The House of Representatives voted Wednesday for the largest expansion ever of a program to help workers hurt by imports or overseas competition, setting up a fight with President Bush, who has threatened to veto the measure. The Democratic-controlled House voted 264 to 157 to expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance program to include service workers like X-ray technicians and call-center employees and to expand a tax break to help the unemployed pay for health insurance. The bill would also provide new tax breaks to encourage companies to relocate to communities where factories have closed. ?Free trade can only thrive if we help those hurt by the negative consequences of globalization,? said Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House. ?The status quo is not working.?
See "Veto Likely for a Bill Favoring Workers", Bloomberg News, The New York Times, October 31, 2007