[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 276 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 276
Providing that any agreement relating to trade and investment that is
negotiated by the executive branch with other countries must comply
with certain minimum standards.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 10, 2003
Mr. Brown of Ohio (for himself, Mr. Quinn, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Peterson of
Minnesota, Ms. Solis, Mr. LaTourette, and Mr. George Miller of
California) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Providing that any agreement relating to trade and investment that is
negotiated by the executive branch with other countries must comply
with certain minimum standards.
Whereas there is general consensus among the American public and the global
community that, with respect to international trade and investment
rules--
(1) global environmental, labor, health, food security, and other
public interest standards must be strengthened to prevent a global ``race
to the bottom'';
(2) domestic environmental, labor, health, food security, and other
public interest standards and policies must not be undermined, including
those based on the use of the precautionary principle, the internationally
recognized legal principle which holds that, when there is scientific
uncertainty regarding the potential adverse effects of an action or a
product or technology, governments should act in a way that minimizes the
risk of harm to human health and the environment;
(3) provision and regulation of public services such as education,
health care, transportation, energy, water, and other utilities are basic
functions of democratic government and must not be undermined;
(4) raising standards in developing countries requires additional
assistance and respect for diversity of policies and priorities;
(5) countries must be allowed to design and implement policies to
sustain family farms and achieve food security;
(6) healthy national economies are essential to a healthy global
economy, and the right of governments to pursue policies to maintain and
create jobs must be upheld;
(7) the right of State and local and comparable regional governments of
all countries to create and enforce diverse policies must be safeguarded
from imposed downward harmonization; and
(8) rules for the global economy must be developed and implemented
democratically and with transparency and accountability; and
Whereas many international trade and investment agreements in existence and
currently being negotiated do not serve these interests, and have caused
substantial harm to the health and well-being of communities in the
United States and within countries that are trading partners of the
United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That any agreement relating to trade and investment that is negotiated
by the executive branch with other countries should comply with the
following:
(1) Regarding investor and investment policy.--No such
agreement that includes provisions relating to foreign
investment may permit foreign investors to challenge or seek
compensation because of a measure of a government at the
national, State, or local level that protects the public
interest, including, but not limited to, public health, safety,
and welfare, the environment, and worker protections, unless a
foreign investor demonstrates that the measure was enacted or
applied primarily for the purpose of discriminating against
foreign investors or investments.
(2) Regarding services.--Any such agreement, to the extent
applicable, shall comply with the following:
(A)(i) The agreement may not discipline government
measures relating to--
(I) public services, including public
services for which the government is not the
sole provider;
(II) services that require extensive
regulation;
(III) essential human services; and
(IV) services that have an essentially
social component.
(ii) The services described in subclauses (I)
through (IV) of clause (i) include, but are not limited
to, public benefit programs, health care, health
insurance, public health, child care, education and
training, the distribution of controlled substances and
products, including alcohol and tobacco and firearms,
research and development on natural and social
sciences, utilities including energy utilities, water,
waste disposal and sanitation, national security,
maritime, air, surface, and other
transportation services, postal services, energy extraction and related
services, and correctional services.
(B) The agreement shall permit countries that have
made commitments in areas covered in subparagraph (A)
to revise those commitments for the purposes of public
interest regulation without financial or other trade-
related penalties.
(C) The agreement shall ensure that rules on
subsidies and government procurement fully protect the
ability of governments to support and purchase services
in ways that promote economic development, social
justice and equity, public health, environmental
quality, and human and workers' rights.
(D) The agreement shall make no new commitments on
the temporary entry of workers because such policies
should be determined by the Congress, after
consideration by the congressional committees with
jurisdiction over immigration to avoid an array of
inconsistent policies and policies which fail to--
(i) include labor market tests that ensure
that the employment of such temporary workers
will not adversely affect other similarly
employed workers;
(ii) involve labor unions in the labor
certification process implemented under the
immigration program for temporary workers under
section 101(a)(15)(H)(i) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act, including the filing by an
employer of an application under section
212(n)(1) of that Act; and
(iii) guarantee the same workplace
protections for temporary workers that are
available to all workers.
(E) The agreement shall guarantee that all
governments that are parties to the agreement can
regulate foreign investors in services and other
service providers in order to protect public health and
safety, consumers, the environment, and workers'
rights, without requiring the governments to establish
their regulations to be the least burdensome option for
foreign service providers.
(3) Regarding policies to support american workers and
small, minority, and women-owned businesses.--Any such
agreement shall preserve the right of Federal, State, and local
governments to maintain or establish policies to support
American workers and small, minority, or women-owned
businesses, including, but not limited to, policies with
respect to government procurement, loans, and subsidies.
(4) Regarding environmental, labor, and other public
interest standards.--Any such agreement--
(A) may not supersede the rights and obligations of
parties under multilateral environmental, labor, and
human rights agreements; and
(B) shall, to the extent applicable, include
commitments, subject to binding enforcement on the same
terms as commercial provisions--
(i) to adhere to specified workers' rights
and environmental standards;
(ii) not to diminish or fail to enforce
existing domestic labor and environmental
provisions; and
(iii) to abide by the core labor standards
of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
(5) Regarding united states trade laws.--No such agreement
may--
(A) contain a provision which modifies or amends,
or requires a modification of or an amendment to, any
law of the United States that provides to United States
businesses or workers safeguards from unfair foreign
trade practices, including any law providing for--
(i) the imposition of countervailing or
antidumping duties;
(ii) protection from unfair methods of
competition or unfair acts in the importation
of articles;
(iii) relief from injury caused by import
competition;
(iv) relief from unfair trade practices; or
(v) the imposition of import restrictions
to protect the national security; or
(B) weaken the existing terms of the Agreement on
Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade 1994, or the Agreement on
Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, of the World
Trade Organization, including through the domestic
implementation of rulings of dispute settlement bodies.
(6) Regarding food safety.--No such agreement may--
(A) restrict the ability of the United States to
ensure that food products entering the United States
are rigorously inspected to establish that they meet
all food safety standards in the United States,
including inspection standards;
(B) force acceptance of different food safety
standards as ``equivalent'', or require international
harmonization of food safety standards, which undermine
the level of human health protection provided under
domestic law; or
(C) restrict the ability of governments to enact
policies to guarantee the right of consumers to know
where and how their food is produced.
(7) Regarding agriculture and food security.--No such
agreement may, with respect to food and other agricultural
commodities--
(A) contain provisions that prevent countries
from--
(i) establishing domestic and global
reserves,
(ii) managing supply,
(iii) enforcing antidumping disciplines,
(iv) ensuring fair market prices, or
(v) vigorously enforcing antitrust laws,
in order to guarantee competitive markets for family
farmers; or
(B) prevent countries from developing the necessary
sanitary and phytosanitary standards to prevent the
introduction of pathogens or other potentially invasive
species which may adversely affect agriculture, human
health, or the environment.
(8) Regarding transparency.--(A) The process of negotiating
any such agreement must be open and transparent, including
through--
(i) prompt and regular disclosure of full
negotiating texts; and
(ii) prompt and regular disclosure of negotiating
positions of the United States.
(B) In negotiating any such agreement, any request or offer
relating to investment, procurement, or trade in services must
be made public within 10 days after its submission if such
request or offer--
(i) proposes specific Federal, State, and local
laws and regulations in the United States to be
changed, eliminated, or scheduled under such an
agreement, including, but not limited to, subsidies,
tax rules, procurement rules, professional standards,
and rules on temporary entry of persons;
(ii) proposes for coverage under such an
agreement--
(I) specific essential public services,
including, but not limited to, public benefits
programs, health care, education, national
security, sanitation, water, energy, and other
utilities; or
(II) private service sectors that require
extensive regulation or have an inherently
social component, including, but not limited
to, maritime, air transport, trucking, and
other transportation services, postal services,
utilities such as water, energy, and
sanitation, corrections, education and
childcare, and health care; or
(iii) proposes a discipline or process of general
application which may interfere with the ability of the
United States or State, local, or tribal governments to
adopt, implement, or enforce laws and regulations
identified in clause (i) or provide or regulate
services identified in clause (ii).
(C) The broad array of constituencies representing the
majority of the people of the United States, including labor
unions, environmental organizations, consumer groups, family
farm groups, public health advocates, faith-based
organizations, and civil rights groups, must have at least the
same representation on trade advisory committees and access to
trade negotiators and negotiating fora as those constituencies
representing commercial interests.
(D) Any dispute resolution mechanism established in any
such agreement must be open and transparent, including through
disclosure to the public of documents and access to hearings,
and must permit participation by nonparties through the filing
of amicus briefs, as well as provide for standing for State and
local governments as intervenors.
(9) Regarding governmental authority.--No such agreement
may contain provisions that bind national, State, local, or
comparable regional governments to limiting regulatory,
taxation, spending, or procurement authority without an
opportunity for public review and comment described in
paragraph (8), and without the explicit, informed consent of
the national, State, local, or comparable regional legislative
body concerned, through such means as is decided by such
legislative body.
(10) Regarding access to medicines and seeds.--(A) No such
agreement may contain provisions that prevent countries from
taking measures to protect public health by ensuring access to
medicines.
(B) No such agreement may constrain the rights of farmers
to save, use, exchange, or sell farm-saved seeds and other
publicly available seed varieties.
(11) Regarding developing countries.--Any such agreement
must grant special and differential treatment for developing
countries with regard to the timeframe for implementation of
the agreement as well as other concerns.
<all>