Empowering American Workers Harmed by Globalization

Washington D.C. – Today, Congressman John Conyers (D-Mi.) along with 263 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3920, the Trade and Globalization Act of 2007. This bill updates and strengthens the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which provides retraining and support for workers whose jobs have been sent overseas.

“By providing reemployment services, income support, and funding for career training and education, the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program has for decades played a vital role in empowering millions of American workers whose jobs have been sent overseas or cut due to increased imports. H.R. 3920 expands TAA access to service and public sector workers who lose their jobs due to import competition or production relocation, it increases assistance to even more manufacturing workers, simplifies enrollment deadlines, and reforms our nation’s unemployment insurance. In recent years, many Michiganders have been hit hard by trade agreements. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the North American Free Trade Agreement alone robbed 46, 817 Michigan workers of their jobs and ability to provide for their families. We have enacted a crucial Innovation Agenda with an emphasis on research and development and increasing the number of Americans going into science, technology, engineering and math—the high-wage fields of the 21st Century. Today’s landmark bipartisan legislation will continue this effort by overhauling the Trade Adjustment Assistance program and expanding opportunities for job training to ensure that American workers have the tools they need to compete and win in today’s rapidly changing global economy.”

This bill will help Americans who have lost their job due to globalization and expand opportunities for new ones by: