To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to extend the trade adjustment assistance program to the services sector, and for other purposes.

June 23, 2005

Mr. BAUCUS (for himself, Mr. COLEMAN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to extend the trade adjustment assistance program to the services sector, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Trade Adjustment Assistance Equity for Service Workers Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE TO SERVICES SECTOR.

(a) Adjustment Assistance for Workers- Section 221(a)(1)(A) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2271(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking `firm)' and inserting `firm, and workers in a service sector firm or subdivision of a service sector firm or public agency)'.

(b) Group Eligibility Requirements- Section 222 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2272) is amended--

(1) in subsection (a)--

(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking `agricultural firm)' and inserting `agricultural firm, and workers in a service sector firm or subdivision of a service sector firm or public agency)';

(B) in paragraph (1), by inserting `or public agency' after `of the firm'; and

(C) in paragraph (2)--

(i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking `like or directly competitive with articles produced' and inserting `or services like or directly competitive with articles produced or services provided';

(ii) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the following:

`(B)(i) there has been a shift, by such workers' firm, subdivision, or public agency to a foreign country, of production of articles, or in provision of services, like or directly competitive with articles which are produced, or services which are provided, by such firm, subdivision, or public agency; or

`(ii) such workers' firm, subdivision, or public agency has obtained or is likely to obtain such services from a foreign country.';

(2) in subsection (b)--

(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking `agricultural firm)' and inserting `agricultural firm, and workers in a service sector firm or subdivision of a service sector firm or public agency)';

(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting `or service' after `related to the article'; and

(C) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting `or services' after `component parts';

(3) in subsection (c)--

(A) in paragraph (3)--

(i) by inserting `or services' after `value-added production processes';

(ii) by striking `or finishing' and inserting `, finishing, or testing';

(iii) by inserting `or services' after `for articles'; and

(iv) by inserting `(or subdivision)' after `such other firm'; and

(B) in paragraph (4)--

(i) by striking `for articles' and inserting `, or services, used in the production of articles or in the provision of services'; and

(ii) by inserting `(or subdivision)' after `such other firm'; and

(4) by adding at the end the following new subsection:

`(d) Basis for Secretary's Determinations-

`(1) INCREASED IMPORTS- For purposes of subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii), the Secretary may determine that increased imports of like or directly competitive articles or services exist if the workers' firm or subdivision or customers of the workers' firm or subdivision accounting for not less than 20 percent of the sales of the workers' firm or subdivision certify to the Secretary that they are obtaining such articles or services from a foreign country.

`(2) OBTAINING SERVICES ABROAD- For purposes of subsection (a)(2)(B)(ii), the Secretary may determine that the workers' firm, subdivision, or public agency has obtained or is likely to obtain like or directly competitive services from a foreign country based on a certification thereof from the workers' firm, subdivision, or public agency.

`(3) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY- The Secretary may obtain the certifications under paragraphs (1) and (2) through questionnaires or in such other manner as the Secretary determines is appropriate.'.

(c) Training- Section 236(a)(2)(A) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2296(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking `$220,000,000' and inserting `$440,000,000'.

(d) Definitions- Section 247 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2319) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1)--

(A) by inserting `or public agency' after `of a firm'; and

(B) by inserting `or public agency' after `or subdivision';

(2) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting `or public agency' after `the firm';

(3) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through (17) as paragraphs (9) through (18), respectively; and

(4) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:

`(7) The term `public agency' means a department or agency of a State or local government or of the Federal Government.

`(8) The term `service sector firm' means an entity engaged in the business of providing services.'.

(e) Technical Amendment- Section 245(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2317(a)) is amended by striking `, other than subchapter D'.

SEC. 3. TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FIRMS AND INDUSTRIES.

(a) Firms-

(1) ASSISTANCE- Section 251 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2341) is amended--

(A) in subsection (a), by inserting `or service sector firm' after `(including any agricultural firm';

(B) in subsection (c)(1)--

(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting `or service sector firm' after `any agricultural firm';

(ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by inserting `or service' after `of an article'; and

(iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking `articles like or directly competitive with articles which are produced' and inserting `articles or services like or directly competitive with articles or services which are produced or provided'; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

`(e) Basis for Secretary Determination-

`(1) INCREASED IMPORTS- For purposes of subsection (c)(1)(C), the Secretary may determine that increases of imports of like or directly competitive articles or services exist if customers accounting for not less than 20 percent of the sales of the workers' firm certify to the Secretary that they are obtaining such articles or services from a foreign country.

`(2) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY- The Secretary may obtain the certifications under paragraph (1) through questionnaires or in such other manner as the Secretary determines is appropriate. The Secretary may exercise the authority under section 249 in carrying out this subsection.'.

(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- Section 256(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2346(b)) is amended by striking `$16,000,000' and inserting `$32,000,000'.

(3) DEFINITION- Section 261 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2351) is amended--

(A) by striking `For purposes of' and inserting `(a) Firm- For purposes of'; and

(B) by adding at the end the following:

`(b) Service Sector Firm- For purposes of this chapter, the term `service sector firm' means a firm engaged in the business of providing services.'.

(b) Industries- Section 265(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2355(a)) is amended by inserting `or service' after `new product'.

(c) Technical Amendments-

(1) IN GENERAL- Section 249 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2321) is amended by striking `subpena' and inserting `subpoena' each place it appears in the heading and the text.

(2) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by striking `Subpena' in the item relating to section 249 and inserting `Subpoena'.

SEC. 4. MONITORING AND REPORTING.

Section 282 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2393) is amended--

(1) in the first sentence--

(A) by striking `The Secretary' and inserting `(a) Monitoring Programs- The Secretary';

(B) by inserting `and services' after `imports of articles';

(C) by inserting `and domestic provision of services' after `domestic production';

(D) by inserting `or providing services' after `producing articles'; and

(E) by inserting `, or provision of services,' after `changes in production'; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

`(b) Collection of Data and Reports on Services Sector-

`(1) SECRETARY OF LABOR- Not later than 3 months after the date of the enactment of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Equity for Service Workers Act of 2005, the Secretary of Labor shall implement a system to collect data on adversely affected service workers that includes the number of workers by State, industry, and cause of dislocation of each worker.

`(2) SECRETARY OF COMMERCE- Not later than 6 months after such date of enactment, the Secretary of Commerce shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, conduct a study and report to the Congress on ways to improve the timeliness and coverage of data on trade in services, including methods to identify increased imports due to the relocation of United States firms to foreign countries, and increased imports due to United States firms obtaining services from firms in foreign countries.'.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

(a) In General- Except as provided in subsection (b), the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that is 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(b) Special Rule for Certain Service Workers- A group of workers in a service sector firm, or subdivision of a service sector firm, or public agency (as defined in section 247 (7) and (8) of the Trade Act of 1974, as added by section 2(d) of this Act) who--

(1) would have been certified eligible to apply for adjustment assistance under chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 if the amendments made by this Act had been in effect on November 4, 2002, and

(2) file a petition pursuant to section 221 of such Act within 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be eligible for certification under section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974 if the workers' last total or partial separation from the firm or subdivision of the firm or public agency occurred on or after November 4, 2002 and before the date that is 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

END