[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 257 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 257

 Commending the work of the United States Labor Attache Corps, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 22, 1994

  Mr. Brown of California (for himself, Mr. Berman, Mr. Sanders, Mr. 
   Miller of California, Mr. Edwards of California, Mr. Torres, Mr. 
     LaFalce, and Mr. Hinchey) submitted the following concurrent 
  resolution; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Foreign 
                    Affairs and Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Commending the work of the United States Labor Attache Corps, and for 
                            other purposes.

Whereas the integration of the global economy is accelerating;
Whereas capital and technology are now easily transferred across national 
        borders and throughout the world, while labor policies remain 
        comparatively bound by national policies and allegiances;
Whereas the importance of promoting international respect for fundamental worker 
        rights and labor standards is crucial to building broader support for 
        balanced, equitable, and sustainable growth in an expanding global 
        economy;
Whereas there exists a growing body of international law and international trade 
        agreements, some of which originated in the early 1900s, that firmly 
        establish the free exercise of fundamental worker rights, improved 
        working conditions, and rising living standards as essential 
        requirements of fair competition in a healthy, open, growing global 
        economy;
Whereas in 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt, as part of the Atlantic Charter, 
        committed the United States to ``the fullest collaboration between all 
        nations in the economic field with the object of securing, for all, 
        improved labor standards, economic advancement, and social security'';
Whereas the United States Government during World War II recognized the crucial 
        importance of the needs, interests, and aspirations of all working 
        people in general and the role that trade unions in particular would 
        play in the reconstruction of Europe and the future development of newly 
        independent nations;
Whereas the United States Labor Attache Corps was established within the United 
        States Government in 1943 and individual labor attaches ever since have 
        been posted to United States embassies in scores of foreign countries to 
        study and encourage the concurrent development of professional labor 
        ministries within foreign governments and strong, independent, 
        indigenous trade unions among working people in foreign countries;
Whereas the United States Labor Attache Corps throughout the cold war played a 
        crucial role in the struggle against Communism and in building support 
        for freedom and democratic values and institutions throughout the world;
Whereas there is an increasing need for the American people and their 
        policymakers in the post-cold war era to better understand the needs, 
        interests, and aspirations of working people abroad and the concerns 
        that they share in common with working people in the United States;
Whereas the United States Labor Attache Corps continues to reach beyond the 
        traditional focus of the United States Foreign Service upon senior 
        foreign government officials to attain a broader, in-depth understanding 
        of grassroots concerns and developments among working people in foreign 
        countries and the wider significance those concerns hold for political 
        processes and socioeconomic developments within foreign countries;
Whereas the United States Labor Attache Corps for 50 years has demonstrated 
        repeatedly the crucial importance of free, independent, and democratic 
        trade unions to the development of free, independent, and democratic 
        societies, thus advancing the profound national interest of the United 
        States in promoting the further development of democratic values, 
        processes, and institutions throughout the world;
Whereas the United States Labor Attache Corps facilitates many useful 
        international exchanges between organized and unorganized United States 
        and foreign workers and assists with a wide range of the international 
        activities of several United States executive agencies, including the 
        Department of State, the Department of Labor, and the Office of the 
        United States Trade Representative;
Whereas the national labor policies and standards of foreign countries, and the 
        extent to which the governments of foreign countries are meeting and 
        enforcing their legal obligations in this regard, are increasingly 
        important factors in fair trade, particularly in determining whether 
        consumer markets with broad-based purchasing power will emerge in those 
        countries and whether most foreign workers in those countries will ever 
        be able to buy United States exports, thus making the monitoring and 
        reporting functions of the United States Labor Attache Corps of growing 
        importance; and
Whereas President Clinton during his official visit to Europe in January 1994 
        reaffirmed the United States commitment to promoting respect for the 
        fundamental rights of workers everywhere and to pursuing policies that 
        will enable working people in the United States and abroad to share more 
        fully in the benefits of expanding international trade and investment in 
        the global economy: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That--
            (1) the Congress commends the United States Labor Attache 
        Corps for the historic role it has played throughout the past 
        50 years in nurturing freedom and assisting in the development 
        of democratic values and processes throughout the world; and
            (2) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Labor 
        should jointly--
                    (A) review the mission and organization of the 
                United States Labor Attache Corps, and determine what 
                reforms are necessary to redesign and assure continued 
                relevance of the work of the Corps in the post-cold war 
                era;
                    (B) implement such reforms to the extent possible 
                under existing law, and consistent with existing 
                resources;
                    (C) design and implement an interagency recruitment 
                and training program to assure sufficient qualified 
                personnel for the Corps, and to enhance the 
                professional development of existing personnel, 
                consistent with the continuing need for monitoring and 
                reporting on the needs, interests and aspirations of 
                working people in foreign countries;
                    (D) develop a plan to assure that a labor 
                counselor, attache or reporting officer is assigned to 
                every United States Embassy abroad by January 1, 1997, 
                and determine what additional resources are necessary 
                to achieve this goal; and
                    (E) not later than October 31, 1994, submit a 
                report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
                and the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, 
                detailing the outcome of the review conducted and the 
                steps undertaken pursuant to this section, and 
                recommending such changes in law and such additional 
                resources as may be necessary to implement needed 
                further reforms.

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