115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4537 

AN ACT 

To preserve the State-based system of insurance regulation 

and provide greater oversight of and transparency on 

international insurance standards setting processes, 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, 
2 

•HR 4537 EH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Insur3 ance Standards Act of 2018’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The State-based system for insurance regu7 lation in the United States has served American con8 sumers well for more than 150 years and has fos9 tered an open and competitive marketplace with a 

10 diversity of insurance products to the benefit of pol11 icyholders and consumers. 

12 (2) Protecting policyholders by regulating to en13 sure an insurer’s ability to pay claims has been the 

14 hallmark of the successful United States system and 

15 should be the paramount objective of domestic pru16 dential regulation and emerging international stand17 ards. 

18 (3) The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 

19 Consumer Protection Act (Public Law 111–203) re20 affirmed the State-based insurance regulatory sys21 tem. 

22 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT THAT INSURANCE STANDARDS RE23 FLECT UNITED STATES POLICY. 

24 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 

25 (1) IN GENERAL.—Parties representing the 

26 Federal Government in any international regulatory, 
3 

•HR 4537 EH

1 standard-setting, or supervisory forum or in any ne2 gotiations of any international agreements relating 

3 to the prudential aspects of insurance shall not 

4 agree to, accede to, accept, or establish any proposed 

5 agreement or standard if the proposed agreement or 

6 standard fails to recognize the United States system 

7 of insurance regulation as satisfying such proposals. 

8 (2) INAPPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

9 apply to any forum or negotiations relating to a cov10 ered agreement (as such term is defined in section 

11 313(r) of title 31, United States Code). 

12 (b) FEDERAL INSURANCE OFFICE FUNCTIONS.— 

13 Subparagraph (E) of section 313(c)(1) of title 31, United 

14 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘Federal Govern15 ment’’ after ‘‘United States’’. 

16 (c) NEGOTIATIONS.—Nothing in this section shall be 

17 construed to prevent participation in negotiations of any 

18 proposed agreement or standard. 

19 SEC. 4. STATE INSURANCE REGULATOR INVOLVEMENT IN 

20 INTERNATIONAL STANDARD SETTING. 

21 In developing international insurance standards pur22 suant to section 3, and throughout the negotiations of 

23 such standards, parties representing the Federal Govern24 ment shall, on matters related to insurance, closely con25 sult, coordinate with, and seek to include in such meetings 
4 

•HR 4537 EH

1 State insurance commissioners or, at the option of the 

2 State insurance commissioners, designees of the insurance 

3 commissioners acting at their direction. 

4 SEC. 5. CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS. 

5 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Parties representing the Fed6 eral Government with respect to any agreement under sec7 tion 3 shall provide written notice to and consult with the 

8 Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep9 resentatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

10 Urban Affairs of the Senate, and any other relevant com11 mittees of jurisdiction— 

12 (1) before initiating negotiations to enter into 

13 the agreement, regarding— 

14 (A) the intention of the United States to 

15 participate in or enter into such negotiations; 

16 and 

17 (B) the nature and objectives of the nego18 tiations; and 

19 (2) during negotiations to enter into the agree20 ment, regarding— 

21 (A) the nature and objectives of the nego22 tiations; 

23 (B) the implementation of the agreement, 

24 including how it is consistent with and does not 
5 

•HR 4537 EH

1 materially differ from or otherwise affect Fed2 eral or State laws or regulations; 

3 (C) the impact on the competitiveness of 

4 United States insurers; and 

5 (D) the impact on United States con6 sumers. 

7 (b) CONSULTATION WITH FEDERAL ADVISORY COM8 MITTEE ON INSURANCE.—Before entering into an agree9 ment under section 3, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

10 seek to consult with the Federal Advisory Committee on 

11 Insurance formed pursuant to section 313(h) of title 31, 

12 United States Code. 

13 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL INSUR14 ANCE AGREEMENTS. 

15 Before entering into an agreement under section 3, 

16 parties representing the Federal Government shall submit 

17 to the appropriate congressional committees and leader18 ship a report that describes— 

19 (1) the implementation of the agreement, in20 cluding how it is consistent with and does not mate21 rially differ from or otherwise affect Federal or 

22 State laws or regulations; 

23 (2) the impact on the competitiveness of United 

24 States insurers; and 

25 (3) the impact on United States consumers. 
6 

•HR 4537 EH

1 SEC. 7. COVERED AGREEMENTS. 

2 (a) PREEMPTION OF STATE INSURANCE MEAS3 URES.—Subsection (f) of section 313 of title 31, United 

4 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place 

5 such term appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’. 

6 (b) DEFINITION.—Paragraph (2) of section 313(r) of 

7 title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

9 the end; 

10 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

11 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(C) applies only on a prospective basis.’’. 

15 (c) CONSULTATION; SUBMISSION AND LAYOVER; 

16 CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—Section 314 of title 31, 

17 United States Code is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (b)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking 

20 ‘‘laws’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘and Fed21 eral law, and the nature of any changes in the 

22 laws of the United States or the administration 

23 of such laws that would be required to carry out 

24 a covered agreement’’; and 

25 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

26 paragraph: 
7 

•HR 4537 EH

1 ‘‘(3) ACCESS TO NEGOTIATING TEXTS AND

2 OTHER DOCUMENTS.—Appropriate congressional 

3 committees and staff with proper security clearances 

4 shall be given timely access to United States negoti5 ating proposals, consolidated draft texts, and other 

6 pertinent documents related to the negotiations, in7 cluding classified materials.’’; 

8 (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub9 section (d); 

10 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol11 lowing new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSULTATIONS WITH

13 STATE INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS.—Throughout the 

14 negotiations of a covered agreement, parties representing 

15 the Federal Government shall closely consult and coordi16 nate with State insurance commissioners.’’; 

17 (4) in subsection (d), as so redesignated by 

18 paragraph (2)— 

19 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

20 by striking ‘‘only if—’’ and inserting the fol21 lowing: ‘‘only if, before signing the final 

22 legal text or otherwise entering into the agree23 ment—’’; 

24 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘congres25 sional committees specified in subsection 
8 

•HR 4537 EH

1 (b)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘appropriate congres2 sional committees and leadership and to con3 gressional committee staff with proper security 

4 clearances’’; and 

5 (C) by striking paragraph (2) and insert6 ing the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(2)(A) the 90-day period beginning on the 

8 date on which the copy of the final legal text of the 

9 agreement is submitted under paragraph (1) to the 

10 congressional committees, leadership, and staff has 

11 expired; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the covered agreement has not been pre13 vented from taking effect pursuant to subsection 

14 (e).’’; and 

15 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub16 sections: 

17 ‘‘(e) PERIOD FOR REVIEW BY CONGRESS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During the layover period 

19 referred to in subsection (d)(2)(A), the Committees 

20 on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Fi21 nance of the Senate and the Committees on Finan22 cial Services and Ways of Means of the House of 

23 Representatives should, as appropriate, exercise 

24 their full oversight responsibility. 
9 

•HR 4537 EH

1 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF ENACTMENT OF A JOINT RES2 OLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL.—Notwithstanding any 

3 other provision of law, if a joint resolution of dis4 approval relating to a covered agreement submitted 

5 under subsection (d)(1) is enacted in accordance 

6 with subsection (f), the covered agreement shall not 

7 enter into force with respect to the United States. 

8 ‘‘(f) JOINT RESOLUTIONS OF DISAPPROVAL.— 

9 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

10 ‘joint resolution of disapproval’ means, with respect 

11 to proposed covered agreement, only a joint resolu12 tion of either House of Congress— 

13 ‘‘(A) that is introduced during the 90-day 

14 period referred to in subsection (d)(2)(A) relat15 ing to such proposed covered agreement; 

16 ‘‘(B) which does not have a preamble; 

17 ‘‘(C) the title of which is as follows: ‘A 

18 joint resolution disapproving a certain proposed 

19 covered agreement under section 314 of title 

20 31, United States Code.’; and 

21 ‘‘(D) the sole matter after the resolving 

22 clause of which is the following: ‘Congress dis23 approves of the proposed covered agreement 

24 submitted to Congress under section 314 (c)(1) 

25 of title 31, United States Code, on 
10 

•HR 4537 EH

1 lllllll relating to 

2 llllllll.’, with the first blank space 

3 being filled with the appropriate date and the 

4 second blank space being filled with a short de5 scription of the proposed covered agreement. 

6 ‘‘(2) INTRODUCTION.—During the layover pe7 riod referred to in subsection (d)(2)(A), a joint reso8 lution of disapproval may be introduced— 

9 ‘‘(A) in the House of Representatives, by 

10 any Member of the House, and 

11 ‘‘(B) in the Senate, by any Senator, 

12 and shall be referred to the appropriate committees. 

13 ‘‘(3) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

14 AND SENATE.—This subsection is enacted by Con15 gress— 

16 ‘‘(A) as an exercise of the rulemaking 

17 power of the Senate and the House of Rep18 resentatives, respectively, and as such is deemed 

19 a part of the rules of each House, respectively, 

20 and supersedes other rules only to the extent 

21 that it is inconsistent with such rules; and 

22 ‘‘(B) with full recognition of the constitu23 tional right of either House to change the rules 

24 (so far as relating to the procedure of that 

25 House) at any time, in the same manner, and 
11 

•HR 4537 EH

1 to the same extent as in the case of any other 

2 rule of that House. 

3 ‘‘(g) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

4 AND LEADERSHIP DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

5 ‘appropriate congressional committees and leadership’ 

6 means— 

7 ‘‘(1) the Committees on Banking, Housing, and 

8 Urban Affairs and Finance, and the majority and 

9 minority leaders, of the Senate; and 

10 ‘‘(2) the Committees on Financial Services and 

11 Ways and Means, and the Speaker, the majority 

12 leader, and the minority leader, of the House of 

13 Representatives.’’. 

14 SEC. 8. INAPPLICABILITY TO TRADE AGREEMENTS. 

15 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

16 not apply to any forum or negotiations related to a trade 

17 agreement. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 10, 2018. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4537 

AN ACT 

To preserve the State-based system of insurance 

ards setting processes, and for other purposes. transparency on international insurance standregulation and provide greater oversight of and