Union Calendar No. 461

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1517

[Report No. 103–818]

A BILL

To extend the coverage of certain Federal labor

purposes.laws to foreign documented vessels, and for other

OCTOBER 3, 1994

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed
IB

Union Calendar No. 461

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1517

[Report No. 103–818]

To extend the coverage of certain Federal labor laws to foreign documented

vessels, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 30, 1993

Mr. CLAY (for himself, Mr. FORD of Michigan, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. WILLIAMS,

Mrs. BENTLEY, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. EVANS, Mr.

FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. KOPETSKI, Mr. TOWNS, and Mr.

WILSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

OCTOBER 3, 1994

Additional sponsors: Mr. PASTOR, Mr. BARLOW, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. SANDERS,

Mr. MILLER of California, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. HOYER, Mr. FRANK of

Massachusetts, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. ANDREWS of New Jersey,

Mr. OLVER, Mr. HOCHBRUECKNER, Mr. MANTON, Mr. REED, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. JEFFERSON, Miss COLLINS of Michigan, Mr. FIELDS of

Texas, Mr. TUCKER, Mr. WALSH, Mr. QUILLEN, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr.

STRICKLAND, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. FILNER, Mr. OWENS, Ms. WOOLSEY,

Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr.

ROEMER, Mr. MINETA, and Mr. MCCLOSKEY

OCTOBER 3, 1994

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union

and ordered to be printed
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A BILL

To extend the coverage of certain Federal labor laws to

foreign documented vessels, 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. COVERAGE OF FOREIGN VESSELS UNDER FED4 ERAL LABOR LAWS.

5 (a) NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS.—Section 2(2) of

6 the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(2)) is

7 amended—

8 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after the paragraph des9 ignation; and

10 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following

11 new subparagraph:

12 ‘‘(B)(i) The term ‘employer’ also includes—

13 ‘‘(I) a foreign documented vessel, if such vessel

14 is regularly engaged in transporting passengers from

15 and to a port or place in the United States, with or

16 without an intervening stop or stops at a foreign

17 port or ports, and such term also includes a foreign

18 documented vessel that is regularly engaged in

19 transporting passengers only from or to a port or

20 place in the United States if the Board determines

21 that such transport is so arranged for the purposes
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1 of avoiding being considered an employer for pur2 poses of this Act;

3 ‘‘(II) a foreign documented nonliner vessel reg4 ularly engaged in transporting cargo in the foreign

5 trade of the United States; and

6 ‘‘(III) a foreign documented vessel on which oc7 curs the production or processing of goods or serv8 ices for sale or distribution in the United States, and

9 a foreign documented vessel that engages in trans10 porting cargo between vessels in international waters

11 and a vessel, port, or place in the United States re12 gardless of the ownership or control of the vessel.

13 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this section and except as pro14 vided in clause (i)(III), such term shall not include any

15 foreign documented vessel that can demonstrate—

16 ‘‘(I) that at least 50 percent of its crew is com17 posed of citizens of the country of registry; and

18 ‘‘(II) that legal title to such vessel is held by

19 citizens of the country of registry, and beneficial

20 ownership and control, direct or indirect, are held by

21 citizens of the country of registry.

22 ‘‘(iii) As used in this subparagraph, the term ‘citizen’

23 shall include—

24 ‘‘(I) natural persons who are citizens of the

25 country of registry;
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1 ‘‘(II) a corporation, if its equity is at least 51

2 percent owned and controlled by citizens of the

3 country of registry;

4 ‘‘(III) a partnership, if all the general partners

5 are citizens of the country of registry and at least

6 51 percent of the partnership is owned and con7 trolled by citizens of the country of registry.’’.

8 (b) FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938.—

9 (1) DEFINITION.—Section 3(d) of the Fair

10 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(d)) is

11 amended—

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after the subsection

13 designation; and

14 (B) by adding at the end thereof the fol15 lowing new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(2)(A) The term ‘employer’ also includes—

17 ‘‘(i) a foreign documented vessel, if such vessel

18 is regularly engaged in transporting passengers from

19 and to a port or place in the United States, with or

20 without an intervening stop or stops at a foreign

21 port or ports, and such term also includes a foreign

22 documented vessel that is regularly engaged in

23 transporting passengers only from or to a port or

24 place in the United States if the Secretary deter25 mines that such transport is so arranged for the
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1 purposes of avoiding being considered an employer

2 for purposes of this Act;

3 ‘‘(ii) a foreign documented nonliner vessel regu4 larly engaged in transporting cargo in the foreign

5 trade of the United States; and

6 ‘‘(iii) a foreign documented vessel on which oc7 curs the production or processing of goods or serv8 ices for sale or distribution in the United States, and

9 a foreign documented vessel that engages in trans10 porting cargo between vessels in international waters

11 and a vessel, port, or place in the United States re12 gardless of the ownership or control of the vessel.

13 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this section and except as pro14 vided in subparagraph (A)(iii), such term shall not include

15 any foreign documented vessel that can demonstrate—

16 ‘‘(i) that at least 50 percent of its crew is com17 posed of citizens of the country of registry; and

18 ‘‘(ii) that legal title to such vessel is held by

19 citizens of the country of registry, and beneficial

20 ownership and control, direct or indirect, are held by

21 citizens of the country of registry.

22 ‘‘(C) As used in this paragraph, the term ‘citizen’

23 shall include—

24 ‘‘(i) natural persons who are citizens of the

25 country of registry;
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1 ‘‘(ii) a corporation, if its equity is at least 51

2 percent owned and controlled by citizens of the

3 country of registry;

4 ‘‘(iii) a partnership, if all the general partners

5 are citizens of the country of registry and at least

6 51 percent of the partnership is owned and con7 trolled by citizens of the country of registry.’’.

8 (2) MINIMUM WAGE.—Section 6(a)(4) of the

9 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C.

10 206(a)(4)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or a foreign

11 documented vessel described in section 3(d)(2)(A)’’

12 after ‘‘an American Vessel’’.

13 (3) EXEMPTION.—Section 13(a)(12) of the Fair

14 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C.

15 213(a)(12)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or a foreign

16 documented vessel described in section 3(d)(2)(A)’’

17 after ‘‘an American Vessel’’.