Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2007

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007 -- (House of Representatives - May 17, 2006)

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Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, I would like to commend my chairman, MEL WATT, for the work that he has done in this area, and particularly my colleague BOBBY SCOTT from Virginia for all of his work.

Mr. Chairman, I want to focus on one particular area, and that is the provision in the CBC budget that doubles training funds for trade adjustment assistance programs to $518 million.

This program was established in 1962, and it assists workers who have lost their jobs due to international trade by providing unemployment and job training. We keep hearing from the Republican side that unemployment is down and dollars are up, but in my congressional district, there are areas where unemployment is significant, and specifically due to trade.

Mr. Chairman, I ask all of you to join us in supporting this CBC budget that provides for job training and unemployment assistance for those workers who would love to pay taxes if they only had a job.

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Mr. Chairman, the Congressional Black Caucus budget is fiscally responsible and protects the services that millions of hard working Americans depend on.

The CBC alternative balances the budget in five years, and adopts the pay-as-you-go budget rules.

At the same time, our budget increases spending for health care by $20 billion, education and job training by $80 billion, and veteran benefits by $20 billion.

That is fiscal responsibility--balancing our checkbook without cutting the important services that millions of Americans depend on.

One provision in the CBC budget that I strongly support is the doubling of training funds for the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program to $518,000,000.

The program, which was established in 1962, assists workers who have lost their jobs due to international trade by providing unemployment benefits and job training.

However, many states exhaust their TAA training funds well before the end of the fiscal year.

In its past three budgets, the Administration has only requested an increase for TAA training of only $100,000.

That is unacceptable and insufficient when measured against the number of jobs being lost due to international trade.

I urge my colleagues to support this TAA provision and the CBC budget--fiscally responsible while at the same time fair to millions of hard working Americans.

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