I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4733 

To establish the Office of the Congressional Trade Enforcer, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2006 

Mr. RANGEL (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. STARK, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. POMEROY, and Mr. DAVIS of Alabama) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in 

addition to the Committee on Rules, 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 establish the Office of the Congressional Trade Enforcer, 

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 ‘‘Stand Up for America 

5 Act of 2006’’. 
2 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF THE CONGRESSIONAL TRADE EN2 FORCER. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

4 legislative branch an Office of the Congressional Trade 

5 Enforcer (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Office’’). 

6 (b) CONGRESSIONAL TRADE ENFORCER.— 

7 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The head of the Office 

8 shall be a Congressional Trade Enforcer, who shall 

9 be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Rep10 resentatives, the minority leader of the House of 

11 Representatives, the majority leader of the Senate, 

12 and the minority leader of the Senate after consid13 ering recommendations received from the Committee 

14 on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 

15 and Committee on Finance of the Senate, without 

16 regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis 

17 of fitness to perform the functions described in sub18 section (d). 

19 (2) TERM.—The term of office of the Congres20 sional Trade Enforcer shall be 5 years. An indi21 vidual serving as Congressional Trade Enforcer at 

22 the expiration of a term may continue to serve until 

23 a successor is appointed. The Congressional Trade 

24 Enforcer may be removed by either the House of 

25 Representatives or the Senate by resolution. 
3 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 (3) COMPENSATION.—The Congressional Trade 

2 Enforcer shall receive compensation at an annual 

3 rate of pay that is equal to the lower of— 

4 (A) the highest annual rate of compensa5 tion of any officer of the Senate; or 

6 (B) the highest annual rate of compensa7 tion of any officer of the House of Representa8 tives. 

9 (c) PERSONNEL.—The Congressional Trade Enforcer 

10 shall appoint and fix the compensation of such personnel 

11 as may be necessary to carry out the functions described 

12 in subsection (d). All personnel of the Office shall be ap13 pointed without regard to political affiliation and solely on 

14 the basis of their fitness to perform their duties. The Con15 gressional Trade Enforcer may prescribe the duties and 

16 responsibilities of the personnel of the Office, and delegate 

17 to them authority to perform any of the duties, powers, 

18 and functions imposed on the Office. For purposes of pay 

19 (other than pay of the Congressional Trade Enforcer) and 

20 employment benefits, rights, and privileges, all personnel 

21 of the Office shall be treated as if they were employees 

22 of the House of Representatives. 

23 (d) FUNCTIONS.— 

24 (1) PRINCIPLE FUNCTION.—The principle func25 tion of the Congressional Trade Enforcer shall be to 
4 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 ensure compliance by trading partners of the United 

2 States with international trade agreements to which 

3 the United States is a party. 

4 (2) OTHER FUNCTIONS; ACTIONS BY USTR.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Congressional 

6 Trade Enforcer shall have the authority to in7 vestigate foreign trade practices that are bar8 riers to United States exports and issue indict9 ments in cases where such practices violate any 

10 of the Uruguay Round Agreements or any bilat11 eral or regional trade agreement to which the 

12 United States is a party. 

13 (B) SUBMISSION OF INDICTMENTS.—The 

14 Congressional Trade Enforcer shall submit in15 dictments referred to in subparagraph (A) to 

16 the Committee on Ways and Means of the 

17 House of Representatives, the Committee on 

18 Finance of the Senate, and the United States 

19 Trade Representative. 

20 (C) ACTION PURSUANT TO INDICTMENT.— 

21 Within 30 days after receiving an indictment 

22 under subparagraph (B), the Trade Representa23 tive should commence dispute resolution proce24 dures in the appropriate forum against the 
5 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 country or countries that are the subject of the 

2 indictment unless— 

3 (i) prior to the date of filing, the for4 eign country or countries involved enters 

5 into an agreement with the United States 

6 to eliminate the practice that is incon7 sistent with its international obligations; or 

8 (ii) in extraordinary cases, the filing 

9 of the case would cause serious harm to 

10 the national security of the United States. 

11 (D) REPORT.—If the Trade Representative 

12 does not commence dispute resolution proce13 dures under subparagraph (C) pursuant to an 

14 indictment under subparagraph (B), the Trade 

15 Representative shall, not later than 30 days 

16 after receiving the indictment, submit to the 

17 Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 

18 Representatives and the Committee on Finance 

19 of the Senate a report containing the reasons 

20 therefor and shall publish notice of the decision, 

21 together with a summary of such reasons, in 

22 the Federal Register. 

23 (3) ACTION PURSUANT TO JOINT RESOLU24 TION.— 
6 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Trade Rep2 resentative does not commence dispute resolu3 tion procedures under paragraph (2)(C) pursu4 ant to an indictment under paragraph (2)(B), 

5 then the Trade Representative shall commence 

6 dispute resolution procedures in the appropriate 

7 forum pursuant to the indictment upon the en8 actment pursuant to the requirements of sub9 paragraph (B) of a joint resolution described in 

10 subparagraph (C). 

11 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—(i) The require12 ments of this subparagraph are met if the joint 

13 resolution is enacted under subparagraph (C) 

14 and— 

15 (I) the Congress adopts and transmits 

16 the joint resolution to the President before 

17 the end of the 90-day period (excluding 

18 any day described in section 154(b) of the 

19 Trade Act of 1974), beginning on the date 

20 on which the Congressional Trade En21 forcer submits the indictment under para22 graph (2)(B); and 

23 (II) if the President vetoes the joint 

24 resolution, each House of Congress votes 

25 to override that veto on or before the later 
7 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 of the last day of the 90-day period re2 ferred to in subclause (I) or the last day 

3 of the 15-day period (excluding any day 

4 described in section 154(b) of the Trade 

5 Act of 1974) beginning on the date on 

6 which the Congress receives the veto mes7 sage from the President. 

8 (ii) A joint resolution to which this para9 graph applies may be introduced at any time on 

10 or after the end of the 30-day period described 

11 in paragraph (2)(C), and before the end of the 

12 90-day period referred to in clause (i). 

13 (C) JOINT RESOLUTIONS.— 

14 (i) JOINT RESOLUTIONS.—For pur15 pose of this paragraph, the term ‘‘joint 

16 resolution’’ means only a joint resolution of 

17 the 2 Houses of Congress, the matter after 

18 the resolving clause of which is as follows: 

19 ‘‘That the United States Trade Represent20 ative shall commence dispute resolution 

21 procedures against lllllll in 

22 llllll pursuant to the indictment 

23 submitted under section 2(d)(2)(B) of the 

24 Stand Up for America Act of 2006 on 

25 llllll.’’, with the first blank space 
8 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 being filled with the country or countries 

2 that are the subject of the indictment, the 

3 second blank space being filled with the 

4 appropriate forum, and the third blank 

5 space being filled with the appropriate 

6 date. 

7 (ii) PROCEDURES.—(I) Joint resolu8 tions may be introduced in either House of 

9 the Congress by any member of such 

10 House. 

11 (II) Subject to the provisions of this 

12 subparagraph, the provisions of subsections 

13 (b), (d), (e), and (f) of section 152 of the 

14 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2192 (b), 

15 (d), (e), and (f)) apply to joint resolutions 

16 to the same extent as such provisions apply 

17 to resolutions under that section. 

18 (III) If the committee of either House 

19 to which a joint resolution has been re20 ferred has not reported it by the close of 

21 the 45th day after its introduction (exclud22 ing any day described in section 154(b) of 

23 the Trade Act of 1974), such committee 

24 shall be automatically discharged from fur25 ther consideration of the joint resolution 
9 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 and it shall be placed on the appropriate 

2 calendar. 

3 (IV) It is not in order for— 

4 (aa) the Senate to consider any 

5 joint resolution unless it has been re6 ported by the Committee on Finance 

7 or the committee has been discharged 

8 under subclause (III); or 

9 (bb) the House of Representa10 tives to consider any joint resolution 

11 unless it has been reported by the 

12 Committee on Ways and Means or the 

13 committee has been discharged under 

14 subclause (III). 

15 (V) A motion in the House of Rep16 resentatives to proceed to the consideration 

17 of a joint resolution may only be made on 

18 the second legislative day after the cal19 endar day on which the Member making 

20 the motion announces to the House his or 

21 her intention to do so. 

22 (iii) CONSIDERATION OF SECOND RES23 OLUTION NOT IN ORDER.—It shall not be 

24 in order in either the House of Representa25 tives or the Senate to consider a joint reso-
10 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 lution (other than a joint resolution re2 ceived from the other House), if that 

3 House has previously adopted a joint reso4 lution under this paragraph. 

5 (iv) RULES OF HOUSE OF REP6 RESENTATIVES AND SENATE.—This para7 graph is enacted by the Congress— 

8 (I) as an exercise of the rule9 making power of the House of Rep10 resentatives and the Senate, respec11 tively, and as such is deemed a part 

12 of the rules of each House, respec13 tively, and such procedures supersede 

14 other rules only to the extent that 

15 they are inconsistent with such other 

16 rules; and 

17 (II) with the full recognition of 

18 the constitutional right of either 

19 House to change the rules (so far as 

20 relating to the procedures of that 

21 House) at any time, in the same man22 ner, and to the same extent as any 

23 other rule of that House. 

24 (4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
11 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 (A) INDICTMENT.—The term ‘‘indictment’’ 

2 means a formal written analysis setting forth 

3 the legal explanation of the manner in which a 

4 foreign trade practice of a country or countries 

5 violates any of the Uruguay Round Agreements 

6 or any bilateral or regional trade agreement to 

7 which the United States is a party. 

8 (B) URUGUAY ROUND AGREEMENTS.—The 

9 term ‘‘Uruguay Round Agreements’’ means any 

10 of the agreements approved by the Congress 

11 under section 101(a)(1) of the Uruguay Round 

12 Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3511(a)(1)). 

13 (e) OFFICE OF MARKET ACCESS ASSISTANCE.— 

14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

15 the Office of the Congressional Trade Enforcer an 

16 Office of Market Access Assistance. 

17 (2) FUNCTIONS.—The Office of Market Access 

18 Assistance shall provide technical and legal assist19 ance and advice to eligible small businesses to enable 

20 such small businesses to prepare and file petitions 

21 (other than those which, in the opinion of the Office 

22 of Market Access Assistance, are frivolous) under 

23 section 302 of the Trade Act of 1974. 

24 (3) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘eligible small 

25 business’’ means any business concern which, in the 
12 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 judgment of the Office of Market Access Assistance, 

2 due to its small size, has neither adequate internal 

3 resources nor financial ability to obtain qualified 

4 outside assistance in preparing and filing petitions 

5 and complaints under section 302 of the Trade Act 

6 of 1974. In determining whether a business concern 

7 is an ‘‘eligible small business,’’ the Office of Market 

8 Access Assistance may consult with the Adminis9 trator of the Small Business Administration and the 

10 heads of other appropriate Federal departments and 

11 agencies. 

12 (f) RELATIONSHIP TO EXECUTIVE BRANCH.—The 

13 Congressional Trade Enforcer is authorized to secure in14 formation, data, estimates, and statistics directly from the 

15 various departments, agencies, and establishments of the 

16 executive branch of Government and the regulatory agen17 cies and commissions of the Government. All such depart18 ments, agencies, establishments, and regulatory agencies 

19 and commissions shall furnish the Congressional Trade 

20 Enforcer with any available material which the Congres21 sional Trade Enforcer determines to be necessary in the 

22 performance of the functions of the Office. The Congres23 sional Trade Enforcer is also authorized, upon agreement 

24 with the head of any such department, agency, establish25 ment, or regulatory agency or commission, to utilize its 
13 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 services, facilities, and personnel with or without reim2 bursement; and the head of each such department, agency, 

3 establishment, or regulatory agency or commission is au4 thorized to provide the Office such services, facilities, and 

5 personnel. 

6 (g) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER AGENCIES OF CON7 GRESS.—In carrying out the functions of the Office, and 

8 for the purpose of coordinating the operations of the Of9 fice with those of other congressional agencies with a view 

10 to utilizing most effectively the information, services, and 

11 capabilities of all such agencies in carrying out the various 

12 responsibilities assigned to each, the Congressional Trade 

13 Enforcer is authorized to obtain information, data, esti14 mates, and statistics developed by the Government Ac15 countability Office, and the Library of Congress, and 

16 (upon agreement with them) to utilize their services, facili17 ties, and personnel with or without reimbursement. The 

18 Comptroller General and the Librarian of Congress are 

19 authorized to provide the Office with the information, 

20 data, estimates, and statistics, and the services, facilities, 

21 and personnel, referred to in the preceding sentence. 

22 (h) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 are authorized to be appropriated to the Office to carry 

24 out this section such sums as may be necessary for each 

25 fiscal year. 
14 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION OF TRADE EXPANSION PRIOR2 ITIES. 

3 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF TRADE EXPANSION PRIOR4 ITIES.—Section 310 of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended 

5 to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 310. IDENTIFICATION OF TRADE EXPANSION PRIOR7 ITIES. 

8 ‘‘(a) IDENTIFICATION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IDENTIFICATION AND REPORT.—Within 30 

10 days after the submission in each calendar year of 

11 the report required by section 181(b), the Congres12 sional Trade Enforcer shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) review United States trade expansion 

14 priorities; 

15 ‘‘(B) identify priority foreign country prac16 tices, including currency manipulation, the 

17 elimination of which is likely to have the most 

18 significant potential to increase United States 

19 exports, either directly or through the establish20 ment of a beneficial precedent; and 

21 ‘‘(C) submit to the Committee on Finance 

22 of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and 

23 Means of the House of Representatives and the 

24 Trade Representative and publish in the Fed25 eral Register a report on the priority foreign 

26 country practices so identified. 
15 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 ‘‘(2) FACTORS.—In identifying priority foreign 

2 country practices under paragraph (1), the Congres3 sional Trade Enforcer shall take into account all rel4 evant factors, including— 

5 ‘‘(A) the major barriers and trade dis6 torting practices described in the National 

7 Trade Estimate Report required under section 

8 181(b); 

9 ‘‘(B) the trade agreements to which a for10 eign country is a party and its compliance with 

11 those agreements; 

12 ‘‘(C) the medium- and long-term implica13 tions of foreign government procurement plans; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(D) the international competitive position 

16 and export potential of United States products 

17 and services. 

18 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The Congres19 sional Trade Enforcer may include in the report, if 

20 appropriate— 

21 ‘‘(A) a description of foreign country prac22 tices that may in the future warrant identifica23 tion as priority foreign country practices; and 

24 ‘‘(B) a statement about other foreign coun25 try practices that were not identified because 
16 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 they are already being addressed by provisions 

2 of United States trade law, by existing bilateral 

3 trade agreements, or as part of trade negotia4 tions with other countries, and because progress 

5 is being made toward the elimination of such 

6 practices. 

7 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

8 ‘Congressional Trade Enforcer’ means the head of 

9 the Office of the Congressional Trade Enforcer es10 tablished pursuant to section 2 of the Stand Up for 

11 America Act of 2006. 

12 ‘‘(b) INITIATION OF CONSULTATIONS.—By no later 

13 than the date that is 21 days after the date on which a 

14 report is submitted to the appropriate congressional com15 mittees and the Trade Representative under subsection 

16 (a)(1), the Trade Representative should seek consultations 

17 with each foreign country identified in the report as en18 gaging in priority foreign country practices for the pur19 pose of reaching a satisfactory resolution of such priority 

20 practices. 

21 ‘‘(c) INITIATION OF INVESTIGATION.—If the Trade 

22 Representative seeks consultations under subsection (b) 

23 and a satisfactory resolution of the priority foreign coun24 try practices involved has not been reached within 90 days 

25 after the date on which a report is submitted to the appro-
17 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 priate congressional committees under subsection (a)(1), 

2 the Trade Representative shall initiate under section 

3 302(b)(1) an investigation under this chapter with respect 

4 to such priority foreign country practices. 

5 ‘‘(d) AGREEMENTS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF BAR6 RIERS.—In the consultations with a foreign country that 

7 the Trade Representative is required to request under sec8 tion 303(a) with respect to an investigation initiated by 

9 reason of subsection (c), the Trade Representative shall 

10 seek to negotiate an agreement that provides for the elimi11 nation of the practices that are the subject of the inves12 tigation as quickly as possible or, if elimination of the 

13 practices is not feasible, an agreement that provides for 

14 compensatory trade benefits. 

15 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.—The Trade Representative shall in16 clude in the semiannual report required by section 309 

17 a report on the status of any investigations initiated pur18 suant to subsection (c) and, where appropriate, the extent 

19 to which such investigations have led to increased opportu20 nities for the export of products and services of the United 

21 States.’’. 

22 (b) INITIAL REPORT ON CERTAIN PRACTICES.—Not 

23 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 

24 Act, the Congressional Trade Enforcer shall identify, and 

25 report to the Congress on, priority foreign trade practices 
18 

•HR 4733 IH 

1 of the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, 

2 and the European Union, in accordance with section 310 

3 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended by subsection (a) 

4 of this section. As part of its analysis, the Congressional 

5 Trade Enforcer shall consider violations by the People’s 

6 Republic of China and the Russian Federation of World 

7 Trade Organization rules regarding the protection of intel8 lectual property rights, violations by the People’s Republic 

9 of China of World Trade Organization rules regarding the 

10 manipulation of currency, and violations by the European 

11 Union of World Trade Organization rules regarding dis12 criminatory regional trade agreements. 

13 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The item relating 

14 to section 310 in the table of contents of the Trade Act 

15 of 1974 is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 310. Identification of trade expansion priorities’’. 

Æ