Jeff Bingaman: “I think the two clearly have to go together and quickly. There are a great many workers in this country who are getting…”

“I think the two clearly have to go together and quickly. There are a great many workers in this country who are getting inadequate benefits. Many are getting no benefits because we have not modernized our Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. We have a good proposal to modernize that program which we passed out of the Finance Committee, and I think it is very important that we bring that up on the Senate floor after we return and pass that as quickly as possible. I know that is intended to pass in tandem with the trade promotion authority. The administration is anxious to see that pass. I think if there are disagreements about the trade adjustment assistance proposals that we have reported out of the Finance Committee, we need to have early negotiations to resolve this.”