Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) led an effort to reauthorize the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, a critical program that helps workers affected by import competition to obtain skills and credentials take on new, well-paying jobs.

More than 2.5 million American workers have participated in TAA since Congress first established the program in 1974. TAA now assists almost 100,000 workers annually, providing tuition-free job training, relocation allowances, income support, and a health coverage tax credit. The program expired on July 1, 2022, at which point the Department of Labor stopped accepting new applications and began phasing out activities.

“For more than five months, displaced American workers have been unable to apply for the benefits upon which they have been able to depend for nearly half a century,” said Congressman Cuellar. “Congress recently made significant investments in infrastructure, semiconductors, and green technology. TAA has clear benefits for displaced American workers, but it also has an important role to play in supporting America’s changing manufacturing sector. I urge Congressional leadership to reauthorize TAA immediately and prepare American workers for future manufacturing jobs.”

"It's past time to reauthorize Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA),” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.  “American workers who lose their jobs to outsourcing deserve to have this program available to pursue new training and career options.  With passage of the CHIPS Act this year, and the coming need for thousands of high-tech workers, it makes more sense than ever to have TAA workers in the pipeline to fill those positions."

“Almost 13,000 Texans participated in TAA last year,” said San Antonio AFL-CIO President Tom Cummins. “That’s by far the most of any state in the country. I want to thank Congressman Cuellar and his colleagues for their leadership on this issue, and I join them in calling on Congress to reauthorize this important program without delay.”

 Working people know that a just transition is absolutely necessary when large economic forces take their jobs away through no fault of their own,” said Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy. “Trade Adjustment Assistance offers the critical help workers need, softening the blow for tens of thousands of workers in an era when trade treaties decimated some domestic industries. In the improved trade environment we have now, TAA can do even more. Congress must act now to make sure we don’t lose this important tool. ”

Joining Congressman Cuellar on this letter were Representatives Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Donald Norcross (NJ-1), Pat Ryan (NY-19), Mark Pocan (WI-2), Bill Pascrell (NJ-9), Chellie Pingree (ME-1), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Tom Suozzi (NY-3), Nikema Williams (GA-5), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Linda Sanchez (CA-38), Cindy Axne (IA-3), Al Green (TX-9), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), Brendan Boyle (PA-02), Susan Wild (PA-7), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), André Carson (IN-7), Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), Raul Grijalva (AZ-3), Brian Higgins (NY-26), John Larson (CT-3), Lloyd Doggett (TX-35), Dina Titus (NV-3), Dwight Evans (PA-3), Ro Khanna (CA-17), and Angie Craig (MN-2).

To view a copy of the letter, click here.

###