Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolution
Floor Speech
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Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, one week from today, on July 1st, Trade Adjustment Assistance will expire.
This is our only tool to support workers who lose their jobs because of countries like China that cheat the rules. And in one week, it goes away. This is an economic problem and a China problem.
All of us, of both parties, recognize the threat that countries like China pose to our economy. It's why just two weeks ago, we came together and passed the Endless Frontiers Act on a broad, bipartisan basis: To secure and expand our domestic supply chains, to support R&D to ensure the next generation of manufacturing is developed in America and made in America, and to finally--finally--ensure that Americans' tax dollars are used to buy American products that support American jobs.
This should not be controversial.
We are working to undo decades of bad trade policy with China, and decades of neglect for our domestic supply chains. That's going to take years. We know corporations won't stop outsourcing jobs on July 1st. We know China isn't going to stop cheating and undermining American industries on July 1st. And we know our manufacturers will still have to compete against governments that prop up their competitors on July 1st.
We owe it to workers, who we know are going to have their lives upended through no fault of their own to unfair trade, to do everything we can to ease the transition. Today, I'm not asking for a complete renewal of the program. I'm not even asking for an extra year of the program.
I, on behalf of my Democratic colleagues and American workers, asked for unanimous consent from this body for a straight 3-month extension of TAA, so that we can keep having the conversations about how best to structure the program going forward. It appears that my friends on the other side would prefer a 1-month extension. I would like more, but in the spirit of compromise--this beats the alternative--letting TAA expire and leaving workers in the lurch.
And while that dialogue continues, workers get the help they need.
We know workers are losing jobs to China all over the country. Sadly, that happens every week, every day.
By extending this program, service workers and people whose jobs get shipped overseas to countries without trade agreements will get help.
Training funds, will continue being provided, at a time when we need to train people for the new jobs that we want industry to create. We all want the US economy to be more resilient in the face of economic shocks. We all want to see fewer communities devastated by unfair trade. We all want American workers' hard work to pay off TAA is part of that.
We came together to extend it in 2011. We came together to extend it in 2015. We must do the same today.
If you love this country you fight for the people who make it work. That's what we do with Trade Adjustment Assistance. S. 2255
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2021''. SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
(a) Extension of Termination Provisions.--Section 285 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2271 note) is amended by striking ``June 30, 2021'' each place it appears and inserting ``July 23, 2021''.
(b) Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance.--Section 246(b)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2318(b)(1)) is amended by striking ``June 30, 2021'' and inserting ``July 23, 2021''.
(c) Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers.--Section 245(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2317(a)) is amended by striking ``June 30, 2021'' and inserting ``July 23, 2021''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section take effect on the earlier of--
(1) the date of the enactment of this Act; or
(2) June 30, 2021.
(e) Application of Prior Law.--Section 406 of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2015 (title IV of Public Law 114-27; 129 Stat. 379; 19 U.S.C. 2271 note prec.) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ``July 1, 2021'' and inserting ``July 24, 2021''; and
(B) in paragraphs (5) and (6), by striking ``the 1-year period beginning on July 1, 2021'' and inserting ``the period beginning on July 24, 2021, and ending on June 30, 2022''; and
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ``July 1, 2021'' each place it appears and inserting ``July 24, 2021''. ______
By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Booker, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Warren, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Markey):
S. 2272. A bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to increase funding for lead reduction projects, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
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