[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 910 Introduced in House (IH)]
104th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 910
To require the Secretary of State to establish a set of voluntary
guidelines to promote socially responsible business practices for
United States businesses operating in foreign countries.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 13, 1995
Mr. Evans (for himself, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Brown of California, Mr.
DeFazio, Mr. Conyers, Mrs. Schroeder, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Ms.
Pelosi, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Dellums, Mr. Frost, Mr. McHale,
Mr. Serrano, Mr. Romero-Barcelo, Mrs. Collins of Illinois, Mr.
Abercrombie, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Olver, Mr. Vento, Mr.
Watt of North Carolina, Ms. Woolsey, Ms. Velazquez, and Mr. Sanders)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
International Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of State to establish a set of voluntary
guidelines to promote socially responsible business practices for
United States businesses operating in foreign countries.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) in the 1990s and beyond, capital, technology, and
services are and will be easily transferred anywhere in the
world without due regard for national boundaries and
governmental policies, especially those pertaining to
fundamental labor, environmental, and agricultural standards;
(2) multinational corporations now play a major role in the
conduct of international trade and investment among all
nations, yet multinational corporations are not accountable in
important ways to any national governments or international
organizations and are not bound by any universal international
agreements or standards of conduct;
(3) increasingly, multinational corporations are crucial
agents of commerce and investment between developed and
developing countries, wielding great influence over whatever
national standards exist in respective countries pertaining to
socially responsible investment;
(4) some multinational corporations, including some based
in the United States, have adopted voluntary codes of conduct
governing all aspects of their operations with a view toward
promoting socially responsible investment; and
(5) there already exist some promising precedents of
corporate codes of conduct for multinational corporations
which, if widely adhered to and enforced, could facilitate
socially responsible business operations worldwide and reduce
pressures to enhance competitiveness by ignoring fundamental
labor, environmental, and agricultural standards where they
exist.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF GUIDELINES.
(a) Responsibility of Secretary of State.--The Secretary of State,
in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Commerce,
the heads of appropriate Federal departments and agencies, labor
representatives, representatives of businesses with operations abroad,
and appropriate nonprofit organizations, shall establish guidelines
which United States nationals should use in conducting business
operations anywhere in the territory of any foreign country.
(b) Contents of Guidelines.--The guidelines established under
subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, be based on the principles
contained in the following:
(1) The ``Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises'' of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(2) The ``Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning
Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy'' of the
International Labor Organization.
(3) The child labor standards established by the
International Labor Organization.
(4) The standards regarding prison labor that are contained
in Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
(5) The so-called ``MacBride Principles'', ``Sullivan
Principles'', and ``Slepak Principles''.
(6) The so-called ``Minnesota Principles'' or ``Caux
Principles''.
As used in paragraph (4), the term ``General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade'' refers to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade annexed to
the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization that was
entered into on April 15, 1994.
(c) Effective Date.--The guidelines established under subsection
(a) shall be published in the Federal Register and shall take effect 6
months after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. COMPLIANCE.
(a) Submission of Statements.--Not later than 1 year after the
effective date described in section 2(c), and not later than the end of
each 1-year period thereafter, each United States national that
conducts business operations, directly or through a foreign subsidiary
or contractor, in any foreign country shall submit a statement to the
Secretary of State, in such form as the Secretary of State shall
prescribe, indicating whether or not such national, in conducting such
business operations, is complying with the guidelines.
(b) Registration.--
(1) Requirement.--The Secretary of State shall require
United States nationals subject to the requirement of
subsection (a) to file with the Secretary a registration with
respect to their business operations in foreign countries. Such
registration shall include the name of the business operations
in each foreign country, and the location and chief officers of
such business operations. No fee shall be required for
registration under this subsection.
(2) Effective date.--The registration requirement of
paragraph (1) shall take effect 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(c) Hearings.--The Secretary of State shall conduct public hearings
at least once each year on the compliance with the guidelines of United
States nationals subject to the requirement of subsection (a). The
Secretary shall provide interested persons with an opportunity to
testify at such hearings.
(d) Annual Report.--The Secretary of State shall submit a report to
the Congress describing the level of compliance with the guidelines by
United States nationals subject to the requirement of subsection (a).
This report shall be submitted not later than 18 months after the date
of the enactment of this Act and not later than the end of each 1-year
period occurring thereafter.
SEC. 4. EXPORT MARKETING SUPPORT.
(a) Support.--Departments and agencies of the United States may
intercede with a foreign government or foreign national regarding
export marketing activity in a foreign country on behalf of a United
States national subject to the requirement of section 3(a) only if that
United States national complies with the guidelines.
(b) Type of Contact.--The term ``intercede with a foreign
government or foreign national'' includes any contact by an officer or
employee of the United States with officials of any foreign government
or foreign national involving or contemplating any effort to assist in
selling a good, service, or technology in a foreign country. Such term
does not include multilateral or bilateral government-to-government
trade negotiations intended to resolve trade issues which may affect
United States nationals who do not comply with the guidelines.
(c) Effective Date.--Subsection (a) shall take effect 18 months
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act--
(1) the terms ``comply with the guidelines'', ``complying
with the guidelines'' and ``compliance with the guidelines''
mean--
(A) implementing the guidelines established under
section 2(a) by taking good faith measures with respect
to each such guideline; and
(B) reporting accurately to the Department of State
on the measures taken to implement those principles;
(2) the term ``business operations'' refers to a for-profit
activity, but does not include a small business concern as
defined under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
632); and
(3) the term ``United States national'' means--
(A) a citizen or national of the United States or a
permanent resident of the United States; and
(B) a corporation, partnership, and other business
association organized under the laws of the United
States, any State or territory thereof, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
SEC. 6. REGULATIONS.
The Secretary of State may issue such regulations as are necessary
to carry out this Act.
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