[House Report 116-210]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


116th Congress    }                                    {        Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session      }                                    {       116-210

======================================================================

 
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 1423) TO AMEND TITLE 9 OF 
     THE UNITED STATES CODE WITH RESPECT TO ARBITRATION; WAIVING A 
 REQUIREMENT OF CLAUSE 6(A) OF RULE XIII WITH RESPECT TO CONSIDERATION 
   OF CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS REPORTED FROM THE COMMITTEE ON RULES; AND 
      PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF MOTIONS TO SUSPEND THE RULES

                                _______
                                

 September 17, 2019.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

        Mrs. Torres of California, from the Committee on Rules, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 558]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 558, by a record vote of 6 to 3, report the 
same to the House with the recommendation that the resolution 
be adopted.

                SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION

    The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 1423, the 
Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act, under a structured 
rule. The resolution provides one hour of general debate 
equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary. The 
resolution waives all points of order against consideration of 
the bill. The resolution makes in order as original text for 
the purpose of amendment an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 116-
32, modified by the amendment printed in part A of this report, 
and provides that it shall be considered as read. The 
resolution waives all points of order against that amendment in 
the nature of a substitute. The resolution makes in order only 
those further amendments printed in part B of this report. Each 
such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in this 
report, may be offered only by a Member designated in this 
report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the 
time specified in this report equally divided and controlled by 
the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to 
amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of 
the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. The 
resolution waives all points of order against the amendments 
printed in part B of this report. The resolution provides one 
motion to recommit with or without instructions. The resolution 
waives the requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII for a two-
thirds vote to consider a report from the Committee on Rules on 
the same day it is presented to the House with respect to any 
resolution reported through the legislative day of September 
20, 2019, relating to a measure making or continuing 
appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020. 
The resolution provides that it shall be in order at any time 
on the legislative day of September 19, 2019, or September 20, 
2019, for the Speaker to entertain motions that the House 
suspend the rules and that the Speaker or her designee shall 
consult with the Minority Leader or his designee on the 
designation of any matter for consideration pursuant to this 
section.

                         EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS

    The waiver of all points of order against consideration of 
the bill includes waivers of the following:
           Clause 12(b) of rule XXI, which prohibits 
        consideration of a bill unless there is a searchable 
        electronic comparative print that shows how the text of 
        the bill as proposed to be considered differs from the 
        text of the bill as reported.
           Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII, which requires 
        the inclusion of committee cost estimate in a committee 
        report.
    The waiver of all points of order against the amendment in 
the nature of a substitute includes a waiver of clause 12(a)(2) 
of rule XXI, which prohibits consideration of an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute unless there is a searchable 
electronic comparative print that shows how the amendment 
proposes to change current law.
    Although the resolution waives all points of order against 
the amendments printed in part B of this report, the Committee 
is not aware of any points of order. The waiver is prophylactic 
in nature.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    The results of each record vote on an amendment or motion 
to report, together with the names of those voting for and 
against, are printed below:

Rules Committee record vote No. 167

    Motion by Mrs. Lesko to amend the rule to H.R. 1423 to make 
in order amendment #8, offered by Rep. Sensenbrenner Jr. (WI), 
which preserves the enforceability of any covered pre-dispute 
mandatory binding arbitration agreement or pre-dispute joint-
action waiver unless the claimant's attorney in alternatively-
filed court litigation files with the court an affidavit 
describing the manner in which counsel will receive attorneys' 
fees, with such fees being limited to a reasonable level. 
Defeated: 4-6.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Majority Members                      Vote               Minority Members               Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Hastings....................................          Nay   Mr. Cole..........................          Yea
Mrs. Torres.....................................          Nay   Mr. Woodall.......................          Yea
Mr. Perlmutter..................................          Nay   Mr. Burgess.......................          Yea
Mr. Raskin......................................  ............  Mrs. Lesko........................          Yea
Ms. Scanlon.....................................  ............
Mr. Morelle.....................................          Nay
Ms. Shalala.....................................          Nay
Mr. DeSaulnier..................................  ............
Mr. McGovern, Chairman..........................          Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rules Committee record vote No. 168

    Motion by Mr. Cole to report an open rule. Defeated: 3-6.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Majority Members                      Vote               Minority Members               Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Hastings....................................          Nay   Mr. Cole..........................          Yea
Mrs. Torres.....................................          Nay   Mr. Woodall.......................          Yea
Mr. Perlmutter..................................          Nay   Mr. Burgess.......................          Yea
Mr. Raskin......................................  ............  Mrs. Lesko........................  ............
Ms. Scanlon.....................................  ............
Mr. Morelle.....................................          Nay
Ms. Shalala.....................................          Nay
Mr. DeSaulnier..................................  ............
Mr. McGovern, Chairman..........................          Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rules Committee record vote No. 169

    Motion by Mrs. Torres to report the rule. Adopted: 6-3.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Majority Members                      Vote               Minority Members               Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Hastings....................................          Yea   Mr. Cole..........................          Nay
Mrs. Torres.....................................          Yea   Mr. Woodall.......................          Nay
Mr. Perlmutter..................................          Yea   Mr. Burgess.......................          Nay
Mr. Raskin......................................  ............  Mrs. Lesko........................  ............
Ms. Scanlon.....................................  ............
Mr. Morelle.....................................          Yea
Ms. Shalala.....................................          Yea
Mr. DeSaulnier..................................  ............
Mr. McGovern, Chairman..........................          Yea
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 1423 IN PART A CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED

    1. Nadler (NY): Makes technical corrections to the bill.

     SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 1423 IN PART B MADE IN ORDER

    1. Jordan (OH), Collins, Doug (GA), Lesko (AZ): Strikes 
from the bill safe-harbor provisions that allow unions and 
union employees to keep and enforce union-negotiated pre-
dispute mandatory binding arbitration agreements with employers 
or other unions, while the bill's other provisions abrogate 
non-union employees' rights to keep and enforce their own 
agreements. (10 minutes)
    2. Fletcher (TX): Clarifies that nothing in this act shall 
be construed to prohibit the use of arbitration on a voluntary 
basis when consent is given after the dispute arises. (10 
minutes)

      PART A--TEXT OF AMENDMENT TO H.R. 1423 CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED

  Page 2, strike the matter between line 3 and line 4, and 
insert the following:

``Sec.
``401. Definitions.
``402. No validity or enforceability.''.

  Page 7, line 6, strike the comma.
  Page 8, strike the matter between line 18 and line 19, and 
insert the following:

``4. Arbitration of Employment, Consumer, Antitrust, and Civil 
              Rights Disputes.....................................401''.

         PART B--TEXT OF AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 1423 MADE IN ORDER

 1. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Jordan of Ohio or his 
                   Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 6, strike lines 16 through 25.
                              ----------                              


 2. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Fletcher of Texas or 
                 Her Designee, Debatable for 10 Minutes

  At the end, add the following:

SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

  Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, 
shall be construed to prohibit the use of arbitration on a 
voluntary basis after the dispute arises.

                                  [all]