(b) of the Trade Act 

10 of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2271 note) is amended by adding at 

11 the end the following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE FOR COMMUNITIES.—Tech13 nical assistance and other payments may not be pro14 vided under chapter 4 after September 30, 2007.’’. 

15 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

16 title II of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by striking 

17 the items relating to chapter 4 of title II and inserting 

18 after the items relating to chapter 3 the following new 

19 items:

‘‘CHAPTER 4—TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR COMMUNITIES

‘‘Sec. 271. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 272. Community Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. 

‘‘Sec. 273. Certification and notification. 

‘‘Sec. 274. Strategic plans. 

‘‘Sec. 275. Grants for economic development. 

‘‘Sec. 276. General provisions.’’.

20 (c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Section 284(a) of the Trade 

21 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2395(a)) is amended by striking 

22 ‘‘section 271’’ and inserting ‘‘section 273’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The provisions of this Act shall take effect on October 

3 1, 2003.

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