USTR Inspector General Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7980 To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to establish an Inspector General of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 7, 2020 Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. KAPTUR, and Mr. SERRANO) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined 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 Inspector General Act of 1978 to establish an Inspector General of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, 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 ‘‘USTR Inspector Gen- 4 eral Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:21 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7980.IH H7980 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7980 IH (1) Section 8 of article I of the Constitution of 1 the United States provides that Congress has the 2 sole power to regulate international trade. 3 (2) Congress established the Office of the 4 United States Trade Representative in the Executive 5 Office of the President under section 141 of the 6 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2171) with the pri- 7 mary responsibility for developing, and coordinating 8 implementation of, the international trade policy of 9 the United States. 10 (3) The United States Trade Representative 11 has primary responsibility for administering a vari- 12 ety of trade statutes and for monitoring the imple- 13 mentation and enforcement of trade agreements. 14 (4) Section 141(c)(1)(F) of the Trade Act of 15 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2171(c)(1)(F)) states that the 16 United States Trade Representative shall ‘‘report di- 17 rectly to the President and the Congress regarding, 18 and be responsible to the President and the Con- 19 gress for the administration of, trade agreements 20 programs’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:21 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7980.IH H7980 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7980 IH SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE 1 OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REP- 2 RESENTATIVE. 3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 12 of the Inspector Gen- 4 eral Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘;or the Direc- 6 tor of the National Reconnaissance Office;’’ and in- 7 serting ‘‘, the Director of the National Reconnais- 8 sance Office, or the United States Trade Represent- 9 ative,’’; and 10 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or the Na- 11 tional Reconnaissance Office’’ and inserting ‘‘the 12 National Reconnaissance Office, or the Office of the 13 United States Trade Representative’’. 14 (b) APPOINTMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Not 15 later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of 16 this Act, the President shall appoint an individual to serve 17 as the Inspector General of the Office for the United 18 States Trade Representative in accordance with section 19 3(a) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 20 SEC. 4. AUDIT OF PROCESS FOR SEEKING EXCLUSIONS 21 FROM CERTAIN DUTIES. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 23 date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General 24 of the Office of the United States Trade Representative 25 shall commence conducting an audit of the process estab- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:21 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7980.IH H7980 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7980 IH lished by the United States Trade Representative for ex- 1 cluding articles from duties imposed under section 301 of 2 the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411) with respect to 3 articles imported from the People’s Republic of China. 4 (b) ELEMENTS.—In conducting the audit required by 5 subsection (a), the Inspector General shall assess wheth- 6 er— 7 (1) all information used to make determinations 8 with respect to requests for or objections to such ex- 9 clusions was included in the official record; and 10 (2) officials of the Office of the United States 11 Trade Representative— 12 (A) uniformly applied the criteria used to 13 review such requests or objections to all persons 14 that submitted such requests or objections, as 15 the case may be; 16 (B) changed the criteria used to review 17 such requests or objections while such requests 18 or objections, as the case may be, were pending; 19 (C) met with any interested parties to dis- 20 cuss such requests or objections while such re- 21 quests or objections, as the case may be, were 22 pending; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:21 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7980.IH H7980 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7980 IH (D) at any time permitted the resubmis- 1 sion of a previously submitted request or objec- 2 tion after the submission deadline; and 3 (E) uniformly allowed persons that sub- 4 mitted such requests or objections to submit ad- 5 ditional information at any time while such re- 6 quests or objections, as the case may be, were 7 under review. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:21 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7980.IH H7980 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS