[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 150 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 150

To amend the Anglo-Irish Agreement Support Act of 1986 to require that 
 disbursements from the International Fund for Ireland are distributed 
in accordance with the MacBride principles of economic justice, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 1997

 Mr. Engel (for himself, Mr. King, Mr. Manton, Mr. Walsh, Mr. Neal of 
 Massachusetts, Mr. Shays, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Lazio of New 
 York, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Olver, Mrs. Kelly, and Mr. Nadler) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Anglo-Irish Agreement Support Act of 1986 to require that 
 disbursements from the International Fund for Ireland are distributed 
in accordance with the MacBride principles of economic justice, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``MacBride Principles of Economic 
Justice Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT THAT DISBURSEMENTS FROM INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR 
              IRELAND ARE MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE MACBRIDE 
              PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMIC JUSTICE.

    (a) Purposes.--Section 2(b) of the Anglo-Irish Agreement Support 
Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-415; 100 Stat. 947) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new sentences: ``United States contributions 
shall be used in a manner that effectively increases employment 
opportunities in communities with rates of unemployment significantly 
higher than the local or urban average of unemployment in Northern 
Ireland. In addition, such contributions shall be used to benefit 
individuals residing in such communities.''.
    (b) Conditions and Understandings.--Section 5(a) of such Act is 
amended--
            (1) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``The United States'' and inserting 
                the following:
            ``(1) In general.--The United States'';
                    (B) by striking ``in this Act may be used'' and 
                inserting the following: ``in this Act--
                    ``(A) may be used'';
                    (C) by striking the period and inserting ``; and''; 
                and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) may be provided to an individual or entity in 
                Northern Ireland only if such individual or entity is 
                in compliance with the principles of economic 
                justice.''; and
            (2) in the second sentence, by striking ``The 
        restrictions'' and inserting the following:
            ``(2) Additional requirements.--The restrictions''.
    (c) Prior Certifications.--Section 5(c)(2) of such Act is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``principle of 
        equality'' and all that follows and inserting ``principles of 
        economic justice; and''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting before the period at 
        the end the following: ``and will create employment 
        opportunities in regions and communities of Northern Ireland 
        suffering the highest rates of unemployment''.
    (d) Annual Reports.--Section 6 of such Act is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(4) each individual or entity receiving assistance from 
        United States contributions to the International Fund has 
        agreed in writing to comply with the principles of economic 
        justice.''.
    (e) Requirements Relating to Funds.--Section 7 of such Act is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Prohibition.--Nothing included herein shall require quotas or 
reverse discrimination or mandate their use.''.
    (f) Definitions.--Section 8 of such Act is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
            ``(3) the term `Northern Ireland' includes the counties of 
        Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Tyrone, and Fermanagh; and
            ``(4) the term `principles of economic justice' means the 
        following principles:
                    ``(A) Increasing the representation of individuals 
                from underrepresented religious groups in the 
                workforce, including managerial, supervisory, 
                administrative, clerical, and technical jobs.
                    ``(B) Providing adequate security for the 
                protection of minority employees at the workplace.
                    ``(C) Banning provocative sectarian or political 
                emblems from the workplace.
                    ``(D) Providing that all job openings be advertised 
                publicly and providing that special recruitment efforts 
                be made to attract applicants from underrepresented 
                religious groups.
                    ``(E) Providing that layoff, recall, and 
                termination procedures do not favor a particular 
                religious group.
                    ``(F) Abolishing job reservations, apprenticeship 
                restrictions, and differential employment criteria 
                which discriminate on the basis of religion.
                    ``(G) Providing for the development of training 
                programs that will prepare substantial numbers of 
                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.
                    ``(H) Establishing procedures to assess, identify, 
                and actively recruit minority employees with the 
                potential for further advancement.
                    ``(I) Providing for the appointment of a senior 
                management staff member to be responsible for the 
                employment efforts of the entity and, within a 
                reasonable period of time, the implementation of the 
                principles described in subparagraphs (A) through 
                (H).''.
    (g) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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