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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4271 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4271

 To provide for the establishment in the General Agreement on Tariffs 
   and Trade of a working party on trade and worker rights and labor 
                   standards, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 20, 1994

 Mr. Visclosky (for himself, Mr. Brown of California, Mr. Abercrombie, 
  Mr. Andrews of Maine, Mr. Applegate, Mrs. Bentley, Mr. Berman, Mr. 
   Bonior, Mr. Borski, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Miss 
 Collins of Michigan, Mr. Conyers, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Engel, Mr. Evans, 
 Mr. Farr of California, Mr. Fingerhut, Mr. Frost, Mr. Hochbrueckner, 
Mr. Holden, Mr. Jacobs, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Ms. Kaptur, 
 Mr. Kleczka, Mr. Klink, Mr. LaFalce, Mr. LaRocco, Mr. Lipinski, Mrs. 
     Lowey, Mr. Martinez, Mr. McCloskey, Mr. McHugh, Mr. Miller of 
California, Mrs. Mink, Mr. Mollohan, Mr. Murtha, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Olver, 
Mr. Owens, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Regula, Mr. Reynolds, Mr. Sabo, 
  Mr. Sanders, Mr. Sawyer, Ms. Shepherd, Mr. Stokes, Mr. Torres, Ms. 
   Velazquez, Mr. Vento, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Yates) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To provide for the establishment in the General Agreement on Tariffs 
   and Trade of a working party on trade and worker rights and labor 
                   standards, 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 ``Worker Rights and Labor Standards 
Trade Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) International trade, when fair and open, can serve as 
        an important factor in the economic well-being of nations; but 
        the maintenance of a fair and open world trading system 
        requires the enhancement and active enforcement of national and 
        international trade agreements and laws by all trading nations.
            (2) As the productivity of our trading partners that are 
        developing countries has risen, the ability of many of these 
        countries to export goods cheaply to the United States has been 
        based, in part, upon the violation of internationally 
        recognized worker rights.
            (3) The exploitation of workers is an unacceptable means 
        for any country, whether developed or developing, or industry 
        to gain competitive advantage in international trade.
            (4) Exports to the United States from countries which fail 
        to respect internationally recognized worker rights undermine 
        living and working standards in both those countries as well as 
        the United States, because international corporations can play 
        workers in one country off against those in another with 
        respect to wages and work standards in order to minimize costs.
            (5) At various times in the 20th century, international 
        agreements and United States policy have explicitly stated that 
        fundamental worker rights and fair labor standards are 
        necessary to the workings of a fair international trading 
        system.
            (6) The United States and over 160 other member nations of 
        the International Labor Organization are legally obligated to 
        ``endeavor to secure and maintain fair and humane conditions of 
        labor for men, women, and children, both in their own countries 
        and in all countries to which their commercial and industrial 
        nations extend''.
            (7) For decades, United States trade negotiators, whether 
        serving in Democratic or Republican administrations, have 
        initiated discussions to no avail with ranking officials of the 
        GATT and the International Labor Organization concerning the 
        demonstrable relationship of fundamental worker rights and fair 
        labor standards to prior rounds of multilateral trade 
        negotiations.
            (8) The right of all workers to certain fundamental rights 
        is affirmed in the following international agreements to which 
        the United States is a party:
                    (A) The United Nations Charter, which states in 
                Article 55 that ``the United Nations shall promote 
                higher standards of living, full employment, and 
                conditions of economic and social progress and 
                development,''.
                    (B) The United Nations Universal Declaration of 
                Human Rights, which states in Article 23 that 
                ``Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of 
                employment, to just and favorable conditions of work 
                and to protection against unemployment . . . `and that' 
                Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable 
                remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an 
                existence worthy of human dignity.''.
                    (C) The United Nations International Covenant on 
                Civil and Political Rights, which states in Article 8 
                that ``No one shall be required to perform forced or 
                compulsory labor.''.
                    (D) The Revised Charter of the Organization of 
                American States, which states in Article 31 that 
                ``Member States agree to dedicate every effort to 
                achieve the following basic goals . . . Fair wages, 
                employment opportunities, and acceptable working 
                conditions for all.''.
                    (E) The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 
                which--
                            (i) provides in the preamble that relations 
                        among countries ``in the field of trade and 
                        economic endeavor should be conducted with a 
                        view to raising standards of living and 
                        ensuring full employment,'';
                            (ii) allows, under Article XX, any country 
                        to take action against products of prison 
                        labor; and
                            (iii) incorporates by reference Article 7 
                        of Chapter II of the Havana Charter which 
                        states that ``the members recognize that 
                        measures relating to employment must take fully 
                        into account the rights of workers under 
                        intergovernmental declarations, conventions, 
                        and agreements. The members recognize that all 
                        countries have a common interest in the 
                        achievement and maintenance of fair labor 
                        standards related to productivity, and thus in 
                        the improvement of wages and working conditions 
                        as productivity may permit. The members 
                        recognize that unfair labor conditions, 
                        particularly in production for export, create 
                        difficulties in international trade, and 
                        accordingly, each member shall take whatever 
                        action may be appropriate and feasible to 
                        eliminate such conditions within its 
                        territory.''.
            (9) The adherence of the United States to the principles 
        referred to in paragraph (5) is reflected in--
                    (A) the provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 that 
                prohibit the importation of goods produced by forced 
                labor,
                    (B) the provisions of title V of the Trade Act of 
                1974 (relating to the Generalized System of 
                Preferences) that--
                            (i) define internationally recognized 
                        worker rights as the right to association, the 
                        right to organize and bargain collectively, the 
                        prohibition of the use of any form of forced or 
                        compulsory labor, a minimum age for the 
                        employment of children, and acceptable 
                        conditions of work with respect to minimum 
                        wages, hours of work, and occupational safety 
                        and health; and
                            (ii) prohibit the extension of trade 
                        preferences to any developing country that 
                        ``has not or is not taking steps to afford 
                        internationally recognized worker rights to its 
                        workers''; and
                    (C) the provisions of section 231A of the Foreign 
                Assistance Act of 1961, which allow the Overseas 
                Private Investment Corporation to insure, reinsure, 
                guarantee, or finance a project only if the country in 
                which the project is to be undertaken ``is taking steps 
                to adopt and implement laws that extend internationally 
                recognized worker rights . . . to workers in that 
                country.''.
            (10) Little, if any, progress has been made ``to adopt, as 
        a principle of the GATT, that the denial of worker rights 
        should not be a means for a country or its industries to gain 
        competitive advantage in international trade'', pursuant to 
        section 1101(b)(14) of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness 
        Act of 1988.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING PARTY ON WORKER RIGHTS.

    (a) Action by the President.--The President shall seek the 
establishment in the GATT of a working party to examine the 
relationship of fundamental internationally recognized worker rights to 
the articles, objectives, and related instruments of the GATT, 
particularly the preamble, Article XXIX, and Article XX.
    (b) Objectives of Working Group.--The objectives of the working 
group described in subsection (a) would be to--
            (1) explore ways in which to link the conduct of 
        international trade to respect for fundamental internationally 
        recognized worker rights;
            (2) examine the economic impact of competition that is 
        based upon trade distortions that are attributable to the 
        systematic denial of fundamental internationally recognized 
        worker rights;
            (3) consider and develop information on the incidence and 
        effects of systematic, trade-distorting worker rights practices 
        and ways to address such practices; and
            (4) establish that it is unjustifiable for any country or 
        any of its industries to seek to gain competitive advantage in 
        international trade through the systematic denial of 
        fundamental internationally recognized worker rights.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDING COMMITTEE ON WORKER RIGHTS WITHIN THE 
              WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION.

    The President shall seek the establishment in the World Trade 
Organization, when such organization becomes effective, a standing 
committee to carry out the functions of the working group described in 
section 3.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) The term ``fundamental internationally recognized 
        worker rights'' means ``internationally recognized worker 
        rights'' as defined in section 502(a)(4) of the Trade Act of 
        1974.
            (2) GATT.--The term ``GATT'' means the General Agreement on 
        Tariffs and Trade.

                                 <all>
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