Date: 2015-06-25
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

There is not one district where the Department of Labor does not document the loss of jobs through trade. I would rather be standing here today and saving a monumental amount of jobs for those individuals that may have skills that are not in the chief executive office. I want to make sure that there is help. and I also want to say lets keep negotiating to get a component that deals with workers. The Trade Adjustment Assistance Act is for workers. It is to give you that cushion. and it is to. in actuality. be able to help over 10.853 workers in my State alone. We are here today to say keep pushing for an equality in trade negotiations to be able to lift the boats of workers across America. and then we are telling those who may be the beneficiary or the victim of dumping or other tactics that we will not leave here without voting for Trade Adjustment Assistance. Again. I thank my colleague for realizing we are better together than we are divided. I thank my colleague Mr. LEVIN. who was never wavered from understanding trade. but having the empathy of the working man and woman. I stand with him. and we are going to move America forward. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the Motion to Concur to H.R. 1295Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015. Put simply. this bill will create jobs. protect workers and help grow our economy. Specifically. this bill includes three separate provisions: trade preferences for developing countries. trade adjustment assistance. and Leveling the Playing Field. As it relates to the Trade Preferences Extension Act. this provides developing countries with dutyfree access to a range of goods that are otherwise subject to tariffs to help promote commerce and boost our economy. The bill extends the important African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and trade programs for countries who most need it such as Haiti through 2025. As it relates to the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). since 1962. the Trade Adjustment Assistance has provided assistance to workers who face challenges due to global competition. Pre 2009. the only beneficiaries of TAA were manufacturing workers out of work due to American trade. utilizing our free trade agreements to engage our global partners. However. the 2009 legislation extended the program to cover a larger pool of workers such as those in the service sector. as well as manufacturing workers who lose their jobs due to trade with any country. Additionally. TAA also extended coverage to public sector workers. Currently. TAA has increased funding for worker training from $220 million per year to $575 million per year. This is a step in the right direction. I support this bill because it provides us with the opportunity to reauthorize TAA to protect workers who may lose their jobs due to trade with other countries. According to the Department of Labor and Commerce. between 2009 and 2013 over 770 18th Congressional District constituents benefitted from the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. This means thousands of families were able to put food on their tables. For instance. 46.521 workers were certified in the state of Texas between 2009 and 2013. In 2013 alone. over $46.000.000 was allocated to Texas. covering over 10.853 workers in the state of Texas and thousands of families. Finally. I support this bill because it levels the playing field. Specifically. it includes improvements to U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty laws by: providing the Department of Commerce with more discretion to determine dumping or subsidy rate to apply to an uncooperative foreign company. requiring the International Trade Commissions (ITC) to consider additional factors when determining whether a domestic industry has been materially injured. allowing Department of Commerce to use a different calculation methodology to compare domestic and foreign costs if the methodology does not produce an appropriate comparison. clarifying that the Department of Commerce when approximating costs in a nonmarket foreign economy can disregard the price of goods that are dumped or benefit from illegal subsidies. and providing that Department of Commerce with more discretion to reject voluntary respondents. which will allow the Department of Commerce to use its limited resources on other matters. Job creation. economic security. growing our economy and the protection of workers are the reasons why I support this bill. For the millions of American lives that will be enriched by this bill that is why I strongly support the Trade Preference Extension Act of I support this bill and will keep an eye on it to make sure we make good on our promise to the American people in creating jobs and our commitment to growing our economy. I urge all members to support the bill.