[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 116 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 116

 Expressing the sense of Congress for the immediate withdrawal of the 
Department of Labor's notice of proposed rulemaking seeking to rescind 
                             the Form LM-2.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 30, 2009

   Mr. Conaway (for himself, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. McHenry, Mr. 
 Marchant, Mr. Barrett of South Carolina, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Carter, Mr. 
    Westmoreland, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Culberson, Mr. 
   Neugebauer, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Thornberry, Mr. Barton of Texas, Mr. 
Boustany, Mr. Fleming, Mr. Scalise, Mr. Moran of Kansas, Mr. Miller of 
Florida, Mr. Putnam, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Deal of Georgia, 
Mr. Gingrey of Georgia, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Flake, Mr. Bishop of Utah, and 
Mr. Kline of Minnesota) submitted the following concurrent resolution; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of Congress for the immediate withdrawal of the 
Department of Labor's notice of proposed rulemaking seeking to rescind 
                             the Form LM-2.

Whereas President Obama has pledged openness, transparency, and a new area of 
        responsibility in this Administration;
Whereas, on January 21, 2009, President Obama stated, ``Let me say it as clearly 
        as I can: Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of 
        this presidency.'';
Whereas the Department of Labor under previous Administrations has made 
        tremendous strides to improve the lives of rank-and-file union members 
        by giving them better information on the financial conditions and 
        operations of their labor unions;
Whereas since 2001, the Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management 
        Standards (OLMS) investigations have yielded a total of 972 indictments 
        with 904 convictions and returned more than $91 million in restitution 
        to rank-and-file union members;
Whereas during fiscal year 2008, OLMS secured 131 indictments and 103 
        convictions against union officials and related parties for crimes, such 
        as fraud and embezzlement;
Whereas the Form LM-2 is the annual financial disclosure report form filed with 
        the OLMS by labor organizations with annual receipts of $250,000 or 
        more;
Whereas on average, over a third of all unions fail to comply with existing 
        requirements to file annual financial disclosure reports on time;
Whereas without the Form LM-2, union organizations have no accountability and 
        rank-and-file members are left with no information about how their dues 
        are spent;
Whereas revisions to the Form LM-2 are needed to ensure that relevant 
        information on union finances is provided to rank-and-file union members 
        to ensure transparency and accountability as required by the Labor 
        Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959;
Whereas, on January 21, 2009, OLMS published in the Federal Register a final 
        rule, making several revisions to Form LM-2;
Whereas the final rule expresses the Department of Labor's commitment to 
        transparency and accountability for corporations, pension funds, and 
        labor unions;
Whereas the updates to the LM-2 form include additional disclosure of the 
        compensation amounts received by labor organization officers and 
        employees, further details about parties buying or selling union assets 
        and additional information regarding different categories of receipts;
Whereas, on January 29, 2009, eight days after the final rule was published, the 
        Department of Labor notified the public of the Obama Administration's 
        intention to rescind these same union transparency regulations;
Whereas, on April 21, 2009, the Department of Labor subsequently issued a notice 
        of proposed rulemaking seeking to rescind the changes to Form LM-2 
        regulation, depriving union members of necessary information about union 
        management;
Whereas if the Form LM-2 regulation is rescinded, union executives will not be 
        required to share information, including the value of the total 
        compensation packages paid to union executives, and details regarding 
        union expenditures and member dues; and
Whereas, on April 23, 2009, 30 United States Senators sent a letter to Secretary 
        Hilda Solis expressing their same concerns with the Department of 
        Labor's decision to rescind the new Form LM-2 regulations: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Obama Administration should immediately withdraw 
        the Department of Labor's notice of proposed rulemaking seeking 
        to rescind the Form LM-2;
            (2) the Department of Labor should not weaken the 
        disclosures provided for in the Form LM-2 regulation;
            (3) the Department of Labor should rededicate itself to the 
        task of fully enforcing the Labor-Management Reporting and 
        Disclosure Act of 1959; and
            (4) all Americans are encouraged to share their thoughts on 
        financial disclosure of labor organizations with the Department 
        of Labor through the comment process on this rule which closes 
        on May 21, 2009.
                                 <all>