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“UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUESTS--H.R. 359” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Senate section on pages S639-S641 on Feb. 10, 2011.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUESTS--H.R. 359
Mr. CASEY. First, I thank Senator Brown and others who have helped us in this battle. Just a couple of words about trade adjustment assistance as it relates to Pennsylvania and, more importantly, Pennsylvania workers.
As many people know, the trade adjustment assistance provisions were enhanced by amendments made to the program in 2009. It was updated in two critical ways. First, it expanded coverage to more workers, including service workers and workers whose jobs have been offshored to places around the world. The change was essential because it made workers whose jobs were lost to China and India eligible for assistance which these days is an essential safeguard for those workers. The amendments also increased and improved training, health coverage, and other benefits available to trade adjustment assistance certified workers.
What does that mean for Pennsylvania? The 587 certifications issued in Pennsylvania cover an estimated 67,000 workers. To give one example, General Electric announced in 2009 that they would be cutting 1,500 jobs. We have worked with them and others to get them through this period. They recently got a solution in the form of trade adjustment assistance. As a result of their certification, the workers have been able to go to school, feed their families, and contribute to the local economy. So General Electric in Pennsylvania is hiring again with the help of trade adjustment assistance.
With that by way of background, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 359, which was received from the House and is at the desk; that a Casey substitute amendment providing an 18-month extension of trade adjustment assistance and the Andean Trade Preference Act be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, reserving the right to object, the Senator's unanimous-consent request contains components he knows are controversial and opposed by numerous Senators and for that reason that proposal cannot pass the Senate today. Specifically, the proposal would extend the TAA-related provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the failed stimulus package, which most Members of this side of the aisle strenuously opposed for very sound reasons. That stimulus spent approximately $1 trillion under the guise that it would keep unemployment rates below 8 percent. Yet nearly 2 years later, we are still at a point where unemployment rates, which had risen to the area of 10 percent, are now still at 9 percent. I am reminded this is nearly double the average annual rate of the last administration.
It would be one thing if there was clear evidence that differing TAA programs were effective in meeting these intended goals, but research suggests the efficacy of the TAA training funding is not as convincing. At the insistence of Senators Coburn and Enzi, the GAO found that in fiscal year 2009, nine Federal agencies spent approximately $18 billion to administer 47 separate employment and job training programs, including TAA. Despite large Federal spending, GAO could not conclude whether the programs have had any meaningful benefit. The GAO report states:
Little is known about the effectiveness of the employment and training programs we identified because only 5 reported demonstrating whether outcomes can be attributed to the program through an impact study.
As a result, I object.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, will the Senator from Wyoming yield for a question?
Mr. BARRASSO. Yes.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Is he aware that 155,000 new workers have been certified, that under the new TAA program since May 2009, 155,000 Americans have been assisted under TAA?
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I would be happy to, as a matter of record, submit for the record the GAO study that was reported by Senators Coburn and Enzi to outline the entire study and the reason I am objecting today.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, if the Senator would be willing to give us more specifics, it is very important to those 155,000 workers. I know a lot of them live in Pennsylvania. I don't know how many of them live in Wyoming. I could find that out. I understand his criticism of the Recovery Act, but that is a debate for another time. I understand Senator Coburn's disagreement and perhaps his too with worker training programs. I wish to see a better consolidation. This President is actually beginning to do that. President Bush, I don't believe, ever attempted that.
More precisely, strip away all the other discussions of the Recovery Act. Precisely what did we do that you object to when we expanded the TAA language in the Recovery Act? We have the Recovery Act in place. We have the TAA in place. We expanded TAA so that more workers could be covered, those workers who lost their jobs from trade agreements--not from trade agreements, lost their jobs from trade losses from trade, not just in countries we had free trade agreements with but other countries. We expanded it there. We also expanded it to service workers. Since you are speaking for Mr. Coburn and others, what precisely was the expansion in TAA that you objected to? This is not a debate on all the worker training programs. This is a debate on making them more efficient. We should have that debate. We should make it more efficient. This is not a debate on the Recovery Act, even though any fair-minded economist will say it is not a well-known failure. It actually worked. But that is another debate.
But precisely the expansion of TAA to cover service workers and to cover those workers who lost jobs to countries with whom we did not have an FTA, what is your objection to those, the precise specific expansion of TAA that Senator Casey's unanimous consent is trying to expand, to continue?
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I do look forward to having those additional discussions and debates on all the issues raised by my distinguished colleague from Ohio. That is why, after the two distinguished Senators on the floor today offer the three different proposals, I have a counterproposal that I hope they would accept, an alternative package that maintains the underlying bill H.R. 359. It extends the Andean Trade Preference Act for 18 months and extends the permanent staffing prohibition for 18 months. I will be offering that after we have finished an additional discussion by the other side.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I have a second unanimous-consent request which I will offer. I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 359, which was received from the House and is at the desk; that a Casey substitute amendment providing for a 4\1/2\ month extension of trade adjustment assistance and the Andean Trade Preference Act be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, reserving the right to object, and for the reasons I have stated during the previous request and debate, I object.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I am not surprised by this, but I am very disappointed. These are American workers who have lost their jobs. This body is responsible in part with a bunch of multinational corporations that have moved jobs out of this country, in some cases to get cheaper labor, to get trade advantages, to take advantage of tax breaks, to evade environmental laws, to evade worker safety and labor laws. They have moved out of this country with assistance from this Chamber. I don't know if it is Senator Barrasso or Coburn or who, but we are turning our backs on those workers who have lost jobs not through their own doing. I am very disappointed.
I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 359, which was received from the House and is at the desk; that a Brown substitute amendment providing an 18-month extension for the health insurance cost tax credit be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, reserving the right to object, this third proposal deals solely with the health coverage tax credit, including the increases contained in the stimulus that went from 65 percent to 80 percent. It is important to note that the health coverage tax credit is not going away. It is merely reverting to the previous level which will require recipients to increase their contribution for health coverage. The health coverage tax credit stimulus level of 80 percent, which represents one of the most generous health care premium subsidies provided by the Federal Government, is unsustainable.
As a result, I object.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I am again disappointed. This is a tax credit. The Senator from Wyoming knows this, as many colleagues do. This brings back the issue of health care generally. A bunch of us in this body who get our health insurance from taxpayers are not willing to assist people who have lost their jobs. The health care tax credit is available, just as COBRA is available. But tell me for most American workers that COBRA is not a cruel hoax. COBRA is what you get if you lose your job. You can keep your insurance. You have to pay the employer side and your own side. You are working at a job making
$40,000 a year. You pay your insurance, and your employer pays part of your insurance also. If you lose your job, you keep paying your own insurance, but you have to pay the employer's part too. What kind of workers can get laid off and have the money to pay both? Is it still available? Sure it is. Isn't that a wonderful thing? Aren't we great in this body?
The fact is, it is not available. For Senators who want to repeal health care, for Senators who want to strip any assistance, because in the end it does strip assistance that the health care tax credit gives, it is basically turning our backs and saying to these workers: Sorry about that. Sorry about NAFTA. Sorry about PNTR. I know you lost your job because of the trade agreements. Sorry about losing your health insurance. Sorry about not having any job training money. And if your house is foreclosed on, that is just too damn bad too.
I don't get this. I don't understand why people in this body can't at least help those citizens who don't dress like this every day, who don't make $170,000 a year, who don't have good health insurance provided by taxpayers. Why are we turning our backs on them?
I yield the floor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
Mr. CASEY. Madam President, let me add a few words to what Senator Brown said.
Think of what is happening here, what happened in the last couple minutes. We had three unanimous-consent requests. The first one I offered was an 18-month extension of trade adjustment assistance. What are we talking about? Trade adjustment assistance is basic to people's lives when they lose a job. Over the years it has had a lot of support from both parties. It is about training, income support, reemployment so people can get from joblessness through no fault of their own to a job. It is a very basic program. It works well. The evidence is clear. I asked for an 18-month extension. That was objected to.
Then we tried again. The next consent request I offered was a 4\1/2\ month extension. Just as we were leaving here in December, Senator Brown and I worked out an agreement with two Members of the Republican side, two Members who said: Let's extend it for a short period, a much shorter period than I wanted and a much shorter period than Senator Brown wanted, but we got an extension. That is what we are asking for here, helping people in the midst of what is still a very tough economy, almost 14 million people out of work, 13.9 according to the last number. That is what we are talking about, not some fuzzy theoretical program. This is a program we know works. It is a program that helps people get from here to there, from joblessness to a job, and provides some training and skills. Why is this objected to time after time by people on the other side? Then you add to that the health care provisions Senator Brown talked about.
Everyone in this Chamber--every elected official in this Chamber--has both a steady income and health care. All we are asking for is to extend, for a very short period of time, a program that helps people in the midst of a tough economy, and the other side objects and objects and objects.
It is hard to understand, as Senator Brown said. It makes no sense. This is not some new program we are experimenting with. This is a program that works. As I said before, in our State, 67,000 workers are positively impacted by this program. So I would like to hear more from the other side about why they keep objecting to a program we know works in every State and we know people need at this time.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Wyoming is recognized.
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, there are those folks around the country--and I go home to Wyoming repeatedly; I will be there again tomorrow evening--who are concerned about a $14 trillion debt this country is trying to live with, a deficit this year of $1.5 trillion. The United States, in this last year, spent $3.7 trillion and brought in $2.2 trillion. That is not sustainable. It cannot continue. We simply cannot continue at this level, where 41 cents of every dollar we spend in this country is borrowed, much of it from people overseas.
It should not catch anyone by surprise today that the stimulus provisions we are talking about--the provisions from that stimulus package--are set to expire. In fact, it has been well known since the day the stimulus passed.
The current financial position of the United States forces us to examine all Federal programs and make some very tough and difficult decisions.
I agree the Senate should extend the prohibition on implementation of the Department of Labor's merit staffing rule which I believe is harmful and unnecessary. For these reasons, I propose an alternative package that maintains the underlying bill, H.R. 359, regarding the elimination of the taxpayer-funded Presidential election campaigns, extends the ATPA, the Andean Trade Preference Act, for 18 months, and extends the merit staffing prohibition for 18 months.
Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 359, that all after the enacting clause be stricken, the amendment at the desk be agreed to, and the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
The Senator from Ohio.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I reserve the right to object.
I cannot walk out of here--and I think Senator Casey feels the same--
saying yes to workers governed by the Andean trade preferences--in other words, yes, we are going to help workers in Colombia and Peru and Ecuador and Bolivia--we are going to say yes to workers there--but the Senator from Wyoming wants us to walk out and have said no to workers in Harrisburg and Columbus and Toledo and Erie and Sharon and Youngstown, so, Madam President, I object.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Pennsylvania is recognized.
Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I think both sides understand these should move together as a package, both trade adjustment assistance and the Andean trade preference legislation as well. But let's try something here. We have talked about the arguments back and forth.
I would ask my friend from Wyoming if he would agree to an extension through Mother's Day, which is Sunday, May 8. I would ask him to respond to that request.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Wyoming is recognized.
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I object.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Pennsylvania.
Mr. CASEY. What you have just heard is another objection. They object to another short period of time. Let me go through it again. They object to a 4\1/2\ month extension, they object to an 18-month extension, and now they object to an extension through Mother's Day. I do not think it is asking that much to go from here to May 8.
I do not think we are helping the economy at a very difficult time when there is objection after objection. But I hope the American people understand what is at stake here in the midst of a still recovering and for some people still--for many people I should say; millions of people--a horrific economic circumstance.
Madam President, I yield the floor.
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