House Democrats blast GOP over displaced worker program

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The 2009 stimulus package expanded the TAA program to include service workers who were displaced because of trade. According to the House Democrats, 185,000 more workers became eligible for the program because of changes made that year.

Around the time the expansion expired in February, Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, asserted that TAA and other programs were “in limbo” because the Obama administration was not moving quickly enough on trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia. 

Meanwhile, a push by some Democrats to reauthorize TAA in the Senate in February was blocked as well. Congress had passed a six-week extension of the program in December, after the House first voted to continue the program for an additional 18 months.

The Obama administration said recently that it wants to move forward on technical discussions on all three trade pacts, and that it would like to see the TAA program reauthorized. The White House has also called for re-upping other trade-related programs like the Andean Trade Preferences Act and the Generalized System of Preferences. 

ATPA, which also ran out in February, reduces tariffs as part of the fight against illegal drug trafficking. GSP, which expired at the end of last year, looks to spark economic growth in the developing world.

A GOP Ways and Means spokesman responded to the Democrats’ TAA statement by saying that Camp was pushing for Congress to consider the three trade deals during the first half of this year “to increase U.S. exports, create much-needed jobs, and prevent the U.S. from losing more market share to our competitors abroad.”

“In addition, Chairman Camp supports TAA, GSP, and ATPA and is working to find a bipartisan path forward in the House and Senate,” the spokesman added.