I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3219 

To require the Secretary of Labor to maintain a publicly available list of 

all employers that relocate a call center or contract call center work 

overseas, to make such companies ineligible for Federal grants or guaranteed loans, and to require disclosure of the physical location of business 

agents engaging in customer service communications, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2019 

Mr. MCKINLEY (for himself and Mr. POCAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 

addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, Armed Services, 

and Oversight and Reform, 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 require the Secretary of Labor to maintain a publicly 

available list of all employers that relocate a call center 

or contract call center work overseas, to make such companies ineligible for Federal grants or guaranteed loans, 

and to require disclosure of the physical location of business agents engaging in customer service communications, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protec4 tion Act of 2019’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—CONSEQUENCES FOR RELOCATING OR CONTRACTING 

OUT CALL CENTER WORK OVERSEAS 

Sec. 101. List of call centers relocating or contracting call center work overseas 

and ineligibility for grants or guaranteed loans. 

Sec. 102. Rule of construction related to Federal benefits for workers. 

Sec. 103. Report regarding Federal call center work locations. 

Sec. 104. Requirement that call center work under a Federal contract be performed inside the United States. 

TITLE II—REQUIRED DISCLOSURE OF PHYSICAL LOCATIONS IN 

CUSTOMER SERVICE COMMUNICATIONS 

Sec. 201. Required disclosure by business entities engaged in customer service 

communications of physical location. 

Sec. 202. Enforcement. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means a 

10 Federal or State executive agency or a military de11 partment. 

12 (2) BUSINESS ENTITY.—The term ‘‘business 

13 entity’’ means any organization, corporation, trust, 

14 partnership, sole proprietorship, unincorporated as15 sociation, or venture established to make a profit, in 

16 whole or in part, by purposefully availing itself of 


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1 the privilege of conducting commerce in the United 

2 States. 

3 (3) CALL CENTER.—The term ‘‘call center’’ 

4 means a facility or other operation whereby employ5 ees receive incoming telephone calls, emails, or other 

6 electronic communication for the purpose of pro7 viding customer assistance or other service. 

8 (4) CONSUMER.—The term ‘‘consumer’’ means 

9 any individual within the territorial jurisdiction of 

10 the United States who purchases, transacts, or con11 tracts for the purchase or transaction of any goods, 

12 merchandise, or services, not for resale in the ordi13 nary course of the individual’s trade or business, but 

14 for the individual’s use or that of a member of the 

15 individual’s household. 

16 (5) CONTRACTING CALL CENTER WORK OVER17 SEAS.—The term ‘‘contracting call center work over18 seas’’ means transferring the work of a call center, 

19 or of one or more facilities or operating units within 

20 a call center comprising at least 30 percent of the 

21 total volume of the call center or operating unit 

22 when measured against the previous 12-month aver23 age call volume of operations or substantially similar 

24 operations, through a contract or other agreement to 


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1 another entity who will perform that work outside of 

2 the United States. 

3 (6) CUSTOMER SERVICE COMMUNICATION.— 

4 The term ‘‘customer service communication’’ means 

5 any telecommunication or wire communication be6 tween a consumer and a business entity in further7 ance of commerce. 

8 (7) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ means 

9 any business enterprise that employs in a call cen10 ter— 

11 (A) 50 or more employees, excluding part12 time employees; or 

13 (B) 50 or more employees who in the ag14 gregate work at least 1,500 hours per week (ex15 clusive of hours of overtime). 

16 (8) PART-TIME EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘part17 time employee’’ means an employee who is employed 

18 for an average of fewer than 20 hours per week or 

19 who has been employed for fewer than 6 of the 12 

20 months preceding the date on which notice is re21 quired. 

22 (9) RELOCATING AND RELOCATION.—The 

23 terms ‘‘relocating’’ and ‘‘relocation’’ refer to the clo24 sure of a call center, or the cessation of operations 

25 of a call center, or one or more facilities or operating 


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1 units within a call center comprising at least 30 per2 cent of the total volume of the call center or oper3 ating unit, when measured against the previous 12- 

4 month average call volume of operations or substan5 tially similar operations, and the transferring of the 

6 operations of the call center (or facilities or oper7 ating units) to another location outside of the 

8 United States. 

9 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

10 means the Secretary of Labor. 

11 (11) TELECOMMUNICATION.—The term ‘‘tele12 communication’’ means the transmission, between or 

13 among points specified by the communicator, of in14 formation of the communicator’s choosing, without 

15 change in the form or content of the information as 

16 sent and received. 

17 (12) WIRE COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNICA18 TION BY WIRE.—The term ‘‘wire communication’’ or 

19 ‘‘communication by wire’’ means the transmission of 

20 writing, signs, signals, pictures, and sounds of all 

21 kinds by aid of wire, cable, or other like connection 

22 between the points of origin and reception of such 

23 transmission, including all instrumentalities, facili24 ties, apparatus, and services (among other things, 


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1 the receipt, forwarding, and delivery of communica2 tions) incidental to such transmission. 

3 TITLE I—CONSEQUENCES FOR 

4 RELOCATING OR CON5 TRACTING OUT CALL CENTER 

6 WORK OVERSEAS 

7 SEC. 101. LIST OF CALL CENTERS RELOCATING OR CON8 TRACTING CALL CENTER WORK OVERSEAS 

9 AND INELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS OR GUAR10 ANTEED LOANS. 

11 (a) LIST.— 

12 (1) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not fewer than 120 

14 days before relocating a call center outside of 

15 the United States, or contracting call center 

16 work overseas, an employer shall notify the Sec17 retary of such relocation or contracting. 

18 (B) PENALTY.—A person who violates sub19 paragraph (A) shall be subject to a civil penalty 

20 not to exceed $10,000 for each day of violation. 

21 (2) ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF

22 LIST.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es24 tablish, maintain, and make available to the 

25 public a list of all employers who relocate a call 


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1 center or contract call center work overseas, as 

2 described in paragraph (1)(A). 

3 (B) TERM.—Each employer included in 

4 the list required by subparagraph (A) shall re5 main on the list for a period not to exceed 5 

6 years after each instance of relocating a call 

7 center or contracting call center work overseas. 

8 (C) REMOVAL.—The Secretary may re9 move an employer from the list required by sub10 paragraph (A) if the Secretary determines 

11 that— 

12 (i)(I) the employer has relocated a call 

13 center from a location outside of the 

14 United States to a location in the United 

15 States; and 

16 (II) the new call center in the United 

17 States employs a number of employees 

18 equal to or greater than the number of em19 ployees who worked at the original call 

20 center that was relocated to a location out21 side of the United States; or 

22 (ii) in the case of an employer who 

23 contracted call center work overseas, the 

24 employer demonstrates that the contract or 

25 agreement has been amended to require 


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1 that all employees performing call center 

2 work under the contract or agreement will 

3 be located in the United States. 

4 (b) INELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS OR GUARANTEED

5 LOANS.— 

6 (1) INELIGIBILITY.—Except as provided in 

7 paragraph (2) and notwithstanding any other provi8 sion of law, an employer who appears on the list re9 quired by subsection (a)(2)(A) shall be ineligible for 

10 any direct or indirect Federal grants or Federal 

11 guaranteed loans for 5 years after the date such em12 ployer was added to the list. 

13 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary, in consulta14 tion with the appropriate agency providing a loan or 

15 grant, may waive the eligibility restriction provided 

16 under paragraph (1) if the employer applying for 

17 such loan or grant demonstrates that a lack of such 

18 loan or grant would— 

19 (A) threaten national security; 

20 (B) result in substantial job loss in the 

21 United States; or 

22 (C) harm the environment. 

23 (c) PREFERENCE IN FEDERAL CONTRACTING FOR

24 NOT RELOCATING OR CONTRACTING CALL CENTER

25 WORK OVERSEAS.—The head of an agency, when awardVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3219.IH H3219

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1 ing a civilian or defense-related Federal contract, shall 

2 give preference to a United States employer that does not 

3 appear on the list required by subsection (a)(2)(A). 

4 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

5 on the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment 

6 of this Act. 

7 SEC. 102. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION RELATED TO FEDERAL 

8 BENEFITS FOR WORKERS. 

9 No provision of this title shall be construed to permit 

10 withholding or denial of payments, compensation, or bene11 fits under any provision of Federal law (including Federal 

12 unemployment compensation, disability payments, or 

13 worker retraining or readjustment funds) to workers em14 ployed by employers that relocate operations outside the 

15 United States. 

16 SEC. 103. REPORT REGARDING FEDERAL CALL CENTER 

17 WORK LOCATIONS. 

18 By not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall prepare and sub20 mit to Congress a report that documents the location, and 

21 amount, of call center work conducted by or for the Fed22 eral Government, including— 

23 (1) a determination of the amount of such Fed24 eral call center work that is conducted by Federal 


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1 employees, and the amount conducted by Federal 

2 contractors; and 

3 (2) all locations at which such Federal call cen4 ter work is being conducted, whether by Federal em5 ployees or through Federal contracts. 

6 SEC. 104. REQUIREMENT THAT CALL CENTER WORK UNDER 

7 A FEDERAL CONTRACT BE PERFORMED IN8 SIDE THE UNITED STATES. 

9 The head of an agency, when awarding a civilian or 

10 defense-related Federal contract, shall require as a condi11 tion of the contract that any call center work performed 

12 in connection with the contract or any subcontract under 

13 the contract shall be performed inside the United States. 

14 TITLE II—REQUIRED DISCLO15 SURE OF PHYSICAL LOCA16 TIONS IN CUSTOMER SERV17 ICE COMMUNICATIONS 

18 SEC. 201. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE BY BUSINESS ENTITIES 

19 ENGAGED IN CUSTOMER SERVICE COMMU20 NICATIONS OF PHYSICAL LOCATION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

22 (b), a business entity that either initiates or receives a cus23 tomer service communication shall require that each of its 

24 employees or agents participating in the communication 


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1 disclose their physical location at the beginning of each 

2 customer service communication so initiated or received. 

3 (b) EXCEPTIONS.— 

4 (1) BUSINESS ENTITIES LOCATED IN THE

5 UNITED STATES.—The requirements of subsection 

6 (a) shall not apply to a customer service communica7 tion involving a business entity if all of the employ8 ees or agents of the business entity participating in 

9 such communication are physically located in the 

10 United States. 

11 (2) COMMUNICATION INITIATED BY CONSUMER

12 KNOWINGLY TO FOREIGN ENTITY OR ADDRESS.— 

13 The requirements of subsection (a) shall not apply 

14 to an employee or agent of a business entity partici15 pating in a customer service communication with a 

16 consumer if— 

17 (A) the customer service communication 

18 was initiated by the consumer; 

19 (B) the employee or agent is physically lo20 cated outside the United States; and 

21 (C) the consumer knows or reasonably 

22 should know that the employee or agent is 

23 physically located outside the United States. 

24 (3) EMERGENCY SERVICES.—The requirements 

25 of subsection (a) shall not apply to a customer servVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3219.IH H3219

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1 ice communication relating to the provision of emer2 gency services (as defined by the Federal Trade 

3 Commission). 

4 (4) BUSINESS ENTITIES AND CUSTOMER SERV5 ICE COMMUNICATIONS EXCLUDED BY FEDERAL

6 TRADE COMMISSION.—The Federal Trade Commis7 sion may exclude certain classes or types of business 

8 entities or customer service communications from 

9 the requirements of subsection (a) if the Commission 

10 finds exceptionally compelling circumstances that 

11 justify such exclusion. 

12 (c) TRANSFER TO U.S.-BASED CUSTOMER SERVICE

13 CENTER.—A business entity that is subject to the require14 ments of subsection (a) shall, at the request of a customer, 

15 transfer the customer to a customer service agent who is 

16 physically located in the United States. 

17 (d) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—Each year, 

18 each business entity that participates in a customer service 

19 communication shall certify to the Federal Trade Commis20 sion that it has complied or failed to comply with the re21 quirements of subsections (a) and (c). 

22 (e) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Com24 mission shall promulgate such regulations as may be nec25 essary to carry out the provisions of this section. 


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1 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of sub2 section (a) shall apply with respect to customer service 

3 communications occurring on or after the date that is 1 

4 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 202. ENFORCEMENT. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any failure to comply with the 

7 provisions of section 201 shall be treated as a violation 

8 of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal 

9 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regard10 ing unfair or deceptive acts or practices. 

11 (b) POWERS OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Commis13 sion shall prevent any person from violating section 

14 201 and any regulation promulgated thereunder, in 

15 the same manner, by the same means, and with the 

16 same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all 

17 applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 

18 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incor19 porated into and made a part of this Act. 

20 (2) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates regu21 lations promulgated under section 201 shall be sub22 ject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges 

23 and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Com24 mission Act in the same manner, by the same 

25 means, and with the same jurisdiction, power, and 


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1 duties as though all applicable terms and provisions 

2 of the Federal Trade Commission Act were incor3 porated into and made part of this Act. 

4 (c) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in this sec5 tion or section 201 shall be construed to limit the author6 ity of the Federal Trade Commission under any other pro7 vision of law. 

Æ 


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