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106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5492

To require nationals of the United States that employ individuals in a foreign

country to provide full transparency and disclosure in all their operations.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 18, 2000

Ms. MCKINNEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To require nationals of the United States that employ individuals in a foreign country to provide full transparency

and disclosure in all their operations.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency and Re5 sponsibility for United States Trade Health Act of 2000’’

6 or ‘‘TRUTH Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. TRANSPARENCY AND DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS

2 FOR UNITED STATES NATIONALS IN FOREIGN

3 COUNTRIES.

4 (a) REQUIREMENT.—A national of the United States

5 that employs 1 or more individuals in a foreign country,

6 either directly or through subsidiaries, subcontractors, af7 filiates, joint ventures, partners, or licensees (including

8 any security forces of the national), shall take the nec9 essary steps to provide transparency and disclosure in all

10 its operations, including the full public disclosure of the

11 following:

12 (1) Information relating to location, address,

13 and corporate name of all facilities abroad, including

14 such information of all subsidiaries, subcontractors,

15 affiliates, joint ventures, partners, suppliers, or li16 censees (including any security forces of the na17 tional).

18 (2) Applicable financial agreements, and invest19 ments of partners, suppliers, subsidiaries, contrac20 tors, and subcontractors of the national of the

21 United States (including any security forces of the

22 national).

23 (3) Worker rights practices and labor stand24 ards, including any complaints from employees and

25 violations of local labor laws.
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1 (4) Age, gender, and number of employees in

2 each facility.

3 (5) Wages paid to employees, including policies

4 on overtime pay.

5 (6) Working conditions based on current stand6 ards of the Occupational Safety and Health Organi7 zation for similar operations.

8 (7) Programs that educate employees about

9 dangers and safety precautions of any chemical used

10 in the workplace.

11 (8) Environmental performance, including toxic

12 release inventory of all pollutants released into the

13 local land, water, or air and disclosure of the

14 amount of natural resources that are extracted,

15 processed, or purchased abroad.

16 (9) The existence of security arrangements with

17 state police and military forces or with third party

18 military or paramilitary forces.

19 (10) The human rights policy of the national,

20 any complaints received from local communities, and

21 any human rights lawsuits filed against the national.

22 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

23 (1) NATIONAL OF THE UNITED STATES.—The

24 term ‘‘national of the United States’’ means—
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1 (A) a citizen of the United States or an

2 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence

3 in the United States; or

4 (B) a corporation, partnership, or other

5 business association that is organized under the

6 laws of the United States.

7 (2) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United

8 States’’ means the States of the United States, the

9 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto

10 Rico, and any territory or possession of the United

11 States.

12 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

13 (a) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The President shall

14 issue such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry

15 out the provisions of this Act.

16 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—The President, with respect to

17 his authorities under subsection (a), shall take the nec18 essary steps to ensure compliance (including the moni19 toring of compliance) with the provisions of this Act and

20 any rules and regulations issued to carry out this Act.

21 (c) LIABILITY.—Any person who is in violation of any

22 provision of this Act (or any rule, regulation, license, or

23 order issued to carry out this Act) shall be liable for dam24 ages in a civil cause of action initiated in an appropriate

25 United States district court to any individual aggrieved
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1 by the act or omission of the person in question, or to

2 the heirs, estate, or other legal representative of the indi3 vidual.

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