I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3112
To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to establish a national
emergency grant program to respond to the terrorist attacks of Sep-
tember 11, 2001, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 12, 2001
Mr. BOEHNER (for himself, Mr. MCKEON, and Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to establish
a national emergency grant program to respond to the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 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.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Back to Work Act of
2001’’.
such information as the Secretary may require. Such
application shall contain a certification by the Gov-
ernor that the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001, contributed importantly to plant closures,
mass layoffs of workers, multiple layoffs of workers,
or other major economic dislocations in the State.
‘‘(2) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—The Governor
may designate one or more local workforce invest-
ment boards or other entities with the capability to
respond to the circumstances relating to the par-
ticular closure, layoff, or other dislocation to admin-
ister the grant under subsection (a)(4).
‘‘(3) PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual shall be
eligible to receive assistance described in sub-
paragraph (B) under a grant awarded under
subsection (a)(4) if such individual is a dis-
located worker and the Governor has certified
that the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001, contributed importantly to the disloca-
tion.
‘‘(B) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance
described in this subparagraph is—
‘‘(i) employment and training assist-
ance, including employment and training
activities described in section 134; and
‘‘(ii) temporary health care coverage
assistance described in paragraph (4).
‘‘(4) TEMPORARY HEALTH CARE COVERAGE AS-
SISTANCE.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Temporary health
care coverage assistance described in this para-
graph consists of health care coverage premium
assistance provided to qualified individuals
under this paragraph.
‘‘(B) QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS.—For pur-
poses of this paragraph, a qualified individual is
an individual who—
‘‘(i) is a dislocated worker referred to
in paragraph (3)(A) with respect to whom
the Governor has made the certification re-
garding the dislocation as required under
such paragraph, and
‘‘(ii) has enrolled in a program for
health care coverage premium assistance
established by the Governor for purposes
of this paragraph.
‘‘(C) PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE.—Health
care coverage premium assistance provided
under the program established by the Governor
for purposes of this paragraph—
‘‘(i) shall be not in excess of 75 per-
cent of the full amount of the premium for
the health care coverage,
‘‘(ii) shall be provided with respect to
not more than the first 10 months of the
period of dislocation of the qualified indi-
vidual, and
‘‘(iii) shall be credited against the pre-
mium otherwise owed with respect to the
qualified individual.
‘‘(D) LIMITATION
ON
ENTITLEMENT.—
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as
establishing any entitlement of qualified individ-
uals to premium assistance under this sub-
section.
‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this
paragraph—
‘‘(i) HEALTH CARE COVERAGE.—The
term ‘health care coverage’ means health
insurance coverage other than coverage
under—
‘‘(I) title XVIII of the Social Se-
curity Act,
‘‘(II) title XIX of the Social Se-
curity Act (other than section 1928),
‘‘(III) title XXI of the Social Se-
curity Act,
‘‘(IV) chapter 55 of title 10,
United States Code,
‘‘(V) chapter 17 of title 38,
United States Code,
‘‘(VI) chapter 89 of title 5,
United States Code (other than cov-
erage which is comparable to continu-
ation coverage under section 4980B of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986),
or
‘‘(VII) the Indian Health Care
Improvement Act.
Such term also does not include coverage
under a qualified long-term care insurance
contract and health insurance coverage in
the individual market.
‘‘(ii) PREMIUM.—The term ‘premium’
means, in connection with health care cov-
erage, the premium which would (but for
this section) be charged for the cost of cov-
erage.
‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to
be appropriated $3,000,000,000 for fiscal year
2002 for the award of grants under subsection
(a)(4) in accordance with this subsection.
‘‘(B) 
AVAILABILITY.—Amounts 
appro-
priated pursuant to the authorization of appro-
priations under subparagraph (A)—
‘‘(i) are in addition to amounts made
available under section 132(a)(2)(A) or
any other provision of law to carry out this
section; and
‘‘(ii) are authorized to remain avail-
able until 18 months after the date of the
enactment of this subsection.’’.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS TO PROMOTE SERVICES
UNDER THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT
OF 1998.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) In the wake of the terrorist attacks against
the United States on September 11, 2001, many
workers and their families are dealing with job loss
and other effects of an economic slowdown.
(2) The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 was
enacted to create the Nation’s coordinated workforce
development system, under which assistance is pro-
vided for workers who have been laid off, including
job training assistance.
(3) The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 pro-
vides services such as—
(A) one-stop career centers, which provide
integrated resources for job seekers and busi-
nesses, including job search, job placement serv-
ices and job referrals to employers;
(B) individual training accounts, which are
job training vouchers established by local areas
and given to individuals to allow them to choose
where they would like to receive their job train-
ing; and
(C) rapid response services, under which
States establish on-site offices at affected busi-
nesses to make immediate contact with employ-
ees and employers to provide assistance in the
areas of job search and training activities.
(4) The Nation’s workforce development system
is designed to help individual dislocated workers and
provide rapid response services in times of mass lay-
offs or dislocations.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the Secretary of Labor should continue efforts
to encourage Americans to take advantage of existing
services under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 in
order to assist workers during these times of unemploy-
ment.
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