Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 287 To amend the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose limitations on the authority of the President to adjust imports that are determined to threaten to impair national security, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 31, 2019 Mr. TOOMEY (for himself, Mr. WARNER, Mr. SASSE, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. MORAN, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. KING, Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose limitations on the authority of the President to adjust imports that are determined to threaten to impair na- tional security, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bicameral Congres- 4 sional Trade Authority Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S287.IS S287 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 287 IS SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORITY OF PRESIDENT TO AD- 1 JUST IMPORTS DETERMINED TO THREATEN 2 TO IMPAIR NATIONAL SECURITY. 3 (a) LIMITATION ON ARTICLES FOR WHICH ACTION 4 MAY BE TAKEN.—Section 232 of the Trade Expansion 5 Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862) is amended— 6 (1) by striking ‘‘an article’’ each place it ap- 7 pears and inserting ‘‘a covered article’’; 8 (2) by striking ‘‘any article’’ each place it ap- 9 pears and inserting ‘‘any covered article’’; 10 (3) by striking ‘‘the article’’ each place it ap- 11 pears and inserting ‘‘the covered article’’; 12 (4) in the first subsection (d), by striking ‘‘In 13 the administration’’ and all that follow through ‘‘na- 14 tional security.’’; and 15 (5) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 ‘‘(1) COVERED ARTICLE.—The term ‘covered 18 article’ means an article related to the development, 19 maintenance, or protection of military equipment, 20 energy resources, or critical infrastructure essential 21 to national security. 22 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL SECURITY.—The term ‘national 23 security’— 24 ‘‘(A) means the protection of the United 25 States from foreign aggression; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S287.IS S287 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 287 IS ‘‘(B) does not otherwise include the protec- 1 tion of the general welfare of the United 2 States.’’. 3 (b) RESPONSIBILITY OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE 4 FOR INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 232(b) of the Trade Ex- 5 pansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862(b)) is amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (1)— 7 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘the 8 Secretary of Commerce (hereafter in the section 9 referred to as the ‘Secretary’)’’ and inserting 10 ‘‘the Secretary of Defense’’; and 11 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 12 (i) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and 13 inserting ‘‘The Secretary of Defense’’; and 14 (ii) by striking ‘‘the Secretary of De- 15 fense’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary of 16 Commerce’’; 17 (2) in paragraph (2)— 18 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 19 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 20 by striking ‘‘the Secretary’’ and inserting 21 ‘‘the Secretary of Defense’’; and 22 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘the Sec- 23 retary of Defense’’ and inserting ‘‘the Sec- 24 retary of Commerce’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S287.IS S287 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 287 IS (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 1 as follows: 2 ‘‘(B) Upon the request of the Secretary of Defense, 3 the Secretary of Commerce shall provide to the Secretary 4 of Defense an assessment of the quantity of imports of 5 any covered article that is the subject of an investigation 6 conducted under this subsection and the circumstances 7 under which the covered article is imported.’’; 8 (3) in paragraph (3)— 9 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 10 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 11 ‘‘the Secretary shall submit’’ and all that 12 follows through ‘‘recommendations of the 13 Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary of 14 Defense and the Secretary of Commerce 15 shall jointly submit to the President a re- 16 port on the findings of the investigation 17 and, based on such findings, the rec- 18 ommendations of the Secretary of Com- 19 merce’’; and 20 (ii) in the second sentence, by striking 21 ‘‘Secretary finds’’ and all that follows 22 through ‘‘Secretary shall’’ and inserting 23 ‘‘Secretaries find that the covered article is 24 being imported into the United States in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S287.IS S287 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 287 IS such quantities or under such cir- 1 cumstances as to be a substantial cause of 2 a threat to impair the national security, 3 the Secretaries shall’’; and 4 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘by 5 the Secretary’’; and 6 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Defense’’. 8 (c) DETERMINATIONS OF PRESIDENT.—Section 9 232(c) of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 10 1862(c)) is amended— 11 (1) in paragraph (1)— 12 (A) by striking subparagraph (B); 13 (B) in the matter preceding clause (i)— 14 (i) by striking ‘‘(A) Within’’ and in- 15 serting ‘‘Within’’; and 16 (ii) by striking ‘‘in which the Sec- 17 retary’’ and inserting ‘‘that’’; 18 (C) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as 19 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; 20 (D) in subparagraph (A), as redesignated 21 by subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘of the Sec- 22 retary’’; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S287.IS S287 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 287 IS (E) by amending subparagraph (B), as re- 1 designated by subparagraph (C), to read as fol- 2 lows: 3 ‘‘(B) if the President concurs, submit to Con- 4 gress, not later than 15 days after making that de- 5 termination, a proposal regarding the nature and 6 duration of the action that, in the judgment of the 7 President, should be taken to adjust the imports of 8 the covered article and its derivatives so that such 9 imports will not be a substantial cause of a threat 10 to impair the national security.’’; and 11 (2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and in- 12 serting the following: 13 ‘‘(2) The President shall submit to Congress for re- 14 view under subsection (f) a report describing the action 15 proposed to be taken under paragraph (1) and specifying 16 the reasons for such proposal. Such report shall be in- 17 cluded in the report published under subsection (e).’’. 18 (d) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF PRESIDENTIAL 19 ADJUSTMENT OF IMPORTS.—Section 232(f) of the Trade 20 Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862(f)) is amended 21 to read as follows: 22 ‘‘(f) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF PRESIDENTIAL 23 ADJUSTMENT OF IMPORTS; JOINT RESOLUTION OF AP- 24 PROVAL.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S287.IS S287 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 287 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An action to adjust imports 1 proposed by the President in a report submitted to 2 Congress under subsection (c)(2) shall have force 3 and effect only if, during the period of 60 calendar 4 days beginning on the date on which the report is 5 submitted, a joint resolution of approval is enacted 6 pursuant to paragraph (2). 7 ‘‘(2) JOINT RESOLUTIONS OF APPROVAL.— 8 ‘‘(A) JOINT RESOLUTION OF APPROVAL 9 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘joint 10 resolution of approval’ means only a joint reso- 11 lution of either House of Congress— 12 ‘‘(i) the title of which is as follows: ‘A 13 joint resolution approving the proposal of 14 the President to take an action relating to 15 the adjustment of imports entering into 16 the United States in such quantities or 17 under such circumstances as to threaten or 18 impair the national security.’; and 19 ‘‘(ii) the sole matter after the resolv- 20 ing clause of which is the following: ‘Con- 21 gress approves of the proposal of the Presi- 22 dent relating to the adjustment of imports 23 to protect the national security as de- 24 scribed in the report submitted to Con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S287.IS S287 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 287 IS gress under section 232(c)(2) of the Trade 1 Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 2 1862(c)(2)) on lllll relating to 3 lllll.’, with the first blank space 4 being filled with the appropriate date and 5 the second blank space being filled with a 6 short description of the proposed action. 7 ‘‘(B) INTRODUCTION.—During the period 8 of 60 calendar days provided for under para- 9 graph (1), a joint resolution of approval may be 10 introduced in either House by any Member. 11 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF REP- 12 RESENTATIVES.— 13 ‘‘(i) COMMITTEE REFERRAL.—A joint 14 resolution of approval introduced in the 15 House of Representatives shall be referred 16 to the Committee on Ways and Means. 17 ‘‘(ii) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.— 18 If the Committee on Ways and Means has 19 not reported the joint resolution of ap- 20 proval within 10 calendar days after the 21 date of referral, the Committee shall be 22 discharged from further consideration of 23 the joint resolution. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S287.IS S287 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 287 IS ‘‘(iii) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDER- 1 ATION.—Beginning on the third legislative 2 day after the Committee on Ways and 3 Means reports the joint resolution of ap- 4 proval to the House or has been discharged 5 from further consideration thereof, it shall 6 be in order to move to proceed to consider 7 the joint resolution in the House. All 8 points of order against the motion are 9 waived. Such a motion shall not be in 10 order after the House has disposed of a 11 motion to proceed on the joint resolution. 12 The previous question shall be considered 13 as ordered on the motion to its adoption 14 without intervening motion. The motion 15 shall not be debatable. A motion to recon- 16 sider the vote by which the motion is dis- 17 posed of shall not be in order. 18 ‘‘(iv) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.—The 19 joint resolution of approval shall be consid- 20 ered as read. All points of order against 21 the joint resolution and against its consid- 22 eration are waived. The previous question 23 shall be considered as ordered on the joint 24 resolution to final passage without inter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S287.IS S287 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 287 IS vening motion except 2 hours of debate 1 equally divided and controlled by the spon- 2 sor of the joint resolution (or a designee) 3 and an opponent. A motion to reconsider 4 the vote on passage of the joint resolution 5 shall not be in order. 6 ‘‘(D) CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.— 7 ‘‘(i) COMMITTEE REFERRAL.—A joint 8 resolution of approval introduced in the 9 Senate shall be referred to the Committee 10 on Finance. 11 ‘‘(ii) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.— 12 If the Committee on Finance has not re- 13 ported the joint resolution of approval 14 within 10 calendar days after the date of 15 referral of the joint resolution, the Com- 16 mittee shall be discharged from further 17 consideration of the joint resolution and 18 the joint resolution shall be placed on the 19 appropriate calendar. 20 ‘‘(iii) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDER- 21 ATION.—Notwithstanding Rule XXII of 22 the Standing Rules of the Senate, it is in 23 order at any time after the Committee on 24 Finance reports a joint resolution of ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S287.IS S287 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 287 IS proval or has been discharged from consid- 1 eration of such a joint resolution to move 2 to proceed to the consideration of the joint 3 resolution. The motion to proceed is not 4 debatable. The motion is not subject to a 5 motion to postpone. A motion to reconsider 6 the vote by which the motion is agreed to 7 or disagreed to shall not be in order. 8 ‘‘(iv) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON 9 PROCEDURE.—Appeals from the decisions 10 of the Chair relating to the application of 11 the rules of the Senate to the procedure re- 12 lating to a joint resolution of approval 13 shall be decided by the Senate without de- 14 bate. 15 ‘‘(E) TREATMENT OF HOUSE JOINT RESO- 16 LUTION IN SENATE.— 17 ‘‘(i) COMMITTEE REFERRAL.—Except 18 as provided in clause (ii), a joint resolution 19 of approval that has passed the House of 20 Representatives shall, when received in the 21 Senate, be referred to the Committee on 22 Finance for consideration in accordance 23 with subparagraph (D). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S287.IS S287 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 287 IS ‘‘(ii) CONSIDERATION OF HOUSE RES- 1 OLUTION.—If a joint resolution of approval 2 was introduced in the Senate before receipt 3 of a joint resolution of approval that has 4 passed the House of Representatives— 5 ‘‘(I) the joint resolution from the 6 House of Representatives shall, when 7 received in the Senate, be placed on 8 the calendar; and 9 ‘‘(II) the procedures in the Sen- 10 ate with respect to a joint resolution 11 of approval introduced in the Senate 12 shall be the same as if no joint resolu- 13 tion of approval had been received 14 from the House of Representatives, 15 except that the vote on passage in the 16 Senate shall be on the joint resolution 17 that passed the House of Representa- 18 tives. 19 ‘‘(iii) HOUSE RESOLUTION RECEIVED 20 AFTER PASSAGE BY SENATE.—If the Sen- 21 ate passes a joint resolution of approval 22 before receiving a joint resolution of ap- 23 proval from the House of Representatives, 24 the joint resolution of the Senate shall be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S287.IS S287 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 287 IS held at the desk pending receipt of the 1 joint resolution from the House of Rep- 2 resentatives. Upon receipt of the joint reso- 3 lution of approval from the House of Rep- 4 resentatives, such joint resolution shall be 5 deemed to be read twice, considered, read 6 the third time, and passed. 7 ‘‘(iv) CONSIDERATION OF HOUSE RES- 8 OLUTION IF NO RESOLUTION INTRODUCED 9 IN SENATE.—If the Senate receives a join [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]