[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1855 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1855

    To extend the coverage of certain Federal labor laws to foreign 
              documented vessels, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            February 11 (legislative day, January 25), 1994

  Mr. Wofford introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To extend the coverage of certain Federal labor laws to foreign 
              documented vessels, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. COVERAGE OF FOREIGN VESSELS UNDER FEDERAL LABOR LAWS.

    (a) National Labor Relations.--Section 2(2) of the National Labor 
Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(2)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(A)'' after the paragraph designation; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end thereof the following new 
        subparagraph:
            ``(B)(i) The term `employer' also includes--
                    ``(I) a foreign documented vessel, if such vessel 
                is regularly engaged in transporting passengers from 
                and to a port or place in the United States, with or 
                without an intervening stop or stops at a foreign port 
                or ports, and such term also includes a foreign 
                documented vessel that is regularly engaged in 
                transporting passengers only from or to a port or place 
                in the United States if the Board determines that such 
                transport is so arranged for the purposes of avoiding 
                being considered an employer for purposes of this Act;
                    ``(II) a foreign documented nonliner vessel 
                regularly engaged in transporting cargo in the foreign 
                trade of the United States; and
                    ``(III) a foreign documented vessel on which occurs 
                the production or processing of goods or services for 
                sale or distribution in the United States, and a 
                foreign documented vessel that engages in transporting 
                cargo between vessels in international waters and a 
                vessel, port, or place in the United States regardless 
                of the ownership or control of the vessel.
            ``(ii) For purposes of this section and except as provided 
        in clause (i)(III), such term shall not include any foreign 
        documented vessel that can demonstrate--
                    ``(I) that at least 50 percent of its crew is 
                composed of citizens of the country of registry; and
                    ``(II) that legal title to such vessel is held by 
                citizens of the country of registry, and beneficial 
                ownership and control, direct or indirect, are held by 
                citizens of the country of registry.
            ``(iii) As used in this subparagraph, the term `citizen' 
        shall include--
                    ``(I) natural persons who are citizens of the 
                country of registry;
                    ``(II) a corporation, if its equity is at least 51 
                percent owned and controlled by citizens of the country 
                of registry; and
                    ``(III) a partnership, if all the general partners 
                are citizens of the country of registry and at least 51 
                percent of the partnership is owned and controlled by 
                citizens of the country of registry.''.
    (b) Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.--
            (1) Definition.--Section 3(d) of the Fair Labor Standards 
        Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(d)) is amended--
                    (A) by inserting ``(1)'' after the subsection 
                designation; and
                    (B) by adding at the end thereof the following new 
                paragraph:
    ``(2)(A) The term `employer' also includes--
            ``(i) a foreign documented vessel, if such vessel is 
        regularly engaged in transporting passengers from and to a port 
        or place in the United States, with or without an intervening 
        stop or stops at a foreign port or ports, and such term also 
        includes a foreign documented vessel that is regularly engaged 
        in transporting passengers only from or to a port or place in 
        the United States if the Secretary determines that such 
        transport is so arranged for the purposes of avoiding being 
        considered an employer for purposes of this Act;
            ``(ii) a foreign documented nonliner vessel regularly 
        engaged in transporting cargo in the foreign trade of the 
        United States; and
            ``(iii) a foreign documented vessel on which occurs the 
        production or processing of goods or services for sale or 
        distribution in the United States, and a foreign documented 
        vessel that engages in transporting cargo between vessels in 
        international waters and a vessel, port, or place in the United 
        States regardless of the ownership or control of the vessel.
    ``(B) For purposes of this section and except as provided in 
subparagraph (A)(iii), such term shall not include any foreign 
documented vessel that can demonstrate--
            ``(i) that at least 50 percent of its crew is composed of 
        citizens of the country of registry; and
            ``(ii) that legal title to such vessel is held by citizens 
        of the country of registry, and beneficial ownership and 
        control, direct or indirect, are held by citizens of the 
        country of registry.
    ``(C) As used in this paragraph, the term `citizen' shall include--
            ``(i) natural persons who are citizens of the country of 
        registry;
            ``(ii) a corporation, if its equity is at least 51 percent 
        owned and controlled by citizens of the country of registry; 
        and
            ``(iii) a partnership, if all the general partners are 
        citizens of the country of registry and at least 51 percent of 
        the partnership is owned and controlled by citizens of the 
        country of registry.''.
            (2) Minimum wage.--Section 6(a)(4) of the Fair Labor 
        Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(4)) is amended by 
        inserting ``or a foreign documented vessel described in section 
        3(d)(2)(A)'' after ``an American Vessel''.
            (3) Exemption.--Section 13(a)(12) of the Fair Labor 
        Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(12)) is amended by 
        inserting ``or a foreign documented vessel described in section 
        3(d)(2)(A)'' after ``an American Vessel''.

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