II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3012

To amend title 18, United States Code, to impose criminal and civil penalties

for false statements and failure to file reports concerning defects in

foreign motor vehicle products, and to require the timely provision of

notice of such defects, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 6, 2000

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

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to impose criminal

and civil penalties for false statements and failure to

file reports concerning defects in foreign motor vehicle

products, and to require the timely provision of notice

of such defects, 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 ‘‘Transportation Infor5 mation Recall Enhancement Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) in an interview with ABC News on Sep2 tember 3, 2000, Secretary of Transportation Rodney

3 Slater stated that he thinks there should be a law

4 requiring that the United States be immediately no5 tified of a foreign recall, ‘‘especially in the global

6 economy when you’ve got U.S. goods really being

7 used by individuals around the world. We should

8 know when there’s a problem someplace else.’’;

9 (2) as of the date of enactment of this Act,

10 there is no legal requirement for manufacturers of

11 motor vehicles and their components to notify

12 United States agencies of a recall issued in a foreign

13 country;

14 (3) between August 1999 and spring 2000,

15 Ford Motor Company replaced Firestone tires on

16 46,912 vehicles in Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Malaysia,

17 and South America;

18 (4)(A) on May 2, 2000, the National Highway

19 Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary

20 evaluation into Firestone ATX, ATX II, and Wilder21 ness AT tires after receiving 90 complaints, pri22 marily from consumers in the Southeast and South23 west, about tread separations or blowouts;

24 (B) as of September 2000, the National High25 way Traffic Safety Administration has received over
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1 1,400 complaints, including reports of more than

2 250 injuries and 88 deaths; and

3 (C) some of the complaints date back to the

4 early 1990s, and 797 of the complaints report that

5 a tire failure took place between August 1, 1999,

6 and August 9, 2000; and

7 (5)(A) on August 9, 2000, Bridgestone/Fire8 stone announced a United States recall of 6,500,000

9 ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness AT tires; and

10 (B) that date was 3 months after the National

11 Highway Traffic Safety Administration commenced

12 its investigation and nearly 9 months after Ford

13 Motor Company initiated the replacement of the

14 tires in foreign countries.

15 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to ensure

16 that defects in motor vehicles or replacement equipment

17 in foreign countries are quickly, accurately and truthfully

18 reported to the United States Secretary of Transportation

19 in cases in which—

20 (1) the motor vehicles or replacement equip21 ment is manufactured for export to the United

22 States; or

23 (2) the motor vehicles or replacement equip24 ment is manufactured in the United States using a

25 manufacturing process that is the same as, or simi-
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1 lar to, the manufacturing process used in the foreign

2 country, with the result that the motor vehicles or

3 replacement equipment manufactured in the United

4 States may also be defective.

5 SEC. 3. CRIMINAL AND CIVIL PENALTIES IN CONNECTION

6 WITH REPORTING OF DEFECTS IN FOREIGN

7 MOTOR VEHICLE PRODUCTS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 47 of title 18, United

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing:

11 ‘‘§ 1036. Penalties in connection with reporting of de12 fects in foreign motor vehicle products

13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—

14 ‘‘(1) FOREIGN MOTOR VEHICLE PRODUCT.—

15 The term ‘foreign motor vehicle product’ means a

16 motor vehicle or replacement equipment that—

17 ‘‘(A) is manufactured in a foreign country

18 for export to the United States; or

19 ‘‘(B) is manufactured in a foreign country

20 using a manufacturing process that is the same

21 as, or similar to, a manufacturing process used

22 in the United States for a motor vehicle or re23 placement equipment.

24 ‘‘(2) OTHER TERMS.—The terms ‘defect’, ‘man25 ufacturer’, ‘motor vehicle’, and ‘replacement equip-
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1 ment’ have the meanings given the terms in section

2 30102 of title 49.

3 ‘‘(b) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—A manufacturer of a for4 eign motor vehicle product, or an officer or employee of

5 such a manufacturer, that, in connection with a report re6 quired to be filed under section 30118(f) of title 49,

7 willfully—

8 ‘‘(1) falsifies or conceals a material fact;

9 ‘‘(2) makes a materially false, fictitious, or

10 fraudulent statement or representation; or

11 ‘‘(3) makes or uses a false writing or document

12 knowing that the writing or document contains any

13 materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement

14 or entry;

15 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than

16 5 years, or both.

17 ‘‘(c) CIVIL PENALTY.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any civil

19 penalty that may be assessed under chapter 301 of

20 title 49, a manufacturer that violates section

21 30118(f) of title 49 shall be subject to a civil penalty

22 of not more than $500,000 for each day of the viola23 tion.
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1 ‘‘(2) COMPROMISE OF PENALTY.—The Attorney

2 General may compromise the amount of a civil pen3 alty imposed under paragraph (1).

4 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.—In deter5 mining the amount of a civil penalty or compromise

6 under this subsection, the Attorney General shall

7 consider—

8 ‘‘(A) the appropriateness of the penalty or

9 compromise in relation to the size of the busi10 ness of the manufacturer liable for the penalty;

11 and

12 ‘‘(B) the gravity of the violation.

13 ‘‘(4) DEDUCTION OF AMOUNT OF PENALTY.—

14 The United States Government may deduct the

15 amount of the civil penalty imposed or compromised

16 under this section from any amount that the Gov17 ernment owes the manufacturer liable for the pen18 alty.’’.

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

20 chapter 47 of title 18, United States Code, is amended

21 by adding at the end the following:

‘‘1036. Penalties in connection with reporting of defects in foreign motor vehicle

products.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. REPORTING OF DEFECTS IN FOREIGN MOTOR VEHI2 CLE PRODUCTS.

3 Section 30118 of title 49, United States Code, is

4 amended by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(f) REPORTING OF DEFECTS IN FOREIGN MOTOR

6 VEHICLE PRODUCTS.—

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF FOREIGN MOTOR VEHICLE

8 PRODUCT.—The term ‘foreign motor vehicle product’

9 means a motor vehicle or replacement equipment

10 that—

11 ‘‘(A) is manufactured in a foreign country

12 for export to the United States; or

13 ‘‘(B) is manufactured in a foreign country

14 using a manufacturing process that is the same

15 as, or similar to, a manufacturing process used

16 in the United States for a motor vehicle or re17 placement equipment.

18 ‘‘(2) REPORTING OF DEFECTS.—

19 ‘‘(A) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 48

20 hours after determining, or learning that a gov21 ernment of a foreign country has determined,

22 that a foreign motor vehicle product contains a

23 defect that could be related to motor vehicle

24 safety, the manufacturer of the foreign motor

25 vehicle product shall report the determination

26 to the Secretary.
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1 ‘‘(B) WRITTEN REPORT.—

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5

3 days after the end of the 48-hour period

4 described in subparagraph (A), the manu5 facturer shall submit to the Secretary a

6 written report that meets the requirements

7 of clause (ii).

8 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS OF WRITTEN RE9 PORT.—A written report under clause (i)

10 shall contain—

11 ‘‘(I) a description of the foreign

12 motor vehicle product that is the sub13 ject of the report;

14 ‘‘(II) a description of—

15 ‘‘(aa) the determination of

16 the defect by the government of

17 the foreign country or by the

18 manufacturer of a foreign motor

19 vehicle product; and

20 ‘‘(bb) any measures that the

21 government requires to be taken,

22 or the manufacturer determines

23 should be taken, to obtain a rem24 edy of the defect;
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1 ‘‘(III) information concerning

2 any serious injuries or fatalities pos3 sibly resulting from the defect; and

4 ‘‘(IV) such other information as

5 the Secretary determines to be appro6 priate.

7 ‘‘(3) REPORTING OF POSSIBLE DEFECTS.—

8 Upon making a determination that there have been

9 a significant number of serious injuries or fatalities

10 in a foreign country that could have resulted from

11 a defect in a foreign motor vehicle product that

12 could be related to motor vehicle safety (as deter13 mined in accordance with regulations promulgated

14 by the Secretary), the manufacturer of the foreign

15 motor vehicle product shall report the determination

16 to the Secretary in such manner as the Secretary es17 tablishes by regulation.’’.

18 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

19 This Act and the amendments made by this Act take

20 effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of enact21 ment of this Act.

Æ