I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5218

To promote the fulfillment of basic unmet needs and to protect certain

basic economic rights of the people of the United States, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 6, 1994

Mr. DELLUMS (for himself, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. EVANS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr.

OWENS, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. CONYERS, MS. NORTON, Ms.

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. NADLER, and Mr. BONIOR) introduced the

following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Education

and Labor, Foreign Affairs, Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, Government Operations, Armed Services, and Ways and Means

A BILL

To promote the fulfillment of basic unmet needs and to

protect certain basic economic rights of the people of

the United States, and for other purposes.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘A

5 Living Wage, Jobs For All Act’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is

7 as follows:
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Basic economic rights and responsibilities under the 1944 ‘‘Economic

Bill of Rights’’.

Sec. 3. Program to implement basic economic rights and responsibilities.

Sec. 4. Grants and incentives to States and local governments to encourage

public works and public services planning.

Sec. 5. International economic policy to increase worldwide living standards.

Sec. 6. Establishment of conversion planning fund.

Sec. 7. Implementation.

Sec. 8. Authorization of appropriations.

1 SEC. 2. BASIC ECONOMIC RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

2 UNDER THE 1944 ‘‘ECONOMIC BILL OF

3 RIGHTS’’.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Congress affirms the respon5 sibility of the Federal government to implement and, in

6 accordance with current and foreseeable trends, update

7 and extend, in accordance with subsection (b), the state8 ment by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the State of

9 the Union message of January 11, 1944: ‘‘In our days

10 these economic truths have become self-evident. We have

11 accepted so to speak a second Bill of Rights under which

12 a new basis of security and prosperity can be established

13 for all—regardless of station, rank or creed. Among these

14 are the following:

15 ‘‘(1) The right to a useful and remunerative job

16 in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the

17 Nation.

18 ‘‘(2) The right to earn enough to provide for an

19 adequate living.
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1 ‘‘(3) The right of every farmer to raise and sell

2 farm products at a return which will provide a de3 cent family living.

4 ‘‘(4) The right of every business, large or small,

5 to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair

6 competition and domination by monopolies at home

7 or abroad.

8 ‘‘(5) The right of every family to a decent

9 home.

10 ‘‘(6) The right to adequate medical care and

11 the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.

12 ‘‘(7) The right to adequate protection from the

13 economic fears of old age, sickness, accident and un14 employment.

15 ‘‘(8) The right to a good education.’’.

16 (b) UPDATE AND EXTENSION OF BILL OF RIGHTS.—

17 In updating and extending the 1944 ‘‘Economic Bill of

18 Rights’’ described in subsection (a), the following require19 ments should be met:

20 (1) Every adult American able and willing to

21 earn a living through paid work has the right to a

22 free choice among opportunities for useful and pro23 ductive paid employment (part- or full-time) at de24 cent real wages or for self- employment.
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1 (2) Every adult American unable to work for

2 pay or find employment has the right to an adequate

3 standard of living that rises with increases in the

4 wealth and productivity of the society.

5 (c) RESPONSIBILITY OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—

6 Each Federal agency and commission, including the Board

7 of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, has the re8 sponsibility to plan and carry out its policies, programs,

9 projects, and budgets in a manner designed to help estab10 lish and maintain conditions under which all adult Ameri11 cans may freely exercise the economic rights described in

12 subsection (a). Each such Federal agency or commission

13 shall not directly or indirectly promote recession, stagna14 tion, or unemployment as a means of reducing wages and

15 salaries or inflation.

16 SEC. 3. PROGRAM TO IMPLEMENT BASIC ECONOMIC

17 RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish

20 a program to implement the basic economic rights

21 and responsibilities described in section 2 in the

22 United States for the purpose of improving the qual23 ity of life in the United States by the year 2000 and

24 the early years of the 21st Century.
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1 (2) POLICIES AND PROJECTS UNDER THE PRO2 GRAM.—Such program shall include policies and

3 projects designed to—

4 (A) implement the economic and social ob5 ligations under the Employment Act of 1946,

6 the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act

7 of 1978, the Charter of the United Nations, the

8 Charter of the Organization of American

9 States, the Universal Declaration of Human

10 Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil

11 and Political Rights;

12 (B) provide quick action to enlarge employ13 ment opportunities through reductions in real

14 interest rates, and implement programs of pri15 vate and public works and services to use the

16 abilities of the jobless in repairing and improv17 ing the Nation’s infrastructure of private indus18 try, public facilities, and human services, with

19 special emphasis on the availability of good and

20 affordable education, health promotion services,

21 housing, child care, artistic cultural activities,

22 and basic as well as applied research and devel23 opment;

24 (C) provide quick action to begin staged

25 reductions in the length of the work year
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1 through longer paid vacations, the elimination

2 of compulsory overtime, curbing excessive over3 time through an increase in the premium to tri4 ple time on all hours in excess of 40 in any

5 week, exempting administrative, executive, and

6 professional employees from the overtime pre7 mium only if their salary levels are three times

8 the annual value of the minimum wage, reduc9 ing the average work week in manufacturing

10 and mining to no more than 35 hours without

11 any corresponding loss in weekly wages, and

12 voluntary work-sharing arrangements;

13 (D) vastly increase the opportunities for

14 freely-chosen part-time employment, with social

15 security and health benefits, to meet the needs

16 of older people, students, the disabled, and peo17 ple with housekeeping and child care respon18 sibilities;

19 (E) take such other steps as may be need20 ed to cope with the threats of increased jobless21 ness caused by technologies that replace people

22 with robots and other machines, including vast23 ly improved opportunities for up-to-date and ef24 fective education, training, or retraining;
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1 (F) prevent or control inflationary ten2 dencies through a full battery of standby poli3 cies, including public controls over price fixing

4 through monopolistic practices or restraint of

5 trade, the promotion of competition and produc6 tivity, and wage-price policies arrived at

7 through tripartite business-labor-government

8 cooperation;

9 (G) provide improved Federal incentives

10 for investment, expansion, and increased em11 ployment by small, medium, and large business

12 enterprises, and by such other private sector en13 tities as labor unions, professional associations,

14 and nonprofit, voluntary and cooperative orga15 nizations, including neighborhood, tenant, home

16 owner and self-help associations and organiza17 tions of family farmers, women, minorities, and

18 the unemployed;

19 (H) promote conditions for increased self20 empowerment by individuals victimized by dis21 crimination in hiring, training, wages, salaries,

22 fringe benefits or promotion on the basis of

23 prejudice concerning race, color, sex, language,

24 religion, political or other opinions, national ori25 gin, property, birth or other status, station in
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1 life, political or sexual orientation, or personal

2 disability;

3 (I) through these and other activities work

4 toward reducing, not later than three years

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, offi6 cially measured unemployment to the interim

7 goal of 4 percent, as set forth in the Full Em8 ployment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978;

9 (J) achieve American leadership in goods

10 production through such specific innovations

11 as—

12 (i) agricultural systems geared to de13 livering the kinds and quantities of food

14 needed to abolish hunger and malnutrition

15 in the world and the kinds and quantities

16 of fiber needed for adequate clothing in all

17 climates;

18 (ii) more efficient transportation

19 (such as railroads, buses, trolley cars, and

20 subways) and passenger cars that are

21 safer, pollute less, and are more efficient

22 than cars currently produced;

23 (iii) exportable housing modules that

24 include communication, weatherization,
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1 lighting, plumbing, heating, cooking, and

2 washing equipment;

3 (iv) the mining of urban regions for

4 the enormous amount of valuable materials

5 that can be recovered through the inte6 grated recycling of liquid, gaseous, and

7 solid wastes; and

8 (v) improved software needed for

9 supercomputers for the purpose of estab10 lishing and maintaining an information

11 highway available to all educational institu12 tions and individuals at all levels of in13 come, wealth, and power; and

14 (K) develop American leadership in the

15 provision of services through such specific inno16 vations as—

17 (i) educational systems based on add18 ing an ‘‘r’’ for reasoning and an ‘‘r’’ for

19 responsibility to the traditional ‘‘reading,

20 ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic’’;

21 (ii) health services oriented not only

22 toward better disease treatment but also

23 the promotion of well-being as the best

24 form of preventing disease and disability,

25 extending the life span, and providing the
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1 elderly not only with medical and other

2 health services but with opportunities to

3 make productive use of their experience,

4 knowledge, wisdom, and skills;

5 (iii) child care systems dedicated to

6 excellence through staffs composed of three

7 generations of both men and women; and

8 (iv) training and financing facilities to

9 help small and medium-sized enterprises

10 develop efficient systems for the repair or

11 updating of broken or obsolete equipment

12 now lying idle throughout the Nation.

13 (b) INCLUSION OF PROGRAM IN ANNUAL SUBMIS14 SION OF BUDGET.—Section 1105(a) of title 31, United

15 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow16 ing new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(30) beginning with fiscal year 1995, a de18 scription of the program to implement basic eco19 nomic rights and responsibilities in the United

20 States as provided for in section 3(a) of the A Liv21 ing Wage, Jobs For All Act.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. GRANTS AND INCENTIVES TO STATES AND LOCAL

2 GOVERNMENTS TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC

3 WORKS AND PUBLIC SERVICES PLANNING.

4 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—In order to implement the

5 basic economic rights and responsibilities described in sec6 tion 2, the Secretary of Labor may provide grants and

7 other incentives to States and local governments to en8 courage short- and long-term public works and public serv9 ices planning in urban, suburban, and rural areas.

10 (b) APPLICATION.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide a

12 grant or other incentive under subsection (a) to a

13 State or local government only if such State or local

14 government submits an application at such time, in

15 such form, and containing such information as the

16 Secretary may reasonably require.

17 (2) CONTENTS.—Such application shall include

18 a strategic and tactical plan that—

19 (A) focuses on projects—

20 (i) to improve the quality of life for all

21 people in such State or jurisdiction of local

22 government, as the case may be;

23 (ii) to renovate, and to the extent de24 sirable, enlarge, the decaying infrastruc25 ture of public facilities and services re-
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1 quired for productive, efficient, and profit2 able enterprise;

3 (iii) to utilize wasted labor power and

4 improve the productivity of those suffering

5 from joblessness and poverty; and

6 (iv) that are, for the most part, con7 ducted under contracts awarded competi8 tively to smaller as well as larger busi9 nesses or such other private sector entities

10 as non-profit enterprises, cooperatives,

11 labor unions, neighborhood corporations, or

12 voluntary associations,

13 (B) includes a balanced combination of

14 capital intensive projects, which promote more

15 off-site employment in basic industries, and

16 labor intensive projects, which provide for more

17 on-site employment, through such valuable ac18 tivities as the clean-up, conservation, restora19 tion, or rehabilitation of buildings, grounds, and

20 land, water and forest resources;

21 (C) provides for accelerated implementa22 tion of such projects to help meet the varying

23 employment needs of those people who have

24 been victimized by long-term unemployment, re25 cession, plant closings, agricultural decline, em-
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1 ployment discrimination, or inadequate edu2 cation or training by implementing activities

3 such as project analyses, feasibility and cost4 benefit studies, zoning, land acquisition, or site

5 preparation;

6 (D) provides for systematic on-the-job

7 training, including additional classroom edu8 cation, as necessary, for individuals described in

9 subparagraph (C), together with appropriate

10 priorities for employing the poor, unemployed,

11 or displaced living in the immediate neighbor12 hood of any project;

13 (E) includes action to obtain necessary

14 funds from various combinations of private,

15 local, and State resources without undue reli16 ance on Federal funding; and

17 (F) places all projects in the perspective of

18 publicly discussed goals for improving the qual19 ity of life in the United States by the year 2000

20 and the early years of the 21st Century.

21 SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY TO INCREASE

22 WORLDWIDE LIVING STANDARDS.

23 (a) POLICY STATEMENT.—To protect employment,

24 wage levels, living standards and private industry in the

25 United States and elsewhere, it shall be the policy of the
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1 Federal government to cooperate with the governments of

2 other countries and with the United Nations to help de3 velop an international community based on rising living

4 standards, particularly for those people with the lowest

5 levels of income, wealth, access to public facilities, free

6 trade union organization, and political power.

7 (b) REVIEW OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF LAW AND

8 REGULATIONS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting

10 through the appropriate Federal agencies, shall re11 view all provisions of Federal law, including regula12 tions issued under such provisions, that interfere

13 with the implementation of the policy described in

14 subsection (a).

15 (2) SUBMISSION OF PROPOSED CHANGES IN

16 PROVISIONS OF LAW AND REGULATION TO THE CON17 GRESS.—The President shall submit to the Congress

18 proposed changes, if any, in the provisions of law

19 and regulations described in paragraph (1) for the

20 purpose of implementing the policy described in sub21 section (a).

22 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In reviewing the provi23 sions of law and regulations under paragraph (1),

24 and submitting proposed changes in such provisions

25 of law and regulations under paragraph (2), the
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1 President shall consider the extent to which actions

2 can be taken to—

3 (A) reduce unemployment and

4 underemployment in pre-industrial and indus5 trializing countries by increasing opportunities

6 for productive paid work and non-wage work

7 (such as self-employment, parenting, household

8 work, and volunteering) at higher and steadier

9 levels of real income without reducing general

10 levels of employment in the United States;

11 (B) promote higher levels of wages and

12 salaries in such countries as will provide larger

13 markets for their own industries and for ex14 ports of goods and services from the United

15 States;

16 (C) withdraw Federal incentives, guaran17 tees, and tax concessions from any United

18 States-based transnational corporation whose

19 operations in pre-industrial or industrializing

20 countries may directly undermine the standard

21 of living or deny to employees the rights of free

22 collective bargaining; and

23 (D) reduce trade barriers without reducing

24 general levels of employment in the United

25 States.
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1 (c) CONTRIBUTIONS BY UNITED STATES TO CERTAIN

2 INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS CONTINGENT

3 UPON DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CER4 TAIN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—Notwithstanding any

5 other provision of law, amounts appropriated for the pur6 pose of making contributions to the International Mone7 tary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction

8 and Development may be provided to such Fund or Bank

9 only if such Fund or Bank, as the case may be, has devel10 oped and implemented such policies and procedures that

11 will—

12 (1) raise the standard of living in countries re13 ceiving any financial assistance from such Fund or

14 Bank, as the case may be, rather than impose aus15 terity; and

16 (2) contribute to the economic viability, credit

17 worthiness, and the ability to import goods and serv18 ices into such countries from the United States.

19 (d) INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL CONFERENCES

20 TO REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT.—Not later than 90 days

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Presi22 dent—

23 (1) shall instruct the United States representa24 tive to the United Nations to propose to the United

25 Nations the prompt beginning of a series of inter-
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1 national and regional conferences on alternative

2 methods of planning for the reduction of involuntary

3 unemployment; and

4 (2) shall, acting through the Secretary of

5 Labor, promote the convening in the United States

6 or elsewhere of international and regional con7 ferences on coping with unemployment and

8 underemployment and moving toward fuller employ9 ment in the world.

10 In carrying out paragraph (2), the Secretary of Labor

11 shall provide financial and technical assistance to orga12 nized labor and cooperative, community, non-profit and

13 voluntary organizations, with priority for widespread com14 munication on how best to control facility closings and

15 capital flight by large businesses and to facilitate

16 transnational labor organizations and collective bargain17 ing.

18 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF CONVERSION PLANNING

19 FUND.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the annual message of the

21 President to the Congress at the beginning of the first

22 session of the Congress after the date of the enactment

23 of this Act, the President shall include a specific proposal

24 for the establishment of a Conversion Planning Fund (in

25 this section referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’) to be administered
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1 by such Federal agencies as the President may recommend

2 and as shall be determined by law.

3 (b) DUTIES.—The Fund shall promote and activate

4 short- and long-term plans for coping with declines in ci5 vilian or military activities by developing specific policies,

6 programs, and projects (including feasibility studies, edu7 cation, training, and inducements for whatever increased

8 labor mobility may be necessary or desirable) for the ex9 pansion of economic activities in sectors where additional

10 or improved goods or services are needed.

11 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts de13 scribed in paragraph (2), there are authorized to be

14 appropriated to carry out this section such sums as

15 may be necessary.

16 (2) AVAILABILITY OF DEFENSE FUNDS.—Of

17 the amounts appropriated pursuant to the authoriza18 tions of appropriations contained in each Act au19 thorizing appropriations for a fiscal year for military

20 activities of the Department of Defense, the Sec21 retary of Defense shall transfer 1 percent of such

22 amounts to the Fund for the purpose of carrying out

23 this section.

24 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION.

25 (a) IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish

2 an annual schedule for the purpose of implementing

3 this Act. Such schedule shall include recommenda4 tions for—

5 (A) a restructuring of Federal budget pri6 orities to provide for—

7 (i) reductions in wasteful or unneces8 sary military expenditures;

9 (ii) increased Federal revenues

10 through reducing or eliminating wasteful

11 tax expenditures and other loopholes in the

12 tax laws;

13 (iii) reducing the interest on the Fed14 eral debt by reductions in both Federal

15 deficits and real interest rates;

16 (iv) the appropriate use of public and

17 private pension funds to help attain the in18 vestment, output, and employment goals of

19 this Act; and

20 (v) the promotion or creation of pri21 vate and public development banks in

22 urban and agricultural areas of high job23 lessness and poverty; and

24 (B) the promotion of educational activities

25 within each State on locally-based over-all plan-
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1 ning, with special attention to educational proc2 esses that promote and use the creative abilities

3 of small, medium, and large business enter4 prises, and by such other private sector entities

5 as labor unions, professional associations and

6 non-profit, voluntary and cooperative organiza7 tions, including neighborhood, tenant, home

8 owner and self-help associations and organiza9 tions of the unemployed.

10 (2) INCLUSION OF IMPLEMENTATION SCHED11 ULE IN PRESIDENTIAL ECONOMIC REPORT.—Section

12 3(a) of the Employment Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C.

13 1022(a)) is amended—

14 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘; and’’

15 and inserting a semicolon;

16 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe17 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’ and

18 (C) by adding at the end the following new

19 paragraph:

20 ‘‘(5) beginning with fiscal year 1995, the an21 nual implementation schedule established under sec22 tion 7(a)(1) of the A Living Wage, Jobs For All

23 Act.’’.
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1 (b) OVERSIGHT BY JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE.—

2 Section 11(b) of the Employment Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C.

3 1024(b)) is amended—

4 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and

5 inserting a semicolon;

6 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at

7 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’ and

8 (3) by adding at the end the following new

9 paragraph:

10 ‘‘(4) beginning with fiscal year 1995, to mon11 itor actions taken or proposed to be taken under the

12 A Living Wage, Jobs For All Act and report its con13 clusions thereon to the Congress and the American

14 people, with special attention to the extent to which

15 the Federal agencies have successfully carried out

16 the provisions of such Act.’’.

17 (c) BUDGETS.—Notwithstanding any other provision

18 of law, all budgetary data for specific programs, whether

19 in budget messages and resolutions or in legislative au20 thorizations and appropriations, shall include or be accom21 panied by descriptive evaluations and quantitative esti22 mates (including monetary quantities) of the direct and

23 indirect impacts on—
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1 (1) gross outlays and net outlays calculated in

2 terms of estimates on whatever consequences addi3 tional paid employment may have on—

4 (A) reducing outlays by reducing the num5 ber of people receiving unemployment com6 pensation, public assistance, and other transfer

7 payments (without necessarily including re8 duced outlays resulting from improvements in

9 public health and safety); and

10 (B) increasing tax receipts as a result of

11 more people earning income subject to social se12 curity and income taxes and more business en13 terprises earning the larger, more stable and

14 less subsidized total profits possible under con15 ditions of full employment; and

16 (2) benefits that may be conferred or costs im17 posed on various groups or persons in society.

18 (d) PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET MESSAGES.—All budget

19 messages from the President to the Congress shall be

20 based on policies and programs to reduce officially meas21 ured unemployment to the interim levels set forth in the

22 Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978 and

23 toward this end shall include—

24 (1) a total impact analysis on the direct and in25 direct consequences flowing from each over-all budg-
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1 et for levels of employment, output and prices, and

2 on foreign trade, environmental quality, and the dis3 tribution of income and wealth;

4 (2) to facilitate State and local public works

5 and public services planning under section 4, esti6 mates of the direct and indirect flow of all Federal

7 outlays (including off-budget outlays) to each State

8 and each district of the House of Representatives,

9 (3) a tax expenditure budget as defined in the

10 Congressional Budget Act of 1974 but presented not

11 only in a separately published special analysis but

12 also—

13 (A) incorporated into the general revenue

14 provisions of the budget; and

15 (B) accompanied by estimates of the bene16 fits sought and thus far obtained by such

17 planned losses of tax revenue;

18 (4) a zero-based budgetary review of every pro19 gram involving more than $100,000,000 in gross

20 outlays;

21 (5) such full distinctions between operating and

22 investment outlays as regularly appear in the budg23 ets of business organizations and local and State

24 governments;
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1 (6) a wealth inventory providing information on

2 recent and prospective changes in the type and esti3 mated value of—

4 (A) assets owned by local and State gov5 ernments and the Federal government;

6 (B) personal wealth; and

7 (C) the country’s net stock of both repro8 ducible and non-reproducible tangible wealth;

9 and

10 (7) the expression of any debt and deficit data

11 in constant as well as current dollars.

12 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

13 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

14 as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

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