Glenn English: “Mr. Speaker, this is landmark legislation that provides solid benefits to workers and communities facing the challenges…”

“Mr. Speaker, this is landmark legislation that provides solid benefits to workers and communities facing the challenges of globalization. At a time of record trade deficits, this legislation gives the President the authority to conduct negotiations to strengthen U.S. trade policy in a dramatic way, while at the same time opening new markets to American products. It establishes a new national compact on trade which will guarantee workers who have been laid off better access to health care benefits, and it provides income stabilization for older workers by giving them the difference between the salary they can earn from a lower-paying job as opposed to their earlier job that they lost because of a trade-related displacement. This legislation incorporates broader trade adjustment assistance for those who need it in the wake of a trade-related layoff; broader by providing secondary worker benefits for upstream workers, as well as for downstream workers, affected by trade shifts to Canada and Mexico. It broadens TAA by providing benefits to workers if a firm shifts production to any country with a free trade agreement with the U.S. or any country eligible under a variety of agreements. This legislation also gives the administration the power to challenge egregious labor practices in foreign countries, such as child labor, and it promotes greater coordination between the WTO and the ILO.”