Washington, D.C. – As the Senate continues to consider Trade Promotion Authority legislation, U.S. Senator Susan Collins spoke from the Senate floor today and advocated for the reauthorization of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), which expired at the end of 2014. Senator Collins highlighted stories of Mainers who have directly benefitted from TAA programs.
In her statement Senator Collins referenced a recent visit to Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor where she spoke with a group of students who are former employees of the Verso mill in Bucksport, which closed last year. Because of Trade Adjustment Assistance, these former workers are now enrolled in a fine furniture making program and are learning new skills for in-demand jobs.
Senator Collins also referenced meeting a woman in Lincoln who spent many years working at a local tissue mill. After losing her job, the woman was able to learn new skills because of TAA programs and found employment as a nursing home administrator. She has since been happily employed for a decade.
? “TAA plays an essential role in helping hardworking Americans who, through no fault of their own, lose their jobs as a result of what is often unfair foreign competition. TAA Programs enable displaced workers to acquire the new skills and the new training necessary to prepare for jobs in other industries,” Senator Collins said from the Senate floor. “Our workers are the best in the world and they can compete when there is a level playing field…The least we can do is to reauthorize the Trade Adjustment Programs which are successfully helping to retrain and reemploy American workers.”
Senator Collins also outlined the success of TAA programs in Maine noting that in the 2013 fiscal year alone, more than 700 Mainers have used TAA programs and more than 70% of those participants have found employment within 3 months of completing their retraining programs. In addition, of the participants who found employment, more than 90% were still employed in their new jobs 6 months later.
Senator Collins co-authored a bipartisan extension of TAA with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and successfully advocated for its inclusion in the trade bill before the Senate.