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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3675 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3675

To provide for the establishment of alternate use committees at defense 
    facilities to assist in the economic adjustment of communities, 
 industries, and workers as a result of reductions or realignments in 
   defense or aerospace spending and arms exports and the closure or 
                 realignment of military installations.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 22, 1993

Mr. Nadler introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to 
the Committees on Armed Services, Education and Labor, Foreign Affairs, 
   Science, Space, and Technology, and Merchant Marine and Fisheries

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To provide for the establishment of alternate use committees at defense 
    facilities to assist in the economic adjustment of communities, 
 industries, and workers as a result of reductions or realignments in 
   defense or aerospace spending and arms exports and the closure or 
                 realignment of military installations.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Defense 
Alternative Use Committee Act''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purpose.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Establishment of alternative use committees at defense 
                            facilities.
Sec. 5. Functions of alternative use committees.
Sec. 6. Administrative provisions.
Sec. 7. Elements of conversion plans.
Sec. 8. Penalties.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) during the past three decades the United States has 
        made heavy economic, scientific, and technical commitments for 
        defense;
            (2) these commitments led to the development of specialized 
        skills and business practices not directly applicable in the 
        civilian sector of the economy;
            (3) as these commitments are modified to take account of 
        changing requirements for national security and domestic needs, 
        careful preparation is necessary if serious economic 
        dislocations are to be avoided; and
            (4) the economic ability of the Nation and of management, 
        labor, and capital to adjust to changing national security 
        needs is consistent with the general welfare of the United 
        States.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to provide the means 
through which the United States can promote orderly economic adjustment 
which will--
            (1) minimize the dislocation of workers, communities, and 
        industries;
            (2) assure that such dislocations do not compound 
        recessionary trends; and
            (3) encourage conversion of technologies and managerial and 
        worker skills developed in defense production to projects which 
        serve the civilian sector.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``defense agency'' means the Department of 
        Defense, the Nuclear Weapons Division of the Department of 
        Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the 
        Coast Guard, and any other agency of the Federal Government to 
        the extent it conducts defense-related activities.
            (2) The term ``defense contract'' means--
                    (A) any contract entered into between a defense 
                contractor and a defense agency to furnish defense 
                material or services to that agency; and
                    (B) any contract entered into between a defense 
                contractor and any foreign country or person acting on 
                behalf of a foreign country to furnish defense material 
                or services to or for such country pursuant to the Arms 
                Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) or similar 
                law.
            (3) The term ``defense contractor'' means any person 
        engaged in the furnishing of defense material or services 
        pursuant to the terms of the defense contract, including 
        subcontractors, component manufacturers, suppliers, service 
        contractors and service suppliers.
            (4) The term ``defense facility'' means--
                    (A) any private plant or other establishment (or 
                part thereof) used under a defense contract or engaged 
                in the production, repair, modification, storage, or 
                handling of defense material; or
                    (B) any Government-owned or Government-leased 
                facility, including military installations, bases, 
                forts, shipyards, and depots.
            (5) The term ``defense materials or services'' means--
                    (A) any item of weaponry, munitions, equipment, or 
                specialized supplies or services intended for use by a 
                defense agency or for sale to or for the use of a 
                foreign country which has primarily military 
                applications; or
                    (B) the research, development, production, test, 
                inspection, or repair of any material described in 
                subparagraph (A) for use by a defense agency or 
                pursuant to a defense contract.
            (6) The term ``displace'', with respect to any worker 
        (including a civilian employee of a defense agency and an 
        employee of a defense contractor engaged in the provision of 
        defense materials or services under a defense contract), means 
        the separation, on a permanent or temporary basis, of the 
        worker from employment with the facility or agency.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF ALTERNATIVE USE COMMITTEES AT DEFENSE 
              FACILITIES.

    (a) Condition of Defense Contracts.--The head of each defense 
agency shall require as a condition of each defense contract with a 
private defense contractor for the provision of defense materials or 
services to that agency that the defense contractor agree to establish 
an alternative use committee pursuant to this section at each defense 
facility that employs at least 100 employees and is used under the 
contract. The President shall require as a condition on the eligibility 
for export of defense materials or services under section 38 of the 
Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778) or similar law that the 
private defense contractor involved in such export agree to establish 
an alternative use committee pursuant to this section at each defense 
facility that employs at least 100 employees and is used under the 
defense contract involved.
    (b) Federal Facilities.--In the case of a Government defense 
facility (as defined in section 3(4)(B)), the head of the facility 
shall establish an alternative use committee pursuant to this section 
composed of not less than eight members, with equal representation of 
the facility management and the civilian employees of the installation 
(including representatives of union bargaining units and democratically 
elected representatives of unorganized civilians).
    (c) Membership and Purposes.--An alternative use committee for a 
defense facility shall be composed of not less than eight members, with 
equal representation of the facility's management and labor (including 
representatives of union bargaining units and democratically elected 
representatives of unorganized workers). The committee shall undertake 
economic conversion planning and preparation for the employment of the 
employees at the defense facility and the utilization of the equipment 
and facilities in the event of a reduction or closure of any defense 
facility or the curtailment, conclusion, or disapproval of any defense 
contract.
    (d) Community Representatives.--The chief executive officer of any 
unit of general local government within which a defense facility is 
located may appoint nonvoting representatives of the alternative use 
community for that facility to participate in activities of the 
alternative use committee in an advisory capacity. The representatives 
appointed under this subsection shall not include individuals employed 
at the facility. The number of such representatives shall not exceed a 
number equal to one-half the total number of voting representatives on 
the committee.
    (e) Prohibitions Against Discrimination Against Representatives of 
Unorganized Labor.--The representatives of the unorganized civilian 
workers on any alternative use committee shall not be discriminated 
against in any manner for their participation in the committee.
    (f) Funds.--Funds for performing the planning and reporting 
requirements imposed by this Act, including market research, 
independent studies, and the employment of specialized personnel, shall 
be paid from funds derived from the defense contract or, in the case of 
a Government defense facility, the operating account of the facility. 
Office space shall be provided to the alternative use committee by the 
management of the facility without charge.
    (g) Application of Section.--This section shall apply with respect 
to each defense contract referred to in subsection (a) that is entered 
into by the agency after the date of the enactment of this Act

SEC. 5. FUNCTIONS OF ALTERNATIVE USE COMMITTEES.

    (a) Evaluation of Defense Facility Assets.--The alternative use 
committee established for a defense facility shall evaluate the assets 
of the defense facility and the resources and requirements of the local 
community in terms of physical property, manpower skills and expertise, 
accessibility, environment, and economic needs.
    (b) Development of Conversion Plans.--Consistent with section 7, 
the alternative use committee established for a defense facility shall 
develop and review at least biennially a plan for the conversion of the 
facility to efficient, nondefense-related productive activity to be 
carried out in the event the facility is closed or adversely affected 
by the termination of a defense contract or the disapproval of a 
license to sell or export defense materials or services.
    (c) Retraining and Reemployment.--The alternative use committee 
shall arrange for the provision of occupational retraining and 
reemployment counseling services for all employees to be displaced by 
the implementation of a conversion plan or the closing of the facility 
as soon as the date of commencement of the implementation of that plan 
or the permanent closing of that facility is known.
    (d) Dissolution.--A alternative use committee shall dissolve itself 
and return all assets to the control of the management of the defense 
facility involved immediately upon final completion of the conversion.

SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

    (a) Staff.--The alternative use committees may hire staff personnel 
as well as any specialists it may determine necessary.
    (b) Information.--The alternative use committees may obtain a 
complete and detailed inventory of all land, building, capital 
equipment, and other equipment, including its condition, and are 
authorized to obtain information of a general nature regarding the 
occupations and skills of civilian employees, and information 
concerning existing collective-bargaining contracts. Any defense agency 
or contractor and any department, agency, or other instrumentality of 
the Government shall provide any such inventory or information upon 
request from an alternative use committee.

SEC. 7. ELEMENTS OF CONVERSION PLANS.

    (a) Elements of Plan.--Conversion plans developed by an alternative 
use committee shall--
            (1) be so designed as to maximize the extent to which the 
        personnel required for the efficient operation of the converted 
        facility can be drawn from personnel with the types and levels 
        of skill approximating skill levels and types possessed by 
        civilian personnel employed at the defense facility prior to 
        its conversion;
            (2) specify the numbers of civilian personnel, by type and 
        level of skill, employed at the facility prior to conversion, 
        whose continued employment is not consistent with the efficient 
        operation of the non-defense-related converted facility;
            (3) specify the numbers of positions, by level and type of 
        skill, if any, that will be needed at the converted facility 
        because personnel employed at the preconverted facility do not 
        possess the levels or types of skills required;
            (4) indicate in detail what new plant and equipment and 
        modifications to existing plant and equipment are required for 
        the converted facility; and
            (5) include an estimate of financing requirements and a 
        financial plan for the conversion; and
            (6) provide for completion of the entire conversion process 
        within a period of not less than two years.
    (b) Extension of Existing Agreements.--No plan shall be approved by 
an alternative use committee unless the plan provides for extension of 
wage, labor contract provisions, and other benefits to workers at a 
defense facility until conversion to non-defense-related operations is 
completed.

SEC. 8. PENALTIES.

    If the head of a defense agency determines that a defense 
contractor fails to establish an alternative use committee or refuses 
or fails to carry out the provisions of a conversion plan prepared by 
an alternative use committee of the defense contractor (as determined 
by the head of the defense agency concerned), the defense contractor 
shall lose eligibility for defense contracts for a period of three 
years, for contract termination payments, and for tax credits.

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