II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1963 

To make miscellaneous improvements to trade adjustment assistance. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 4, 2005 

Mr. BAUCUS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To make miscellaneous improvements to trade adjustment 

assistance. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Trade Adjustment Assistance Improvement Act of 

6 2005’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.— 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 101. Calculation of separation tolled during litigation. 

Sec. 102. Establishment of Trade Adjustment Assistance Advisor. 

Sec. 103. Certification of submissions. 

Sec. 104. Revision of eligibility criteria. 

Sec. 105. Training. 
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Sec. 106. Funding for administrative costs. 

Sec. 107. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE II—DATA COLLECTION 

Sec. 201. Short title. 

Sec. 202. Data collection; study; information to workers. 

Sec. 203. Determinations by the Secretary of Labor. 

TITLE III—TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FARMERS 

Sec. 301. Clarification of marketing year and other provisions. 

Sec. 302. Eligibility. 

1 TITLE I—TRADE ADJUSTMENT 

2 ASSISTANCE 

3 SEC. 101. CALCULATION OF SEPARATION TOLLED DURING 

4 LITIGATION. 

5 Section 233 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

6 2293) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(h) SPECIAL RULE FOR CALCULATING SEPARA8 TION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this chap9 ter, any period during which a judicial or administrative 

10 appeal is pending with respect to the denial by the Sec11 retary of a petition under section 223 shall not be counted 

12 for purposes of calculating the period of separation under 

13 subsection (a)(2) and an adversely affected worker that 

14 would otherwise be entitled to a trade readjustment allow15 ance shall not be denied such allowance because of such 

16 appeal.’’. 
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1 SEC. 102. ESTABLISHMENT OF TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSIST2 ANCE ADVISOR. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 2 of title 

4 II of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after 

5 section 221, the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 221A. ESTABLISHMENT OF TRADE ADJUSTMENT AS7 SISTANCE ADVISOR. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the De9 partment of Labor an office to be known as the ‘Office 

10 of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Advisor’. The Office 

11 shall be headed by a Director, who shall be responsible 

12 for providing assistance and advice to any person or entity 

13 described in section 221(a)(1) desiring to file a petition 

14 for certification of eligibility under section 221. 

15 ‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Director shall 

16 coordinate with each agency responsible for providing ad17 justment assistance under this chapter or chapter 6 and 

18 shall provide technical and legal assistance and advice to 

19 enable persons or entities described in section 221(a)(1) 

20 to prepare and file petitions for certification under section 

21 221.’’. 

22 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

23 for title II of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by insert24 ing after the item relating to section 221, the following: 

‘‘Sec. 221A. Establishment of Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance Advisor.’’. 
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1 SEC. 103. CERTIFICATION OF SUBMISSIONS. 

2 Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

3 2273) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(e) CERTIFICATION OF SUBMISSIONS.—If an em5 ployer submits a petition on behalf of a group of workers 

6 pursuant to section 221(a)(1) or if the Secretary requests 

7 evidence or information from an employer in order to 

8 make a determination under this section, the accuracy and 

9 completeness of any evidence or information submitted by 

10 the employer shall be certified by the employer’s legal 

11 counsel or by an officer of the employer.’’. 

12 SEC. 104. REVISION OF ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA. 

13 (a) SHIFTS IN PRODUCTION.—Section 222(a)(2)(B) 

14 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 (U.S.C. 2272(a)(2)(B)) is 

15 amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(B) there has been a shift in production by 

17 such workers’ firm or subdivision to a foreign coun18 try of articles like or directly competitive with arti19 cles which are produced by such firm or subdivi20 sion.’’. 

21 (b) WAGE INSURANCE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 246(a)(3) of the 

23 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2318(a)(3)) is 

24 amended to read as follows: 

25 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—A worker in a group that 

26 the Secretary has certified as eligible to apply for 
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1 adjustment assistance under section 223 may elect 

2 to receive benefits under the alternative trade ad3 justment assistance program if the worker— 

4 ‘‘(A) obtains reemployment not more than 

5 26 weeks after the date of separation from the 

6 adversely affected employment; 

7 ‘‘(B) is at least 40 years of age; 

8 ‘‘(C) earns not more than $50,000 a year 

9 in wages from reemployment; 

10 ‘‘(D) is employed on a full-time basis as 

11 defined by State law in the State in which the 

12 worker is employed; and 

13 ‘‘(E) does not return to the employment 

14 from which the worker was separated.’’. 

15 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (A) Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 

17 246(a)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

18 2318(a)(2)) are amended by striking ‘‘para19 graph (3)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ 

20 each place it appears. 

21 (B) Section 246(b)(2) of such Act is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(3)(B)’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(3)’’. 

24 (c) DOWNSTREAM WORKERS.—Section 222(c)(3) of 

25 the Trade Act of 1974 (19 (U.S.C. 2272(c)(3)) is amend-
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1 ed by striking ‘‘, if the certification of eligibility’’ and all 

2 that follows to the end period. 

3 SEC. 105. TRAINING. 

4 (a) MODIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT DEADLINES.— 

5 Section 231(a)(5)(A)(ii) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

6 U.S.C. 2291(a)(5)(A)(ii)) is amended— 

7 (1) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘16th week’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘26th week’’; and 

9 (2) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘8th week’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘20th week’’. 

11 (b) EXTENSION OF ALLOWANCE TO ACCOMMODATE

12 TRAINING.—Section 233 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

13 U.S.C. 2293) is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(h) EXTENSION OF ALLOWANCE.—Notwithstanding 

16 any other provision of this section, a trade readjustment 

17 allowance may be paid to a worker for a number of addi18 tional weeks equal to the number of weeks the worker’s 

19 enrollment in training was delayed beyond the deadline ap20 plicable under section 231(a)(5)(A)(ii) pursuant to a waiv21 er granted under section 231(c)(1)(E).’’. 

22 (c) FUNDING FOR TRAINING.—Section 236(a) of the 

23 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2296(a)) is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘Upon such 

25 approval’’ and all that follows to the end; and 
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1 (2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) Upon approval of a training program 

4 under paragraph (l), and subject to the limitations 

5 imposed by this section, an adversely affected worker 

6 covered by a certification issued under section 223 

7 shall be eligible to have payment of the costs of that 

8 training, including any costs of an approved training 

9 program incurred by a worker before a certification 

10 was issued under section 223, made on behalf of the 

11 worker by the Secretary directly or through a vouch12 er system. 

13 ‘‘(B) Not later than 6 months after the date of 

14 enactment of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Im15 provement Act of 2005, the Secretary shall develop 

16 and submit to Congress for approval a formula that 

17 provides workers with an individual entitlement for 

18 training costs to be administered pursuant to sec19 tions 239 and 240. The formula shall take into ac20 count— 

21 ‘‘(i) the number of workers enrolled in 

22 trade adjustment assistance; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the duration of the assistance; 

24 ‘‘(iii) the anticipated training costs for 

25 workers; and 
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1 ‘‘(iv) any other factors the Secretary deems 

2 appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(C) Until such time as Congress approves the 

4 formula, the total amount of payments that may be 

5 made under subparagraph (A) for any fiscal year 

6 shall not exceed fifty percent of the amount of trade 

7 readjustment allowances paid to workers during that 

8 fiscal year.’’. 

9 (d) APPROVED TRAINING PROGRAMS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 236(a)(5) of the 

11 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2296(a)(5)) is 

12 amended— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub14 paragraph (E); 

15 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 

16 subparagraph (H); and 

17 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(F) integrated workforce training; 

20 ‘‘(G) entrepreneurial training; and’’. 

21 (2) DEFINITION.—Section 247 of the Trade 

22 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2319) is amended by adding 

23 at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(18) The term ‘integrated workforce training’ 

2 means training that integrates occupational skills 

3 training with English language acquisition.’’. 

4 SEC. 106. FUNDING FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. 

5 Section 241 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

6 2313) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(d) Funds provided by the Secretary to a State to 

8 cover administrative costs associated with the performance 

9 of a State’s responsibilities under section 239 shall be suf10 ficient to cover all costs of the State associated with oper11 ating the trade adjustment assistance program, including 

12 case worker costs.’’. 

13 SEC. 107. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 245(a) of the Trade Act 

15 of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2317(a)) is amended by striking 

16 ‘‘2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’. 

17 (b) FIRMS.—Section 256(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 

18 (19 U.S.C. 2346(b)) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘$16,000,000’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘$32,000,000’’; and 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’. 

22 (c) FARMERS.—Section 298(a) of the Trade Act of 

23 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2401g(a)) is amended by striking 

24 ‘‘2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’. 
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1 TITLE II—DATA COLLECTION 

2 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Trade Adjustment As4 sistance Accountability Act’’. 

5 SEC. 202. DATA COLLECTION; STUDY; INFORMATION TO 

6 WORKERS. 

7 (a) DATA COLLECTION; EVALUATIONS.—Subchapter 

8 C of chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 is 

9 amended by inserting after section 249, the following new 

10 section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 250. DATA COLLECTION; EVALUATIONS; REPORTS. 

12 ‘‘(a) DATA COLLECTION.—The Secretary shall, pur13 suant to regulations prescribed by the Secretary, collect 

14 any data necessary to meet the requirements of this chap15 ter. 

16 ‘‘(b) PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary 

17 shall establish an effective performance measuring system 

18 to evaluate the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM PERFORMANCE.—A comparison 

20 of the trade adjustment assistance program before 

21 and after the effective date of the Trade Adjustment 

22 Assistance Reform Act of 2002 with respect to— 

23 ‘‘(A) the number of workers certified and 

24 the number of workers actually participating in 

25 the trade adjustment assistance program; 
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1 ‘‘(B) the time for processing petitions; 

2 ‘‘(C) the number of training waivers grant3 ed; 

4 ‘‘(D) the coordination of programs under 

5 this chapter with programs under the Work6 force Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801 

7 et seq.); 

8 ‘‘(E) the effectiveness of individual train9 ing providers in providing appropriate informa10 tion and training; 

11 ‘‘(F) the extent to which States have de12 signed and implemented health care coverage 

13 options under title II of the Trade Act of 2002, 

14 including any difficulties States have encoun15 tered in carrying out the provisions of title II; 

16 ‘‘(G) how Federal, State, and local officials 

17 are implementing the trade adjustment assist18 ance program to ensure that all eligible individ19 uals receive benefits, including providing out20 reach, rapid response, and other activities; and 

21 ‘‘(H) any other data necessary to evaluate 

22 how individual States are implementing the re23 quirements of this chapter. 

24 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION.—The effective25 ness of the program relating to— 
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1 ‘‘(A) the number of workers receiving ben2 efits and the type of benefits being received 

3 both before and after the effective date of the 

4 Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform Act of 

5 2002; 

6 ‘‘(B) the number of workers enrolled in, 

7 and the duration of, training by major types of 

8 training both before and after the effective date 

9 of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform 

10 Act of 2002; 

11 ‘‘(C) earnings history of workers that re12 flects wages before separation and wages in any 

13 job obtained after receiving benefits under this 

14 Act; 

15 ‘‘(D) reemployment rates and sectors in 

16 which dislocated workers have been employed; 

17 ‘‘(E) the cause of dislocation identified in 

18 each petition that resulted in a certification 

19 under this chapter; and 

20 ‘‘(F) the number of petitions filed and 

21 workers certified in each congressional district 

22 of the United States. 

23 ‘‘(c) STATE PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary shall 

24 ensure, to the extent practicable, through oversight and 

25 effective internal control measures the following: 
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1 ‘‘(1) STATE PARTICIPATION.—Participation by 

2 each State in the performance measurement system 

3 established under subsection (b) and shall provide 

4 incentives for States to supplement employment and 

5 wage data obtained through the use of unemploy6 ment insurance wage records. 

7 ‘‘(2) MONITORING.—Monitoring by each State 

8 of internal control measures with respect to perform9 ance measurement data collected by each State. 

10 ‘‘(3) RESPONSE.—The quality and speed of the 

11 rapid response provided by each State under section 

12 134(a)(2)(A) of the Workforce Investment Act of 

13 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2864(a)(2)(A)). 

14 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) REPORTS BY THE SECRETARY.— 

16 ‘‘(A) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 

17 months after the date of enactment of the 

18 Trade Adjustment Assistance Accountability 

19 Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Com20 mittee on Finance of the Senate and the Com21 mittee on Ways and Means of the House of 

22 Representatives a report that— 

23 ‘‘(i) describes the performance meas24 urement system established under sub25 section (b); 
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1 ‘‘(ii) includes analysis of data col2 lected through the system established 

3 under subsection (b); and 

4 ‘‘(iii) provides recommendations for 

5 program improvements. 

6 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 

7 year after the date the report is submitted 

8 under subparagraph (A), and annually there9 after, the Secretary shall submit to the Com10 mittee on Finance of the Senate and the Com11 mittee on Ways and Means of the House of 

12 Representatives and release to the public a re13 port that includes the information collected 

14 under clause (ii) of subparagraph (A). 

15 ‘‘(2) STATE REPORTS.—Pursuant to regulations 

16 prescribed by the Secretary, each State shall submit 

17 to the Secretary a report that details its participa18 tion in the programs established under this chapter, 

19 and that contains the data necessary to allow the 

20 Secretary to submit the report required under para21 graph (1). 

22 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make 

23 available to each State, to Congress, and to the pub24 lic, the data gathered and evaluated through the per-
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1 formance measurement system established under 

2 subsection (b).’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) COORDINATION.—Section 281 of the Trade 

5 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2392) is amended by strik6 ing ‘‘Departments of Labor and Commerce’’ and in7 serting ‘‘Departments of Labor, Commerce, and Ag8 riculture’’. 

9 (2) TRADE MONITORING SYSTEM.—Section 282 

10 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2393) is 

11 amended by striking ‘‘The Secretary of Commerce 

12 and the Secretary of Labor’’ and inserting ‘‘The 

13 Secretaries of Commerce, Labor, and Agriculture’’. 

14 (3) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con15 tents for title II of the Trade Act of 1974 is amend16 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 

17 249, the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 250. Data collection; evaluations; reports.’’. 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall take effect on the date that is 60 days 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 203. DETERMINATIONS BY THE SECRETARY OF LABOR. 

22 Section 223(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

23 2273(c)) is amended to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘(c) PUBLICATION OF DETERMINATIONS.—Upon 

2 reaching a determination on a petition, the Secretary 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) promptly publish a summary of the deter5 mination in the Federal Register together with the 

6 Secretary’s reasons for making such determination; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(2) make the full text of the determination 

9 available to the public on the Internet website of the 

10 Department of Labor with full-text searchability.’’. 

11 TITLE III—TRADE ADJUSTMENT 

12 ASSISTANCE FOR FARMERS 

13 SEC. 301. CLARIFICATION OF MARKETING YEAR AND 

14 OTHER PROVISIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 291(5) of the Trade Act 

16 of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2401(5)) is amended by inserting be17 fore the end period the following: ‘‘, or in the case of an 

18 agricultural commodity that has no officially designated 

19 marketing year, in a 12-month period for which the peti20 tioner provides written request’’. 

21 (b) FISHERMEN.—Notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of law, for purposes of chapter 2 of title II of the 

23 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.) fishermen 

24 who harvest wild stock shall be eligible for adjustment as-
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1 sistance to the same extent and in the same manner as 

2 a group of workers under such chapter 2. 

3 SEC. 302. ELIGIBILITY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 292(c)(1) of the Trade 

5 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2401a(c)(1)) is amended by strik6 ing ‘‘80 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘90 percent’’. 

7 (b) NET FARM INCOME.—Section 296(a)(1)(C) of 

8 the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2401e(a)(1)(C)) is 

9 amended by inserting before the end period the following: 

10 ‘‘or the producer had no positive net farm income for the 

11 2 most recent consecutive years in which no adjustment 

12 assistance was received by the producer under this chap13 ter’’. 

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