[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 470 Introduced in House (IH)]
104th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 470
To provide for adherence with the MacBride Principles by United States
persons doing business in Northern Ireland.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 11, 1995
Mr. Gilman (for himself and Mr. Manton) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on International Relations and, in
addition, to the Committees on Ways and Means and 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 provide for adherence with the MacBride Principles by United States
persons doing business in Northern Ireland.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Northern Ireland Fair Employment
Practices Act of 1995''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Currently, overall unemployment in Northern Ireland is
approximately 13 percent, as compared to 9 percent in the rest
of the United Kingdom.
(2) Unemployment in the minority community in Northern
Ireland is 22.8 percent, and in some portions of the minority
community unemployment has historically exceeded 70 percent.
(3) The British Government Fair Employment Commission
(F.E.C.), formerly the Fair Employment Agency (F.E.A.), has
consistently reported that a member of the minority community
is two times more likely to be unemployed than a member of the
majority community.
(4) The Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC),
Washington, District of Columbia, lists 80 publicly held United
States companies doing business in Northern Ireland, which
employ approximately 11,000 individuals.
(5) The religious minority population of Northern Ireland
is subject to discriminatory hiring practices by some United
States businesses which have resulted in a disproportionate
number of minority individuals holding menial and low-paying
jobs.
(6) The MacBride Principles are a nine point set of
guidelines for fair employment in Northern Ireland which
establishes a corporate code of conduct to promote equal access
to regional employment but does not require disinvestment,
quotas, or reverse discrimination.
SEC. 3. RESTRICTION ON IMPORTS.
An article from Northern Ireland may not be entered, or withdrawn
from warehouse for consumption, in the customs territory of the United
States unless there is presented at the time of entry to the customs
officer concerned documentation indicating that the enterprise which
manufactured or assembled such article was in compliance at the time of
manufacture with the principles described in section 5.
SEC. 4. COMPLIANCE WITH FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRINCIPLES.
(a) Compliance.--Any United States person who--
(1) has a branch or office in Northern Ireland, or
(2) controls a corporation, partnership, or other
enterprise in Northern Ireland,
in which more than twenty people are employed shall take the necessary
steps to ensure that, in operating such branch, office, corporation,
partnership, or enterprise, those principles relating to employment
practices set forth in section 5 are implemented and this Act is
complied with.
(b) Report.--Each United States person referred to in subsection
(a) shall submit to the Secretary--
(1) a detailed and fully documented annual report, signed
under oath, on showing compliance with the provisions of this
Act; and
(2) such other information as the Secretary determines is
necessary.
SEC. 5. MACBRIDE PRINCIPLES.
The principles referred to in section 4 are the MacBride
Principles, which are as follows:
(1) Increasing the representation of individuals from
underrepresented religious groups in the work force including
managerial, supervisory, administrative, clerical, and
technical jobs.--A workforce that is severely unbalanced may
indicate prima facie that full equality of opportunity is not
being afforded all segments of the community in Northern
Ireland. Each signatory to the MacBride Principles must make
every reasonable lawful effort to increase the representation
of underrepresented religious groups at all levels of its
operations in Northern Ireland.
(2) Adequate security for the protection of minority
employees both at the workplace and while travelling to and
from work.--While total security can be guaranteed nowhere
today in Northern Ireland, each signatory to the MacBride
Principles must make reasonable good faith efforts to protect
workers against intimidation and physical abuse at the
workplace. Signatories must also make reasonable good faith
efforts to ensure that applicants are not deterred from seeking
employment because of fear for their personal safety at the
workplace or while travelling to and from work.
(3) The banning of provocative religious or political
emblems from the workplace.--Each signatory to the MacBride
Principles must make reasonable good faith efforts to prevent
the display of provocative sectarian emblems at their plants in
Northern Ireland.
(4) All job openings should be advertised publicly and
special recruitment efforts made to attract applicants from
underrepresented religious groups.--Signatories to the MacBride
Principles must exert special efforts to attract employment
applications from the sectarian community that is substantially
underrepresented in the workforce. This should not be construed
to imply a diminution of opportunity for other applicants.
(5) Layoff, recall, and termination procedures should not
in practice favor a particular religious group.--Each signatory
to the MacBride Principles must make reasonable good faith
efforts to ensure that layoff, recall, and termination
procedures do not penalize a particular religious group
disproportionately. Layoff and termination practices that
involve seniority solely can result in discrimination against a
particular religious group if the bulk of employees with
greatest seniority are disproportionately from another
religious group.
(6) The abolition of job reservations, apprenticeship
restrictions, and differential employment criteria which
discriminate on the basis of religion.--Signatories to the
MacBride Principles must make reasonable good faith efforts to
abolish all differential employment criteria whose effect is
discrimination on the basis of religion. For example, job
reservations, and apprenticeship regulations that favor
relatives of current or former employees can, in practice,
promote religious discrimination if the company's workforce has
historically been disproportionately drawn from another
religious group.
(7) The development of training programs that will prepare
substantial numbers of current minority employees for skilled
jobs, including the expansion of existing programs and the
creation of new programs to train, upgrade, and improve the
skills of minority employees.--This does not imply that such
programs should not be open to all members of the workforce
equally.
(8) The establishment of procedures to assess, identify,
and actively recruit minority employees with potential for
further advancement.--This section does not imply that such
procedures should not apply to all employees equally.
(9) The appointment of a senior management staff member to
oversee the company's affirmative action efforts and the
setting up of timetables to carry out affirmative action
principles.--In addition to the above, each signatory to the
MacBride Principles is required to report annually to an
independent monitoring agency on its progress in the
implementation of these Principles.
SEC. 6. WAIVER OF PROVISIONS.
(a) Waiver of Provisions.--In any case in which the President
determines that compliance by a United States person with the
provisions of this Act would harm the national security of the United
States, the President may waive those provisions with respect to that
United States person. The President shall publish in the Federal
Register each waiver granted under this section and shall submit to the
Congress a justification for granting each such waiver. Any such waiver
shall become effective at the end of ninety days after the date on
which the justification is submitted to the Congress unless the
Congress, within that ninety-day period, adopts a joint resolution
disapproving the waiver. In the computation of such ninety-day period,
there shall be excluded the days on which either House of Congress is
not in session because of an adjournment of more than three days to a
day certain or because of an adjournment of the Congress sine die.
(b) Consideration of Resolutions.--
(1) Any resolution described in subsection (a) shall be
considered in the Senate in accordance with the provisions of
section 601(b) of the International Security Assistance and
Arms Export Control Act of 1976.
(2) For the purpose of expediting the consideration and
adoption of a resolution under subsection (a) in the House of
Representatives, a motion to proceed to the consideration of
such resolution after it has been reported by the appropriate
committee shall be treated as highly privileged in the House of
Representatives.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS AND PRESUMPTIONS.
(a) Definitions.--For the purpose of this Act--
(1) the term ``United States person'' means any United
States resident or national and any domestic concern (including
any permanent domestic establishment of any foreign concern);
(2) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Commerce;
and
(3) the term ``Northern Ireland'' includes the counties of
Antrim, Armagh, Londonderry, Down, Tyrone, and Fermanagh.
(b) Presumption.--A United States person shall be presumed to
control a corporation, partnership, or other enterprise in Northern
Ireland if--
(1) the United States person beneficially owns or controls
(whether directly or indirectly) more than 50 percent of the
outstanding voting securities of the corporation, partnership,
or enterprise;
(2) the United States person beneficially owns or controls
(whether directly or indirectly) 25 percent or more of the
voting securities of the corporation, partnership, or
enterprise, if no other person owns or controls (whether
directly or indirectly) an equal or larger percentage;
(3) the corporation, partnership, or enterprise is operated
by the United States person pursuant to the provisions of an
exclusive management contract;
(4) a majority of the members of the board of directors of
the corporation, partnership, or enterprise are also members of
the comparable governing body of the United States person;
(5) the United States person has authority to appoint the
majority of the members of the board of directors of the
corporation, partnership, or enterprise; or
(6) the United States person has authority to appoint the
chief operating officer of the corporation, partnership, or
enterprise.
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act.
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