Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank Senator Rubio for offering his important amendment that will constrain spending on TAA by limiting TAA benefits to workers negatively impacted by free trade agreements negotiated by the U.S. Government. As I explained in offering my amendment yesterday to tighten the standard of eligibility for TAA, the expanded TAA Program will grow and grow and cost more and more taxpayer money. The expanded TAA Program proposed by the chairman is no longer about trade policy but, rather, about expanding a domestic spending program. The TAA Program proposed by our friends across the aisle extends TAA to services workers and to workers impacted by shifts of production or services to any foreign country. In an integrated and rapidly expanding global economy, conceivably all business decisions made at home and abroad could trigger TAA's generous benefits. As I predicted at the beginning of this debate, many of my friends who support TAA have argued that more people used the TAA Program when it was expanded in 2009; therefore, it must be working. I strongly reject this argument. Spending more money and certifying more workers does not mean a program is succeeding; it simply means the program is expanding and costing more and more taxpayer dollars.…”