I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3352

To establish a transitional program of adjustment assistance to workers

adversely affected by the implementation of the North American Free

Trade Agreement, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 26, 1993

Mr. GIBBONS (for himself, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. ANDREWS of Texas, Mr.

KOPETSKI, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. RICHARDSON, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr.

CHAPMAN, and Mr. BAESLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To establish a transitional program of adjustment assistance

to workers adversely affected by the implementation of

the North American Free Trade Agreement, 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 ‘‘NAFTA Worker Secu5 rity Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NAFTA TRANSITIONAL AD2 JUSTMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

3 Chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 (19

4 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

5 the following new subchapter:

6 ‘‘Subchapter D—NAFTA Transitional

7 Adjustment Assistance Program

8 ‘‘SEC. 250. ESTABLISHMENT OF TRANSITIONAL PROGRAM.

9 ‘‘(a) GROUP ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—

10 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA.—A group of workers (including

11 workers in any agricultural firm or subdivision of an

12 agricultural firm) shall be certified as eligible to

13 apply for adjustment assistance under this sub14 chapter pursuant to a petition filed under subsection

15 (b) if the Secretary determines that a significant

16 number or proportion of the workers in such work17 ers’ firm or an appropriate subdivision of the firm

18 have become totally or partially separated, or are

19 threatened to become totally or partially separated,

20 and either—

21 ‘‘(A) that—

22 ‘‘(i) the sales or production, or both,

23 of such firm or subdivision have decreased

24 absolutely,

25 ‘‘(ii) imports from Mexico or Canada

26 of articles like or directly competitive with
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1 articles produced by such firm or subdivi2 sion have increased, and

3 ‘‘(iii) the increase in imports under

4 clause (ii) contributed importantly to such

5 workers’ separation or threat of separation

6 and to the decline in the sales or produc7 tion of such firm or subdivision; or

8 ‘‘(B) that there has been a shift in produc9 tion by such workers’ firm or subdivision to

10 Mexico or Canada of articles like or directly

11 competitive with articles which are produced by

12 the firm or subdivision.

13 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF CONTRIBUTED IMPOR14 TANTLY.—The term ‘contributed importantly’, as

15 used in paragraph (1)(A)(iii), means a cause which

16 is important but not necessarily more important

17 than any other cause.

18 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue

19 regulations relating to the application of the criteria

20 described in paragraph (1) in making preliminary

21 findings under subsection (b) and determinations

22 under subsection (c).

23 ‘‘(b) PRELIMINARY FINDINGS AND BASIC ASSIST24 ANCE.—
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1 ‘‘(1) FILING OF PETITIONS.—A petition for cer2 tification of eligibility to apply for adjustment assist3 ance under this subchapter may be filed by a group

4 of workers (including workers in any agricultural

5 firm or subdivision of an agricultural firm) or by

6 their certified or recognized union or other duly au7 thorized representative with the Governor of the

8 State in which such workers’ firm or subdivision

9 thereof is located.

10 ‘‘(2) FINDINGS AND ASSISTANCE.—Upon re11 ceipt of a petition under paragraph (1), the Gov12 ernor shall—

13 ‘‘(A) notify the Secretary that the Gov14 ernor has received the petition;

15 ‘‘(B) within 10 days after receiving the pe16 tition—

17 ‘‘(i) make a preliminary finding as to

18 whether the petition meets the criteria de19 scribed in subsection (a)(1) (and for pur20 poses of this clause the criteria described

21 under subparagraph (A)(iii) of such sub22 section shall be disregarded), and

23 ‘‘(ii) transmit the petition, together

24 with a statement of the finding under
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1 clause (i) and reasons therefor, to the Sec2 retary for action under subsection (c); and

3 ‘‘(C) if the preliminary finding under sub4 paragraph (B)(i) is affirmative, ensure that

5 rapid response and basic readjustment services

6 authorized under other Federal law are made

7 available to the workers.

8 ‘‘(c) REVIEW OF PETITIONS BY SECRETARY; CER9 TIFICATIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, within 30

11 days after receiving a petition under subsection (b),

12 shall determine whether the petition meets the cri13 teria described in subsection (a)(1). Upon a deter14 mination that the petition meets such criteria, the

15 Secretary, subject to paragraph (3), shall issue to

16 workers covered by the petition a certification of eli17 gibility to apply for assistance described in sub18 section (d).

19 ‘‘(2) DENIAL OF CERTIFICATION.—Upon denial

20 of certification with respect to a petition under para21 graph (1), the Secretary shall review the petition in

22 accordance with the requirements of subchapter A to

23 determine if the workers may be certified under such

24 subchapter.
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1 ‘‘(3) COVERED WORKERS.—A certification is2 sued under paragraph (1) shall not apply to any

3 worker whose last total or partial separation from

4 the firm or subdivision occurred before January 1,

5 1994.

6 ‘‘(d) COMPREHENSIVE ASSISTANCE.—Workers cov7 ered by certification issued by the Secretary under sub8 section (c) shall be provided, in the same manner and to

9 the same extent as workers covered under a certification

10 under subchapter A, the following:

11 ‘‘(1) Employment services described in section

12 235.

13 ‘‘(2) Training described in section 236, except

14 that notwithstanding the provisions of section

15 236(a)(2)(A), the total amount of payments for

16 training under this subchapter between January 1,

17 1994, and June 30, 1995, shall not exceed

18 $45,000,000.

19 ‘‘(3) Trade readjustment allowances described

20 in sections 231 through 234, except that—

21 ‘‘(A) the provisions of sections

22 231(a)(5)(C) and 231(c), authorizing the pay23 ment of trade readjustment allowances upon a

24 finding that it is not feasible or appropriate to

25 approve a training program for a worker, shall
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1 not be applicable to payment of such allowances

2 under this subchapter; and

3 ‘‘(B) notwithstanding the provisions of sec4 tion 233(b), a worker shall be enrolled in a

5 training program approved by the Secretary

6 under section 236(a) by the end of the 16th

7 week of such worker’s initial unemployment

8 compensation benefit period in order for such

9 worker to qualify for trade readjustment allow10 ances under this subchapter.

11 ‘‘(4) Job search allowances described in section

12 237.

13 ‘‘(5) Relocation allowances described in section

14 238.

15 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION.—The provisions of sub16 chapter C shall apply to the administration of the program

17 under this subchapter in the same manner and to the

18 same extent as such provisions apply to the administration

19 of the program under subchapters A and B, except that

20 the agreement between the Secretary and the States de21 scribed in section 239 shall specify the procedures that

22 will be used to carry out the certification process under

23 subsection (c) and the procedures for the provision of rel24 evant data by the Secretary to assist the States in making

25 preliminary findings under subsection (b).’’.
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1 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

2 (a) REFERENCES.—Sections 221(a), 222(a), and

3 223(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 are each amended by

4 striking out ‘‘chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘subchapter’’.

5 (b) BENEFIT INFORMATION.—Section 225(b) of the

6 Trade Act of 1974 is amended by inserting ‘‘or subchapter

7 D’’ after ‘‘subchapter A’’ in each place it appears.

8 (c) NONDUPLICATION OF ASSISTANCE.—Subchapter

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

10 amended by adding at the end the following new section:

11 ‘‘SEC. 249A. NONDUPLICATION OF ASSISTANCE.

12 ‘‘No worker may receive assistance relating to a sepa13 ration pursuant to certifications under both subchapters

14 A and D of this chapter.’’.

15 (d) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Section 284 of the Trade

16 Act of 1974 is amended by inserting ‘‘or section 250(c)’’

17 after ‘‘section 223’’.

18 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

19 Section 245 of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended

20 by—

21 (1) inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘There’’,

22 (2) inserting ‘‘, except for subchapter D’’ after

23 ‘‘chapter’’, and

24 (3) inserting the following new subsection at

25 the end:
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1 ‘‘(b) There are authorized to be appropriated to the

2 Department of Labor, for each of fiscal years 1994 and

3 1995, such sums as may be necessary to carry out sub4 chapter D of this chapter.’’.

5 SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF TRANSITIONAL PROGRAM.

6 Section 285(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 is amend7 ed—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘No’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) Except

9 as provided in paragraph (2), no’’; and

10 (2) by inserting the following new paragraph at

11 the end thereof:

12 ‘‘(2) No assistance, vouchers, allowances, or other

13 payments may be provided under subchapter D of chapter

14 2 after June 30, 1995.’’.

15 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

16 The amendments made by sections 2, 3, 4, and 5 take

17 effect on the date the North American Free Trade Agree18 ment enters into force.

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