Political Quotes

“Madam President, I will vote in support of the amendment to renew and extend both the General System of Preferences and trade adjustment assistance. It is the correct approach for Congress to extend trade adjustment assistance, TAA, including an extension of the 2009 bipartisan reforms, before considering the pending trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama. TAA is not a substitute for fighting to keep jobs here in the United States. However, given the realities of a global economy we must provide a safety net so workers who lose their jobs as a result of expanded trade and globalization are able to transition to new jobs through retraining and that they have access to affordable health care coverage. The 2002 TAA law covered only manufacturing workers who lost jobs as a result of imports or if those jobs shifted to FTA partner countries. In 2009, as part of the Recovery Act, the TAA Program was expanded through bipartisan efforts to increase training funding. It also expanded eligibility to include the service sector and farmers and to cover workers whose jobs were been moved anywhere offshore, not just to a FTA partner country. Finally, it expanded access to TAA's health coverage tax credit, which helps certified workers purchase private health insurance. Those 2009 expansions expired on February 13, 2011 and are overdue for reauthorization.…”