US Senate debating on worker aid bill

WASHINGTON: The Senate aims to begin debate on Monday on legislation to retrain US workers who lose jobs due to overseas competition, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Friday, in a move that could set the stage for Congress to consider three long-delayed free trade deals.

President Barack Obama has insisted that Congress pass a bill renewing the Trade Adjustment Assistance program along with free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. The program, which faces Republican opposition, provides retraining for workers who lose their jobs due to foreign competition.

"I believe we will begin consideration of the trade adjustment assistance bill on Monday. We're working on procedures to get to that today," Reid said.

Many Republicans are sceptical of the merits of the nearly 50 year-old retraining and income assistance program and object to an earlier White House plan to include TAA in the implementing legislation for the South Korean trade pact.

They have pledged to pass TAA separately, but many Democrats are concerned that won't happen once the trade deals are approved.

Reid's plan aims to end the standoff over the trade deals by passing the retraining bill first. The package would then go to the Republican-controlled House, where it would be passed in tandem with the trade pacts.

Obama and his Democrats, along with Republicans, have pointed to the trade pacts as a way to aid weak job growth in the US economy by boosting exports.

Copyright Reuters, 2011