I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7980 

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to establish an Inspector 

General of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 7, 2020 

Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. JUDY CHU

of California, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. 

KAPTUR, and Mr. SERRANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the 

Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to establish 

an Inspector General of the Office of the United States 

Trade Representative, 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 ‘‘USTR Inspector Gen5 eral Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Section 8 of article I of the Constitution of 

2 the United States provides that Congress has the 

3 sole power to regulate international trade. 

4 (2) Congress established the Office of the 

5 United States Trade Representative in the Executive 

6 Office of the President under section 141 of the 

7 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2171) with the pri8 mary responsibility for developing, and coordinating 

9 implementation of, the international trade policy of 

10 the United States. 

11 (3) The United States Trade Representative 

12 has primary responsibility for administering a vari13 ety of trade statutes and for monitoring the imple14 mentation and enforcement of trade agreements. 

15 (4) Section 141(c)(1)(F) of the Trade Act of 

16 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2171(c)(1)(F)) states that the 

17 United States Trade Representative shall ‘‘report di18 rectly to the President and the Congress regarding, 

19 and be responsible to the President and the Con20 gress for the administration of, trade agreements 

21 programs’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE 

2 OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REP3 RESENTATIVE. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 12 of the Inspector Gen5 eral Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘;or the Direc7 tor of the National Reconnaissance Office;’’ and in8 serting ‘‘, the Director of the National Reconnais9 sance Office, or the United States Trade Represent10 ative,’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or the Na12 tional Reconnaissance Office’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

13 National Reconnaissance Office, or the Office of the 

14 United States Trade Representative’’. 

15 (b) APPOINTMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Not 

16 later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of 

17 this Act, the President shall appoint an individual to serve 

18 as the Inspector General of the Office for the United 

19 States Trade Representative in accordance with section 

20 3(a) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

21 SEC. 4. AUDIT OF PROCESS FOR SEEKING EXCLUSIONS 

22 FROM CERTAIN DUTIES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General 

25 of the Office of the United States Trade Representative 

26 shall commence conducting an audit of the process estabVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:21 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7980.IH H7980

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1 lished by the United States Trade Representative for ex2 cluding articles from duties imposed under section 301 of 

3 the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411) with respect to 

4 articles imported from the People’s Republic of China. 

5 (b) ELEMENTS.—In conducting the audit required by 

6 subsection (a), the Inspector General shall assess wheth7 er— 

8 (1) all information used to make determinations 

9 with respect to requests for or objections to such ex10 clusions was included in the official record; and 

11 (2) officials of the Office of the United States 

12 Trade Representative— 

13 (A) uniformly applied the criteria used to 

14 review such requests or objections to all persons 

15 that submitted such requests or objections, as 

16 the case may be; 

17 (B) changed the criteria used to review 

18 such requests or objections while such requests 

19 or objections, as the case may be, were pending; 

20 (C) met with any interested parties to dis21 cuss such requests or objections while such re22 quests or objections, as the case may be, were 

23 pending; 


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1 (D) at any time permitted the resubmis2 sion of a previously submitted request or objec3 tion after the submission deadline; and 

4 (E) uniformly allowed persons that sub5 mitted such requests or objections to submit ad6 ditional information at any time while such re7 quests or objections, as the case may be, were 

8 under review. 

Æ 


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