I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3639
To extend the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 
2002, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 21, 2003
Mr. TIAHRT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To extend the Temporary Extended Unemployment 
Compensation Act of 2002, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘American Workers Assistance Act’’. 
(b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 
provided, whenever in this Act an amendment is expressed 
in terms of an amendment to a section or other provision, 
the reference shall be considered to be made to a section 
or other provision of the Temporary Extended Unemploy-
ment Compensation Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–147; 
26 U.S.C. 3304 note). 
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF THE TEMPORARY EXTENDED UNEM-
PLOYMENT COMPENSATION ACT OF 2002. 
(a) SIX-MONTH EXTENSION OF PROGRAM.—Section 
208 is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 208. APPLICABILITY. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), an 
agreement entered into under this title shall apply to 
weeks of unemployment—
‘‘(1) beginning after the date on which such 
agreement is entered into; and 
‘‘(2) ending before July 1, 2004. 
‘‘(b) TRANSITION.—In the case of an individual who 
is receiving temporary extended unemployment compensa-
tion for the week which immediately precedes the first day 
of the week that includes July 1, 2004, temporary ex-
tended unemployment compensation shall continue to be 
payable to such individual for any week thereafter from 
the account from which such individual received com-
pensation for the week immediately preceding that termi-
nation date. No compensation shall be payable by reason 
of the preceding sentence for any week beginning after De-
cember 31, 2004.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall take effect as if included in the enact-
ment of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Com-
pensation Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–147; 26 U.S.C. 
3304 note). 
SEC. 3. ENTITLEMENT TO ADDITIONAL WEEKS OF TEM-
PORARY EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT COM-
PENSATION. 
(a) WEEKS OF TEUC AMOUNTS.—Paragraph (1) of 
section 203(b) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount established in 
an account under subsection (a) shall be equal to 26 
times the individual’s weekly benefit amount for the 
benefit year.’’. 
(b) 
WEEKS
OF
TEUC–X 
AMOUNTS.—Section 
203(c)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘an amount equal to the 
amount originally established in such account (as deter-
mined under subsection (b)(1))’’ and inserting ‘‘7 times 
the individual’s weekly benefit amount for the benefit 
year’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 
this section—
(A) shall take effect as if included in the 
enactment of the Temporary Extended Unem-
ployment Compensation Act of 2002 (Public 
Law 107–147; 26 U.S.C. 3304 note); but 
(B) shall apply only with respect to weeks 
of unemployment beginning on or after the date 
of enactment of this Act, subject to paragraph 
(2). 
(2) SPECIAL RULES.—In the case of an indi-
vidual for whom a temporary extended unemploy-
ment compensation account was established before 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Temporary 
Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 
(as amended by this Act) shall be applied subject to 
the following: 
(A) Any amounts deposited in the individ-
ual’s temporary extended unemployment com-
pensation account by reason of section 203(c) 
of such Act (commonly known as ‘‘TEUC–X 
amounts’’) before the date of enactment of this 
Act shall be treated as amounts deposited by 
reason of section 203(b) of such Act (commonly 
known as ‘‘TEUC amounts’’), as amended by 
subsection (a). 
(B) For purposes of determining whether 
the individual is eligible for any TEUC–X
amounts under such Act, as amended by this 
Act—
(i) any determination made under sec-
tion 203(c) of such Act before the applica-
tion of the amendments made by this Act 
shall be disregarded; and 
(ii) any such determination shall in-
stead be made by applying section 203(c) 
of such Act, as amended by this Act—
(I) as of the time that all 
amounts established in such account 
in accordance with section 203(b) of 
such Act (as amended by this Act, 
and including any amounts described 
in subparagraph (A)) are in fact ex-
hausted, except that 
(II) if such individual’s account 
was both augmented by and exhausted 
of all TEUC–X amounts before the 
date of enactment of this Act, such 
determination shall be made as if ex-
haustion (as described in section 
203(c)(1) of such Act) had not oc-
curred until such date of enactment.
SEC. 4. EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIODS. 
(a) APPLICATION OF REVISED RATE OF INSURED 
UNEMPLOYMENT.—Section 207 is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘In’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) IN GEN-
ERAL.—In’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) INSURED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE.—For pur-
poses of carrying out section 203(c) with respect to weeks 
of unemployment beginning on or after the date of enact-
ment of this subsection, the term ‘rate of insured unem-
ployment’, as used in section 203(d) of the Federal-State 
Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (26 
U.S.C. 3304 note), has the meaning given such term 
under section 203(e)(1) of such Act, except that individ-
uals exhausting their right to regular compensation during 
the most recent 3 calendar months for which data are 
available before the close of the period for which such rate 
is being determined shall be taken into account as if they 
were individuals filing claims for regular compensation for 
each week during the period for which such rate is being 
determined, and section 203(d)(1)(A) of such Act shall be 
applied by substituting ‘either (or both)’ for ‘each’.’’. 
(b) ADDITIONAL EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD TRIG-
GER.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(c) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL EXTENDED BENEFIT PERIOD 
TRIGGER.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Effective with respect 
to compensation for weeks of unemployment be-
ginning on or after the date of enactment of 
this paragraph, an agreement under this title 
shall provide that, in addition to any other ex-
tended benefit period trigger, for purposes of 
beginning or ending any extended benefit period 
under this section—
‘‘(i) there is a State ‘on’ indicator for 
a week if—
‘‘(I) the average rate of total un-
employment in such State (seasonally 
adjusted) for the period consisting of 
the most recent 3 months for which 
data for all States are published be-
fore the close of such week equals or 
exceeds 6 percent; and 
‘‘(II) the average rate of total 
unemployment in such State (season-
ally adjusted) for the 3-month period 
referred to in subclause (I) equals or 
exceeds 110 percent of such average 
rate for the corresponding 3-month