Mike Levin: “Today we are considering an extension of a critical component of our trade agenda, an extension of the Trade Adjustment…”

“Today we are considering an extension of a critical component of our trade agenda, an extension of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program. All three programs that make up TAA, Adjustment Assistance for Workers, Adjustment Assistance for Firms, and Adjustment Assistance for Farmers, expire on September 30. Trade Adjustment Assistance helps to make sure that workers impacted by increased trade get the help and retraining they need and deserve so that they can go out and get new, good-paying, family-wage jobs. It's not a perfect program. In fact, it needs work. The committee will be taking up legislation reforming and reauthorizing Trade Adjustment Assistance shortly. Critically, this program will improve the effectiveness of the program by, among other things, offering TAA access to service workers, increasing funding to satisfy unmet demand, getting rid of complicated and burdensome rules that make it hard for people to take advantage of Trade Adjustment Assistance. We will hammer out the details of TAA overhaul; and while we do that, we need to pass this short-term, 3-month extension.”