II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 140

To authorize negotiation for the accession of United Kingdom to the North

American Free Trade Agreement, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 22, 2001

Mr. GRAMM introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To authorize negotiation for the accession of United Kingdom to the North American Free Trade Agreement, 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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United Kingdom5 NAFTA Accession Act’’.

6 SEC 2. ACCESSION OF UNITED KINGDOM TO THE NORTH

7 AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 3, the Presi9 dent is authorized to enter into an agreement described

10 in subsection (b) and the provisions of section 151(c) of
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1 the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191(c)) shall apply

2 with respect to a bill to implement such agreement if such

3 agreement is entered into on or before December 31,

4 2003.

5 (b) AGREEMENT DESCRIBED.—An agreement de6 scribed in this subsection means an agreement that—

7 (1) provides for the accession of United King8 dom to the North American Free Trade Agreement;

9 or

10 (2) is a bilateral agreement between the United

11 States and United Kingdom that provides for the re12 duction and ultimate elimination of tariffs and other

13 nontariff barriers to trade and the eventual estab14 lishment of a free trade area between the United

15 States and United Kingdom.

16 SEC. 3. INTRODUCTION AND FAST-TRACK CONSIDERATION

17 OF IMPLEMENTING BILL.

18 (a) INTRODUCTION IN HOUSE AND SENATE.—When

19 the President submits to Congress a bill to implement a

20 trade agreement described in section 2, the bill shall be

21 introduced (by request) in the House and the Senate as

22 described in section 151(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19

23 U.S.C. 2191(c)).

24 (b) RESTRICTIONS ON CONTENT.—A bill to imple25 ment a trade agreement described in section 2—
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1 (1) shall contain only provisions that are nec2 essary to implement the trade agreement; and

3 (2) may not contain any provision that estab4 lishes (or requires or authorizes the establishment

5 of) a labor or environmental protection standard or

6 amends (or requires or authorizes an amendment of)

7 any labor or environmental protection standard set

8 forth in law or regulation.

9 (c) POINT OF ORDER IN SENATE.—

10 (1) APPLICABILITY TO ALL LEGISLATIVE

11 FORMS OF IMPLEMENTING BILL.—For the purposes

12 of this subsection, the term ‘‘implementing bill’’

13 means the following:

14 (A) THE BILL.—A bill described in sub15 section (a), without regard to whether that bill

16 originated in the Senate or the House of Rep17 resentatives.

18 (B) AMENDMENT.—An amendment to a

19 bill referred to in subparagraph (A).

20 (C) CONFERENCE REPORT.—A conference

21 report on a bill referred to in subparagraph (A).

22 (D) AMENDMENT BETWEEN HOUSES.—An

23 amendment between the houses of Congress in

24 relation to a bill referred to in subparagraph

25 (A).
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1 (E) MOTION.—A motion in relation to an

2 item referred to in subparagraph (A), (B), (C),

3 or (D).

4 (2) MAKING OF POINT OF ORDER.—

5 (A) AGAINST SINGLE ITEM.—When the

6 Senate is considering an implementing bill, a

7 Senator may make a point of order against any

8 part of the implementing bill that contains ma9 terial in violation of a restriction under sub10 section (b).

11 (B) AGAINST SEVERAL ITEMS.—Notwith12 standing any other provision of law or rule of

13 the Senate, when the Senate is considering an

14 implementing bill, it shall be in order for a Sen15 ator to raise a single point of order that several

16 provisions of the implementing bill violate sub17 section (b). The Presiding Officer may sustain

18 the point of order as to some or all of the provi19 sions against which the Senator raised the point

20 of order.

21 (3) EFFECT OF SUSTAINMENT OF POINT OF

22 ORDER.—

23 (A) AGAINST SINGLE ITEM.—If a point of

24 order made against a part of an implementing

25 bill under paragraph (2)(A) is sustained by the
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1 Presiding Officer, the part of the implementing

2 bill against which the point of order is sus3 tained shall be deemed stricken.

4 (B) AGAINST SEVERAL ITEMS.—In the

5 case of a point of order made under paragraph

6 (2)(B) against several provisions of an imple7 menting bill, only those provisions against

8 which the Presiding Officer sustains the point

9 of order shall be deemed stricken.

10 (C) STRICKEN MATTER NOT IN ORDER AS

11 AMENDMENT.—Matter stricken from an imple12 menting bill under this paragraph may not be

13 offered as an amendment to the implementing

14 bill (in any of its forms described in paragraph

15 (1)) from the floor.

16 (4) WAIVERS AND APPEALS.—

17 (A) WAIVERS.—Before the Presiding Offi18 cer rules on a point of order under this sub19 section, any Senator may move to waive the

20 point of order as it applies to some or all of the

21 provisions against which the point of order is

22 raised. Such a motion to waive is amendable in

23 accordance with the rules and precedents of the

24 Senate.
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1 (B) APPEALS.—After the Presiding Officer

2 rules on a point of order under this subsection,

3 any Senator may appeal the ruling of the Pre4 siding Officer on the point of order as it applies

5 to some or all of the provisions on which the

6 Presiding Officer ruled.

7 (C) THREE-FIFTHS MAJORITY RE8 QUIRED.—

9 (i) WAIVERS.—A point of order under

10 this subsection is waived only by the af11 firmative vote of at least the requisite ma12 jority.

13 (ii) APPEALS.—A ruling of the Pre14 siding Officer on a point of order under

15 this subsection is sustained unless at least

16 the requisite majority votes not to sustain

17 the ruling.

18 (iii) REQUISITE MAJORITY.—For pur19 poses of clauses (i) and (ii), the requisite

20 majority is three-fifths of the Members of

21 the Senate, duly chosen and sworn.

22 (d) APPLICABILITY OF FAST TRACK PROCEDURES.—

23 Section 151 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191)

24 is amended—

25 (1) in subsection (b)(1)—
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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘section 3 of the United

2 Kingdom-NAFTA Accession Act,’’ after ‘‘the

3 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of

4 1988,’’; and

5 (B) by amending subparagraph (C) to read

6 as follows:

7 ‘‘(C) if changes in existing laws or new

8 statutory authority is required to implement

9 such trade agreement or agreements or such ex10 tension, provisions, necessary to implement

11 such trade agreement or agreements or such ex12 tension, either repealing or amending existing

13 laws or providing new statutory authority.’’;

14 and

15 (2) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘or under

16 section 3 of the United Kingdom-NAFTA Accession

17 Act,’’ after ‘‘the Uruguay Round Agreements Act,’’.

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