English Urges House Conferees to Adopt Senate Position TAA Benefits
English Urges House Conferees to Adopt Senate Position TAA Benefits
October 31, 2005
Program Helps U.S. Employers Compete in Global Market
Washington, D.C. - As part of his ongoing commitment to the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, U.S. Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.) today, along with a bipartisan group of 67 congressional colleagues, urged House conferees to accept the Senate position to appropriate $16 million for TAA for Firms in the FY 06 Science, State, Justice and Commerce (SSJC) appropriations bill.
"As we have seen first hand in Pennsylvania and throughout the country, the TAA for Firms program is a critical tool for employers in the manufacturing industry impacted by international trade," said English, co-chair of the Congressional TAA Coalition. "Adequately funded, this program has a proven track record to help create a level playing field for U.S. employers in the global marketplace."
TAA for Firms is administered by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The program provides technical assistance to help trade-impacted firms remain competitive in the global market. Since 1999, the program has helped to retain or create more than 48,000 jobs and increased sales at participating companies by at least $900 million. TAA for Firms averts the need for millions of dollars in unemployment compensation, welfare assistance and other dislocated worker program costs by saving companies and jobs imperiled by import competition.
"As many in our manufacturing sector suffer from unfair trade, offering TAA for Firms benefits to small and medium sized employers facing the threat of loosing their business is the right thing to do," said English. "I urge the House conferees to fund this critical program at the full authorization level - $16 million - by accepting the Senate position and ensuring America's manufacturing industry continues to have an opportunity to thrive."
**Letter Follows:
The Honorable Frank Wolf The Honorable Alan Mollohan
Chairman Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice
and Commerce and Commerce
Committee on Appropriations Committee on Appropriations
H-309, The Capitol 1016 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Wolf and Ranking Member Mollohan:
As you prepare to go to conference on the Fiscal Year 2006 Science, State, Justice, and Commerce appropriations bill, we respectfully urge you to adopt the Senate position to fund the highly successful Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms (TAA for Firms) program at $16 million.
As you know, the TAA for Firms program assists mostly small and medium-sized manufacturing and agricultural companies that experience loss of jobs and sales due to foreign competition. Qualifying companies receive technical assistance in areas such as marketing, financing, production, product development, distribution, management information systems and exporting.
This critical program has proven to be a successful and cost-effective program that addresses competitiveness issues before companies are forced to furlough workers, or worse, to close. Since 1999, the program has helped to retain or create more than 48,000 jobs and increased sales at participating companies by at least $900 million. TAA for Firms averts the need for millions of dollars in unemployment compensation, welfare assistance and other dislocated worker program costs by saving companies and jobs imperiled by import competition. Moreover, by retaining and creating jobs, the program generates federal and state tax revenues at a ratio of $7.98 for every federal dollar appropriated.
While we applaud your leadership in appropriating over $11 million dollars in the House bill, the list of approved but unfunded projects is growing and includes firms in virtually every state. Congress authorized annual appropriations of $16 million in the Trade Act of 2002 for this program and we believe that full funding is needed to ensure that all of those needing assistance from this program are able to access it.
We appreciate your consideration of this request, and look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure the health and wellbeing of our countries small and medium-sized manufactures.
Sincerely,
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/pa03_english/taa1005.html