Labor, Human, and Civil Rights Trade Policy Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2996 To amend the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 with respect to the protection of human rights and labor standards, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 23, 2019 Mr. LEWIS (for himself, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RUSH, Ms. OMAR, Mr. COHEN, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. SUOZZI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 with respect to the protection of human rights and labor standards, 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 ‘‘Labor, Human, and 4 Civil Rights Trade Policy Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2996 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) The United States has played a leading role 3 in developing global human rights standards since 4 the inception of the country. 5 (2) The first 10 amendments to the Constitu- 6 tion are among the guiding principles that helped 7 develop the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 8 (3) First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt led the 9 United States delegation and the United Nations in 10 drafting the Universal Declaration of Human 11 Rights. 12 (4) December 10, 2018, marked the 70th anni- 13 versary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration 14 of Human Rights. 15 (5) The General Assembly of the United Na- 16 tions adopted the International Covenant on Eco- 17 nomic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Inter- 18 national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 19 1966. 20 (6) The United Kingdom implemented the Slave 21 Trade Act of 1807, setting a global precedent to- 22 wards the eventual abolishment of slavery in the 23 Americas that the United States eventually followed. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2996 IH (7) The world celebrated the 212th anniversary 1 of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade on 2 May 1, 2019. 3 (8) On January 1, 2019, the United States rec- 4 ognized the 156th anniversary of the Emancipation 5 Proclamation. 6 (9) The United States has continuously enacted 7 legislation and ratified amendments to the Constitu- 8 tion to improve the protections of the rights of all 9 persons in the United States, including— 10 (A) the 13th Amendment to the Constitu- 11 tion, ratified in 1865; 12 (B) the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (14 Stat. 13 27); 14 (C) the 14th Amendment to the Constitu- 15 tion, ratified in 1868; 16 (D) the 19th Amendment to the Constitu- 17 tion, ratified in 1920; 18 (E) the Social Security Act of 1935 (42 19 U.S.C. 301 et seq.); 20 (F) the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 21 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); 22 (G) the Housing Act of 1949 (63 Stat. 23 413); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2996 IH (H) the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (Public 1 Law 88–38; 77 Stat. 56); 2 (I) the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public 3 Law 88–352; 78 Stat. 241); 4 (J) the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Public 5 Law 89–110; 79 Stat. 437); 6 (K) the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.); 8 (L) the Age Discrimination in Employment 9 Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.); 10 (M) the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist- 11 ance Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 11301 et seq.); 12 (N) the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 13 1988 (Public Law 100–259; 102 Stat. 28); 14 (O) the Americans with Disabilities Act of 15 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.); 16 (P) the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (Public 17 Law 102–166; 105 Stat. 1071); 18 (Q) the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, 19 Coretta Scott King, Ce´sar E. Cha´vez, Barbara 20 C. Jordan, William C. Vela´squez, and Dr. Hec- 21 tor P. Garcia Voting Rights Act Reauthoriza- 22 tion and Amendments Act of 2006 (Public Law 23 109–246; 120 Stat. 577); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2996 IH (R) the Matthew Shepard and James 1 Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 2 (Public Law 111–84; 123 Stat. 2835). 3 (10) Labor, human, and civil rights standards 4 and protections require constant review and atten- 5 tion. 6 (11) The Millennium Development Goals of the 7 United Nations set forth a 15-year plan to combat 8 poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental 9 degradation, and discrimination. 10 (12) The 43rd General Assembly of the Organi- 11 zation of American States adopted the Inter-Amer- 12 ican Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimina- 13 tion and Related Forms of Intolerance on June 5, 14 2013. 15 (13) The Global Slavery Index estimates that as 16 many as 45,800,000 people around the world were 17 in some form of modern slavery in 2016. 18 (14) The United States supported the adoption 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 20 the United Nations General Assembly and has rati- 21 fied significant international human rights treaties, 22 including the International Convention on the Elimi- 23 nation of Racism and Discrimination (November 20, 24 1994), the International Convention on the Preven- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2996 IH tion and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Feb- 1 ruary 23, 1989), the International Convention 2 against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or De- 3 grading Treatment or Punishment (November 20, 4 1994), and the International Covenant on Civil and 5 Political Rights (September 8, 1992). 6 (15) The United States has ratified two of the 7 eight fundamental conventions outlined by the Inter- 8 national Labor Organization, including the Conven- 9 tion (ILO 105) concerning the abolition of forced 10 labor (September 25, 1992) and the Convention 11 (ILO 182) concerning the prohibition and immediate 12 action for the elimination of the worst forms of child 13 labor (December 2, 2000). 14 (16) The United States has also ratified the 15 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights 16 of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitu- 17 tion and Child Pornography (January 23, 2003) and 18 the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the 19 Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children 20 in Armed Conflicts (January 23, 2003). 21 (17) The United States signed the Convention 22 on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on July 23 30, 2009. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2996 IH (18) The United States is expected to be a re- 1 gional and global leader in the international civil and 2 human rights movement, including by fighting dis- 3 crimination, xenophobia, human, labor, and civil 4 rights abuses as a part of both domestic and foreign 5 policy. 6 (19) Throughout United States history, Con- 7 gress has addressed, debated, and advanced the pro- 8 tection of human rights through legislation relating 9 to taxes and international trade. 10 (20) On May 10, 2007, President George W. 11 Bush negotiated an agreement with the leadership of 12 the 110th Congress, which intended to strengthen 13 labor, environmental, intellectual property, access to 14 medicines, health, investment, government procure- 15 ment, and port security standards in United States 16 trade agreements. 17 (21) This bipartisan deal, referred to as the 18 ‘‘May 10th Agreement’’, made significant progress 19 in recognizing that human, labor, and civil rights 20 must be an integral component of United States 21 trade policy. 22 (22) United States trade policy cannot be static 23 in a changing global economy, and it is critical that 24 United States trade policy proactively advance do- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2996 IH mestic and global efforts to improve human, civil, 1 and labor rights and conditions. 2 (23) The trade negotiating objectives of the 3 United States should also address current, emerging, 4 and future attempts to undermine or fail to enhance 5 the living, labor, civil, and human rights standards 6 of the United States or its trading partners. 7 SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING TRADE, LABOR, AND HUMAN 8 RIGHTS. 9 The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and 10 Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4201 et seq.) is 11 amended as follows: 12 (1) In section 103(b)(3)— 13 (A) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking 14 ‘‘strictly’’; and 15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (B)(ii), 17 a provision may be necessary or appropriate, 18 with respect to a trade agreement, if the provi- 19 sion addresses issues relating to a party to the 20 agreement, such as human rights. 21 ‘‘(D) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), 22 the provisions of section 151 of the Trade Act 23 of 1974 shall only apply to an implementing bill 24 submitted for an agreement that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2996 IH ‘‘(i) achieves the principle negotiating 1 objectives with respect to labor described 2 in section 102(b)(10); 3 ‘‘(ii) explicitly provides that, with re- 4 spect to any country that is a party to the 5 agreement— 6 ‘‘(I) any union in such country 7 shall not be required to affiliate with 8 any confederation and shall be free to 9 form and affiliate with any vertical or 10 horizontal workers organization, in- 11 cluding any confederation, sector- 12 wide, or industry-wide union of its 13 own choosing; 14 ‘‘(II) workers in such country 15 shall have the right to freely form and 16 join an autonomous and independent 17 union of their choosing; 18 ‘‘(III) any union in such country 19 engaged in collective bargaining with 20 an employer shall be required to dem- 21 onstrate majority support of that em- 22 ployer’s workers, on behalf of whom it 23 is negotiating, prior to registration of 24 any collective bargaining agreement; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2996 IH ‘‘(IV) for purposes of the labor 1 obligations in the agreement relating 2 to procedural guarantees for labor law 3 enforcement, any administrative, 4 quasi-judicial, judicial, or labor tribu- 5 nals or boards composed of members 6 with direct or indirect interest in mat- 7 ters before them shall not be consid- 8 ered impartial and independent; 9 ‘‘(V) for purposes of evaluating 10 any measures taken by a country to 11 substantially reform its laws or insti- 12 tutions to comply with the core labor 13 standards of the trade agreement, an 14 independent panel of experts must 15 regularly examine and publicly report 16 on the implementation of such re- 17 forms, provide recommendations, and 18 identify concerns relating to the com- 19 pliance of such country with its labor 20 obligations under the agreement, 21 based on input from the parties to the 22 trade agreement, interested stake- 23 holders, and any other relevant infor- 24 mation and reporting; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2996 IH ‘‘(VI) if such independent panel 1 determines that such country is not in 2 compliance with its obligations, the 3 determination shall be treated as an 4 initial report of an arbitration panel 5 under the trade agreement, and the 6 matter shall be addressed in accord- 7 ance with the normal procedures laid 8 out for such cases, including through 9 an agreement to eliminate the noncon- 10 formity in the first instance or, as a 11 last resort, to suspend benefits under 12 the trade agreement; and 13 ‘‘(iii) implements a trade agreement 14 between parties that consistently dem- 15 onstrates respect for internationally recog- 16 nized human rights, as indicated through 17 assessments such as the annual Country 18 Reports on Human Rights Practices or the 19 Trafficking in Persons Report, over a pe- 20 riod of at least ten years.’’. 21 (2) In section 111— 22 (A) by amending paragraph (7)(E) to read 23 as follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2996 IH ‘‘(E) the elimination of discrimination, in- 1 cluding discrimination on the basis of race, 2 color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, 3 religion, political opinion, national extraction, 4 social origin, age, disability, HIV/AIDS status, 5 engagement in organizing activities, or union 6 membership, with respect to employment and 7 occupation.’’; 8 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (18) 9 through (23) as paragraphs (19) through (24), 10 respectively; and 11 (C) by inserting after paragraph (17) the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(18) INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED HUMAN 14 RIGHTS.—The term ‘internationally recognized 15 human rights’ means the rights stated in the fol- 16 lowing: 17 ‘‘(A) The Universal Declaration of Human 18 Rights. 19 ‘‘(B) The International Covenant on Eco- 20 nomic, Social and Cultural Rights. 21 ‘‘(C) The Convention on the Elimination of 22 All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 23 and its Optional Protocol. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2996 IH ‘‘(D) The Convention on the Rights of the 1 Child. 2 ‘‘(E) The Convention on the Rights of Per- 3 sons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol. 4 ‘‘(F) The Convention for the Protection of 5 All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. 6 ‘‘(G) The First Optional Prot [Text truncated for display. 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