II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3479 

To strengthen manufacturing in the United States through improved training, 

retention, and recruitment of workers, to deter evasion of antidumping 

and countervailing duty orders, and to promote United States exports, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2012 

Mr. PRYOR (for himself, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. 

WYDEN, and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

Pensions 

A BILL 

To strengthen manufacturing in the United States through 

improved training, retention, and recruitment of workers, 

to deter evasion of antidumping and countervailing duty 

orders, and to promote United States exports, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Building a Stronger America Act of 2012’’. 


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

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 

TITLE I—STRENGTHENING THE UNITED STATES 

MANUFACTURING SECTOR 

Subtitle A—Strengthening Employment Clusters To Organize Regional 

Success 

Sec. 101. Strengthening employment clusters to organize regional success. 

Subtitle B—Workforce Innovation for New Jobs and Applied Education 

Sec. 111. Innovation in investment pilot program. 

Sec. 112. Registered apprenticeship programs. 

Subtitle C—Attracting Jobs and Certification and Training Standards 

Sec. 121. Inbound investment program to recruit jobs to the United States. 

Sec. 122. Utilization of industry-approved certification assessments and standards to improve education and training program performance. 

TITLE II—LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD IN INTERNATIONAL 

TRADE 

Subtitle A—Investigating Claims of Evasion of Antidumping and 

Countervailing Duty Orders 

PART I—PROCEDURES

Sec. 201. Procedures for investigating claims of evasion of antidumping and 

countervailing duty orders. 

Sec. 202. Application to Canada and Mexico. 

PART II—OTHER MATTERS

Sec. 211. Definitions. 

Sec. 212. Allocation of U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel. 

Sec. 213. Regulations. 

Sec. 214. Annual report on prevention of evasion of antidumping and countervailing duty orders. 

Sec. 215. Government Accountability Office report on reliquidation authority. 

Subtitle B—Foreign Direct Investment 

Sec. 221. Report on enhancing competitiveness of United States in attracting 

foreign direct investment. 

TITLE III—EXPORT PROMOTION 

Sec. 301. Improved coordination of export promotion activities of Federal agencies by the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee. 

Sec. 302. Effective deployment of resources of the United States and Foreign 

Commercial Service. 


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Sec. 303. Strengthened commercial diplomacy to increase United States exports. 

Sec. 304. Reports on distortive or discriminatory economic policies and practices of foreign countries. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Between 1971 and 2011, the United States 

4 share of manufacturing output as a percentage of 

5 the world total has dropped by almost 10 percent, 

6 with 50 percent of this decline occurring during the 

7 last decade. 

8 (2) Manufacturing has been a source of good 

9 jobs and has historically provided wages and benefits 

10 nine percent above the average for workers in the 

11 United States. 

12 (3) The number of manufacturing sites in the 

13 United States fell from 397,552 in 2001 to 344,352 

14 by June 2010, leaving more than 50,000 factories 

15 far below capacity or vacant. 

16 (4) In 2010, the trade deficit of the United 

17 States in manufactured products with advanced 

18 technology was over $81,000,000,000. 

19 (5) The percentage of people in the United 

20 States working in manufacturing fell from 12.5 per21 cent in 1998 to 8.9 percent in 2008, and is expected 

22 to decline to 7.4 percent by 2018. 


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1 (6) United States service industries, including 

2 information technology, financial services, profes3 sional and business services, transportation and lo4 gistics, utilities, and others employ more than 

5 90,000,000 people in the United States and have en6 joyed significant growth over the last decade. 

7 (7) The unemployment rate in the United 

8 States has been greater than 8 percent since Janu9 ary 2009. 

(8) Exports currently support more than 1 10 ⁄3 of 

11 United States manufacturing jobs and more than 

12 $500,000,000,000 in services exports. The earnings 

13 of people in the United States who work for firms 

14 that export are more than 15 percent higher than 

15 those of similar workers at firms that do not export. 

16 (9) Ninety-five percent of the world’s con17 sumers of goods and services live outside the United 

18 States. 

19 (10) To create the next generation of high-value 

20 jobs and to be competitive in the global marketplace, 

21 we need to expand the capacity of the manufac22 turing and traded services sectors to support ex23 ports. 

24 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

25 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) the ability of the United States to attract 

2 foreign investment is directly linked to the long-term 

3 economic prosperity, competitiveness, and security of 

4 the United States; 

5 (2) in order to remain the most attractive loca6 tion for global investment, Congress and Federal 

7 agencies should consider the potential impact upon 

8 the ability of the United States to attract foreign di9 rect investment when evaluating proposed legislation 

10 or regulatory policy; and 

11 (3) it is a top national priority to enhance the 

12 competitiveness, prosperity, and security of the 

13 United States by— 

14 (A) removing unnecessary barriers to glob15 al investment in the United States and the jobs 

16 that it creates throughout the United States; 

17 and 

18 (B) promoting policies to ensure the 

19 United States remains the premier destination 

20 for global companies to invest, hire, innovate, 

21 and manufacture their products. 


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1 TITLE I—STRENGTHENING THE 

2 UNITED STATES MANUFAC3 TURING SECTOR 

4 Subtitle A—Strengthening Employ5 ment Clusters To Organize Re6 gional Success 

7 SEC. 101. STRENGTHENING EMPLOYMENT CLUSTERS TO 

8 ORGANIZE REGIONAL SUCCESS. 

9 The Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 

10 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

11 the end the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 28. INDUSTRY OR SECTOR PARTNERSHIP GRANT 

13 PROGRAM. 

14 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 

15 promote industry or sector partnerships that lead collabo16 rative planning, resource alignment, and training efforts 

17 across multiple firms for a range of workers employed or 

18 potentially employed by a targeted industry cluster, in 

19 order to encourage industry growth and competitiveness 

20 and to improve worker training, retention, and advance21 ment in targeted industry clusters, including by devel22 oping— 

23 ‘‘(1) immediate strategies for regions and com24 munities to fulfill pressing skilled workforce needs; 


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1 ‘‘(2) long-term plans to grow targeted industry 

2 clusters with better training and a more productive 

3 workforce; 

4 ‘‘(3) core competencies and competitive advan5 tages for regions and communities undergoing struc6 tural economic redevelopment; and 

7 ‘‘(4) skill standards, career ladders, job re8 definitions, employer practices, and shared training 

9 and support capacities that facilitate the advance10 ment of workers at all skill levels. 

11 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) CAREER LADDER.—The term ‘career lad13 der’ means an identified series of positions, work ex14 periences, and educational benchmarks or credentials 

15 that offer occupational and financial advancement 

16 within a specified career field or related fields over 

17 time. 

18 ‘‘(2) ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY.—The term 

19 ‘economic self-sufficiency’ means, with respect to a 

20 worker, earning a wage sufficient to support a fam21 ily adequately over time, based on factors such as— 

22 ‘‘(A) family size; 

23 ‘‘(B) the number and ages of children in 

24 the family; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the cost of living in the worker’s com2 munity; and 

3 ‘‘(D) other factors that may vary by re4 gion. 

5 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en6 tity’ means— 

7 ‘‘(A) an industry or sector partnership; or 

8 ‘‘(B) an eligible State agency. 

9 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE STATE AGENCY.—The term ‘eli10 gible State agency’ means a State agency designated 

11 by the Governor of the State in which the State 

12 agency is located for the purposes of the grant pro13 gram under this section. 

14 ‘‘(5) HIGH-PRIORITY OCCUPATION.—The term 

15 ‘high-priority occupation’ means an occupation 

16 that— 

17 ‘‘(A) has a significant presence in an in18 dustry cluster; 

19 ‘‘(B) is in demand by employers; 

20 ‘‘(C) pays family-sustaining wages that en21 able workers to achieve economic self-suffi22 ciency, or can reasonably be expected to lead to 

23 such wages; 

24 ‘‘(D) has or is in the process of developing 

25 a documented career ladder; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) has a significant impact on a region’s 

2 economic development strategy. 

3 ‘‘(6) INDUSTRY CLUSTER.—The term ‘industry 

4 cluster’ means a concentration of interconnected 

5 businesses, suppliers, research and development enti6 ties, service providers, and associated institutions in 

7 a particular field that are linked by common work8 force needs. 

9 ‘‘(7) INDUSTRY OR SECTOR PARTNERSHIP.— 

10 The term ‘industry or sector partnership’ means a 

11 workforce collaborative that is described as follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) MANDATORY PARTNERS.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An industry or 

14 sector partnership is a workforce collabo15 rative that organizes key stakeholders in a 

16 targeted industry cluster into a working 

17 group that focuses on the workforce needs 

18 of the targeted industry cluster and in19 cludes, at the appropriate stage of develop20 ment of the partnership— 

21 ‘‘(I) representatives of multiple 

22 firms or employers in the targeted in23 dustry cluster, including small- and 

24 medium-sized employers when prac25 ticable; 


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1 ‘‘(II) one or more representatives 

2 of State labor organizations, central 

3 labor coalitions, or other labor organi4 zations, except in instances where no 

5 labor representation exists; 

6 ‘‘(III) one or more representa7 tives of local boards; 

8 ‘‘(IV) one or more representa9 tives of postsecondary educational in10 stitutions or other training providers; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(V) one or more representatives 

13 of State workforce agencies or other 

14 entities providing employment serv15 ices. 

16 ‘‘(ii) DIVERSE AND DISTINCT REP17 RESENTATION.—No individual may serve 

18 as a member in an industry or sector part19 nership, as defined in this paragraph, for 

20 more than one of the required categories 

21 described in subclauses (I) through (V) of 

22 clause (i). 

23 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZED MEMBERS.—An indus24 try or sector partnership may include represent25 atives of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) State or local government; 

2 ‘‘(ii) State or local economic develop3 ment agencies; 

4 ‘‘(iii) other State or local agencies; 

5 ‘‘(iv) chambers of commerce; 

6 ‘‘(v) nonprofit organizations; 

7 ‘‘(vi) philanthropic organizations; 

8 ‘‘(vii) economic development organiza9 tions; 

10 ‘‘(viii) industry associations; and 

11 ‘‘(ix) other organizations, as deter12 mined necessary by the members com13 prising the industry or sector partnership. 

14 ‘‘(8) INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED.—The term ‘in15 dustry-recognized’, used with respect to a credential, 

16 means a credential that— 

17 ‘‘(A) is sought or accepted by businesses 

18 within the industry or sector involved as a rec19 ognized, preferred, or required credential for re20 cruitment, screening, or hiring purposes; and 

21 ‘‘(B) is endorsed by a nationally recognized 

22 trade association or organization representing a 

23 significant part of the industry or sector, where 

24 appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(9) NATIONALLY PORTABLE.—The term ‘na2 tionally portable’, used with respect to a credential, 

3 means a credential that is sought or accepted by 

4 businesses within the industry sector involved, across 

5 multiple States, as a recognized, preferred, or re6 quired credential for recruitment, screening, or hir7 ing purposes. 

8 ‘‘(10) TARGETED INDUSTRY CLUSTER.—The 

9 term ‘targeted industry cluster’ means an industry 

10 cluster that has— 

11 ‘‘(A) economic impact in a local area or re12 gional area, such as advanced manufacturing, 

13 clean energy technology, and health care; 

14 ‘‘(B) immediate workforce development 

15 needs, such as advanced manufacturing, clean 

16 energy, technology, and health care; and 

17 ‘‘(C) documented career opportunities. 

18 ‘‘(11) WORKFORCE INVESTMENT TERMS.—For 

19 purposes of this section and section 29, the terms 

20 ‘dislocated worker’, ‘economic development agencies’, 

21 ‘local area’, ‘local board’, ‘local educational agency’, 

22 ‘low-income individual’, ‘nontraditional employment’, 

23 ‘postsecondary educational institution’, ‘secondary 

24 school’, ‘State’, ‘State board’, ‘supportive services’, 

25 ‘unemployed individual’, ‘vocational education’, 


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1 ‘workforce investment activity’, and ‘youth council’, 

2 shall have the meanings given the terms in section 

3 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 

4 U.S.C. 2801), except that a reference in section 

5 101(46) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2801(46)) to ‘this 

6 title’ shall be considered to be a reference to this 

7 section. 

8 ‘‘(c) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appro10 priated to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 

11 award, on a competitive basis, grants described in 

12 paragraph (3) to eligible entities to enable the eligi13 ble entities to implement the eligible entities’ stra14 tegic objectives in accordance with subsection 

15 (d)(2)(D). 

16 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.— 

17 ‘‘(A) MAXIMUM FOR IMPLEMENTATION

18 GRANTS.—A grant awarded under paragraph 

19 (3)(A) may not exceed a total of $2,500,000 for 

20 a 3-year period. 

21 ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM FOR RENEWED GRANTS.— 

22 A grant renewed under paragraph (3)(C) may 

23 not exceed a total of $1,500,000 for a 3-year 

24 period. 

25 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS; DURATION; RENEWAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

2 award a grant under this section to an eligible 

3 entity that has established, or is in the process 

4 of establishing, an industry or sector partner5 ship. 

6 ‘‘(B) DURATION.—A grant under subpara7 graph (A) shall be for a duration of not more 

8 than 3 years, and may be renewed in accord9 ance with subparagraph (C). 

10 ‘‘(C) RENEWAL.—The Secretary may 

11 renew a grant under this section for not more 

12 than 3 years. A renewal of such grant shall be 

13 subject to the requirements of this section, ex14 cept that the Secretary shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) prioritize renewals to eligible enti16 ties that can demonstrate the long-term 

17 sustainability of an industry or sector part18 nership funded under this section; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) require assurances that the eligi20 ble entity will leverage, in accordance with 

21 subparagraph (D)(ii) and for each year of 

22 the renewal period, additional funding 

23 sources for the non-Federal share of the 

24 grant which shall— 


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1 ‘‘(I) be in an amount greater 

2 than— 

3 ‘‘(aa) the non-Federal share 

4 requirement required in accord5 ance with subparagraph 

6 (D)(i)(III); and 

7 ‘‘(bb) for the second and 

8 third year of the renewal period, 

9 the non-Federal share amount 

10 the eligible entity provided for 

11 the preceding year of the grant; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(II) include at least a 50 per14 cent cash match from the State, the 

15 industry cluster, the eligible entity, or 

16 some combination thereof. 

17 ‘‘(D) FEDERAL AND NON-FEDERAL

18 SHARE.— 

19 ‘‘(i) FEDERAL SHARE.—Except as 

20 provided in clause (iii) and subparagraph 

21 (C)(ii), the Federal share of a grant under 

22 this section shall be— 

23 ‘‘(I) 90 percent of the costs of 

24 the activities described in subsection 

25 (f) in the first year of the grant; 


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1 ‘‘(II) 80 percent of such costs in 

2 the second year of the grant; and 

3 ‘‘(III) 70 percent of such costs in 

4 the third year of the grant. 

5 ‘‘(ii) NON-FEDERAL.—The non-Fed6 eral share of a grant under this section 

7 may be in cash or in-kind, and may come 

8 from State, local, philanthropic, private, or 

9 other sources. 

10 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary 

11 may require the Federal share of a grant 

12 under this section to be 100 percent if an 

13 eligible entity receiving such grant is lo14 cated in a State or local area that is re15 ceiving a national emergency grant under 

16 section 173 of the Workforce Investment 

17 Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2918). 

18 ‘‘(4) FISCAL AGENT.—Each eligible entity re19 ceiving a grant under this section that is an industry 

20 or sector partnership shall designate an entity in the 

21 partnership as the fiscal agent for purposes of this 

22 grant. 

23 ‘‘(5) USE OF GRANT FUNDS DURING GRANT PE24 RIODS.—An eligible entity receiving a grant under 

25 this section shall expend grant funds, or obligate 


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1 grant funds to be expended, by the last day of the 

2 grant period. 

3 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IDENTIFICATION OF A TARGETED INDUS5 TRY CLUSTER.—In order to qualify for a grant 

6 under this section, an eligible entity shall identify a 

7 targeted industry cluster that could benefit from 

8 such grant by— 

9 ‘‘(A) working with businesses, industry as10 sociations and organizations, labor organiza11 tions, State boards, local boards, economic de12 velopment agencies, and other organizations 

13 that the eligible entity determines necessary, to 

14 identify an appropriate targeted industry clus15 ter based on criteria that include, at a min16 imum— 

17 ‘‘(i) data showing the competitiveness 

18 of the industry cluster; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the importance of the industry 

20 cluster to the economic development of the 

21 area served by the eligible entity, including 

22 estimation of jobs created or preserved; 

23 ‘‘(iii) the identification of supply and 

24 distribution chains within the industry 

25 cluster; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) research studies on industry 

2 clusters; and 

3 ‘‘(B) working with appropriate employment 

4 agencies, workforce investment boards, eco5 nomic development agencies, community organi6 zations, and other organizations that the eligi7 ble entity determines necessary to ensure that 

8 the targeted industry cluster identified under 

9 subparagraph (A) should be targeted for invest10 ment, based primarily on the following criteria: 

11 ‘‘(i) Demonstrated demand for job 

12 growth potential. 

13 ‘‘(ii) Employment base. 

14 ‘‘(iii) Wages and benefits. 

15 ‘‘(iv) Demonstrated importance of the 

16 targeted industry cluster to the area’s 

17 economy. 

18 ‘‘(v) Workforce development needs. 

19 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring 

20 to receive a grant under this section shall submit an 

21 application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

22 manner, and containing such information as the Sec23 retary may require. An application submitted under 

24 this paragraph shall contain, at a minimum, the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(A) A description of the eligible entity, 

2 evidence of the eligible entity’s capacity to carry 

3 out activities in support of the strategic objec4 tives identified in the application under sub5 paragraph (D), and a description of the ex6 pected participation and responsibilities of each 

7 of the mandatory partners described in sub8 section (b)(7)(A). 

9 ‘‘(B) A description of the targeted industry 

10 cluster for which the eligible entity intends to 

11 carry out activities through a grant under this 

12 section, and a description of how such targeted 

13 industry cluster was identified in accordance 

14 with paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(C) A description of the workers that will 

16 be targeted or recruited by the partnership, in17 cluding an analysis of the existing labor market, 

18 a description of potential barriers to employ19 ment for targeted workers, and a description of 

20 strategies that will be employed to help workers 

21 overcome such barriers. 

22 ‘‘(D) A description of the strategic objec23 tives that the eligible entity intends to carry out 

24 for the targeted industry cluster, which objec25 tives shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) recruiting key stakeholders in the 

2 targeted industry cluster, such as multiple 

3 businesses and employers, labor organiza4 tions, local boards, and education and 

5 training providers, and regularly convening 

6 the stakeholders in a collaborative struc7 ture that supports the sharing of informa8 tion, ideas, and challenges common to the 

9 targeted industry cluster; 

10 ‘‘(ii) identifying the training needs of 

11 multiple businesses, especially skill gaps 

12 critical to competitiveness and innovation 

13 to the targeted industry cluster; 

14 ‘‘(iii) facilitating economies of scale by 

15 aggregating training and education needs 

16 of multiple employers; 

17 ‘‘(iv) helping postsecondary edu18 cational institutions, training institutions, 

19 apprenticeship programs, and all other 

20 training programs authorized under the 

21 Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 

22 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.), align curricula, en23 trance requirements, and programs to in24 dustry demand and nationally portable, in25 dustry-recognized credentials (or, if not 


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1 available for the targeted industry, other 

2 credentials, as determined appropriate by 

3 the Secretary), particularly for higher skill, 

4 high-priority occupations validated by the 

5 industry; 

6 ‘‘(v) ensuring that the State agency 

7 carrying out the State program under the 

8 Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49 et seq.), 

9 including staff of the agency that provide 

10 services under such Act, shall inform re11 cipients of unemployment insurance of the 

12 job and training opportunities that may re13 sult from the implementation of this grant; 

14 ‘‘(vi) informing and collaborating with 

15 organizations such as youth councils, busi16 ness-education partnerships, apprenticeship 

17 programs, secondary schools, and postsec18 ondary educational institutions, and with 

19 parents and career counselors, for the pur20 pose of addressing the challenges of con21 necting disadvantaged adults as defined in 

22 section 132(b)(1)(B)(v) of the Workforce 

23 Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

24 2862(b)(1)(B)(v)) and disadvantaged 

25 youth as defined in section 127(b)(2) of 


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1 such Act (29 U.S.C. 2852(b)(2)) to ca2 reers; 

3 ‘‘(vii) helping companies identify, and 

4 work together to address, common organi5 zational and human resource challenges, 

6 such as— 

7 ‘‘(I) recruiting new workers; 

8 ‘‘(II) implementing effective 

9 workplace practices; 

10 ‘‘(III) retraining dislocated and 

11 incumbent workers; 

12 ‘‘(IV) implementing a high-per13 formance work organization; 

14 ‘‘(V) recruiting and retaining 

15 women in nontraditional employment; 

16 ‘‘(VI) adopting new technologies; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(VII) fostering experiential and 

19 contextualized on-the-job learning; 

20 ‘‘(viii) developing and strengthening 

21 career ladders within and across compa22 nies, in order to enable dislocated, incum23 bent, and entry-level workers to improve 

24 skills and advance to higher-wage jobs; 


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1 ‘‘(ix) improving job quality through 

2 improving wages, benefits, and working 

3 conditions; 

4 ‘‘(x) helping partner companies in in5 dustry or sector partnerships to attract po6 tential employees from a diverse job seeker 

7 base, including individuals with barriers to 

8 employment (such as job seekers who are 

9 low-income individuals, youth, older work10 ers, and individuals who have completed a 

11 term of imprisonment), by identifying such 

12 barriers through analysis of the existing 

13 labor market and implementing strategies 

14 to help such workers overcome such bar15 riers; and 

16 ‘‘(xi) strengthening connections 

17 among businesses in the targeted industry 

18 cluster, leading to cooperation beyond 

19 workforce issues that will improve competi20 tiveness and job quality, such as joint pur21 chasing, market research, or centers for 

22 technology and innovation. 

23 ‘‘(E) A description of the nationally port24 able, industry-recognized credentials or, if not 

25 available, other credentials, related to the tarVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:21 Aug 08, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3479.IS S3479

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1 geted industry cluster that the eligible entity 

2 proposes to support, develop, or use as a per3 formance measure, in order to carry out the 

4 strategic objectives described in subparagraph 

5 (D). 

6 ‘‘(F) A description of the manner in which 

7 the eligible entity intends to make sustainable 

8 progress toward the strategic objectives. 

9 ‘‘(G) Performance measures for measuring 

10 progress toward the strategic objectives. Such 

11 performance measures— 

12 ‘‘(i) may consider the benefits pro13 vided by the grant activities funded under 

14 this section for workers employed in the 

15 targeted industry cluster, disaggregated by 

16 gender and race, such as— 

17 ‘‘(I) the number of workers re18 ceiving nationally portable, industry19 recognized credentials (or, if not avail20 able for the targeted industry, other 

21 credentials) described in the applica22 tion under subparagraph (E); 

23 ‘‘(II) the number of workers with 

24 increased wages, the percentage of 


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1 workers with increased wages, and the 

2 average wage increase; and 

3 ‘‘(III) for dislocated or non4 incumbent workers, the number of 

5 workers placed in sector-related jobs; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) may consider the benefits pro8 vided by the grant activities funded under 

9 this section for firms and industries in the 

10 targeted industry cluster, such as— 

11 ‘‘(I) the creation or updating of 

12 an industry plan to meet current and 

13 future workforce demand; 

14 ‘‘(II) the creation or updating of 

15 published industry-wide skill stand16 ards or career pathways; 

17 ‘‘(III) the creation or updating of 

18 nationally portable, industry-recog19 nized credentials, or where there is 

20 not such a credential, the creation or 

21 updating of a training curriculum that 

22 can lead to the development of such a 

23 credential; 

24 ‘‘(IV) the number of firms, and 

25 the percentage of the local industry, 


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1 participating in the industry or sector 

2 partnership; and 

3 ‘‘(V) the number of firms, and 

4 the percentage of the local industry, 

5 receiving workers or services through 

6 the grant funded under this section. 

7 ‘‘(H) A timeline for achieving progress to8 ward the strategic objectives. 

9 ‘‘(I) An assurance that the eligible entity 

10 will leverage other funding sources, in addition 

11 to the amount required for the non-Federal 

12 share under subsection (c)(3)(D), to provide 

13 training or supportive services to workers under 

14 the grant program. Such additional funding 

15 sources may include— 

16 ‘‘(i) funding under title I of the Work17 force Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

18 2801 et seq.) used for such training and 

19 supportive services; 

20 ‘‘(ii) funding under the Adult Edu21 cation and Family Literacy Act of 1998 

22 (20 U.S.C. 9201 et seq.); 

23 ‘‘(iii) economic development funding; 

24 ‘‘(iv) employer contributions to train25 ing initiatives; or 


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1 ‘‘(v) providing employees with em2 ployee release time for such training or 

3 supportive services. 

4 ‘‘(e) AWARD BASIS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—The Sec6 retary shall award grants under this section in a 

7 manner that ensures geographic diversity. 

8 ‘‘(2) PRIORITIES.—In awarding grants under 

9 this section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligi10 ble entities that— 

11 ‘‘(A) work with employers within a tar12 geted industry cluster to retain and expand em13 ployment in high-wage, high-growth areas; 

14 ‘‘(B) focus on helping workers move to15 ward economic self-sufficiency and ensuring the 

16 workers have access to adequate supportive 

17 services; 

18 ‘‘(C) address the needs of firms with lim19 ited human resources or in-house training ca20 pacity, including small- and medium-sized 

21 firms; and 

22 ‘‘(D) coordinate with entities carrying out 

23 State and local workforce investment activities, 

24 economic development, and education activities. 

25 ‘‘(f) ACTIVITIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving 

2 a grant under this section shall carry out the activi3 ties necessary to meet the strategic objectives, in4 cluding planning activities if applicable, described in 

5 the entity’s application in a manner that— 

6 ‘‘(A) integrates services and funding 

7 sources in a way that enhances the effectiveness 

8 of the activities; and 

9 ‘‘(B) uses grant funds awarded under this 

10 section efficiently. 

11 ‘‘(2) PLANNING ACTIVITIES.—Planning activi12 ties may only be carried out by an eligible entity re13 ceiving a grant under this section during the first 

14 year of the initial grant period. Not more than 

15 $250,000 of the grant funds may be used to carry 

16 out such activities. 

17 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—An eligible enti18 ty may retain not more than 5 percent of the grant 

19 funds awarded under this section for a fiscal year to 

20 carry out the administration of this section. 

21 ‘‘(g) EVALUATION AND PROGRESS REPORTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORT AND EVALUA23 TION.—Not later than 1 year after receiving a grant 

24 under this section, and annually thereafter for the 

25 duration of the grant, an eligible entity shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) report to the Secretary, and to the 

2 Governor of the State that the eligible entity 

3 serves, on the activities funded pursuant to a 

4 grant under this section; and 

5 ‘‘(B) evaluate the progress the eligible enti6 ty has made toward the strategic objectives 

7 identified in the application under subsection 

8 (d)(2)(D), and measure the progress using the 

9 performance measures identified in the applica10 tion under subsection (d)(2)(G). 

11 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO THE SECRETARY.—An eligible 

12 entity receiving a grant under this section shall sub13 mit to the Secretary a report containing the results 

14 of the evaluation described in paragraph (1)(B) at 

15 such time and in such manner as the Secretary may 

16 require. 

17 ‘‘(h) ADMINISTRATION BY THE SECRETARY.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Secretary 

19 may retain not more than 10 percent of the funds 

20 appropriated to carry out this section for each fiscal 

21 year to administer this section. 

22 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OVER23 SIGHT.—The Secretary shall provide technical assist24 ance and oversight to assist the eligible entities in 

25 applying for and administering grants awarded 


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1 under this section. The Secretary shall also provide 

2 technical assistance to eligible entities in the form of 

3 conferences and through the collection and dissemi4 nation of information on best practices. The Sec5 retary may award a grant or contract to one or more 

6 national or State organizations to provide technical 

7 assistance to foster the planning, formation, and im8 plementation of industry or sector partnerships. 

9 ‘‘(3) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—The Sec10 retary shall issue a range of performance measures, 

11 with quantifiable benchmarks, and methodologies 

12 that eligible entities may use to evaluate the effec13 tiveness of each type of activity in making progress 

14 toward the strategic objectives described in sub15 section (d)(2)(D). Such measures shall consider the 

16 benefits of the industry or sector partnership and its 

17 activities for workers, firms, industries, and commu18 nities. 

19 ‘‘(4) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The 

20 Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) coordinate the annual review of each 

22 eligible entity receiving a grant under this sec23 tion and produce an overview report that, at a 

24 minimum, includes— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the critical learning of each in2 dustry or sector partnership, such as— 

3 ‘‘(I) the training that was most 

4 effective; 

5 ‘‘(II) the human resource chal6 lenges that were most common; 

7 ‘‘(III) how technology is changing 

8 the targeted industry cluster; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) the changes that may im10 pact the targeted industry cluster over 

11 the next 5 years; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) a description of what eligible en13 tities serving similar targeted industry 

14 clusters consider exemplary practices, such 

15 as— 

16 ‘‘(I) how to work effectively with 

17 postsecondary educational institutions; 

18 ‘‘(II) the use of internships; 

19 ‘‘(III) coordinating with appren20 ticeships and cooperative education 

21 programs; 

22 ‘‘(IV) how to work effectively 

23 with schools providing vocational edu24 cation; 


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1 ‘‘(V) how to work effectively with 

2 adult populations, including— 

3 ‘‘(aa) dislocated workers; 

4 ‘‘(bb) women in nontradi5 tional employment; and 

6 ‘‘(cc) individuals with bar7 riers to employment, such as job 

8 seekers who— 

9 ‘‘(AA) are economically 

10 disadvantaged; 

11 ‘‘(BB) have limited 

12 English proficiency; 

13 ‘‘(CC) require remedial 

14 education; 

15 ‘‘(DD) are older work16 ers; 

17 ‘‘(EE) are individuals 

18 who have completed a sen19 tence for a criminal offense; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(FF) have other bar22 riers to employment; 

23 ‘‘(VI) employer practices that are 

24 most effective; 


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1 ‘‘(VII) the types of training that 

2 are most effective; 

3 ‘‘(VIII) other areas where indus4 try or sector partnerships can assist 

5 each other; and 

6 ‘‘(IX) alignment of curricula to 

7 nationally portable, industry-recog8 nized credentials in the sectors where 

9 they are available or, if not available 

10 for the sector, other credentials, as 

11 described in the application under 

12 subsection (d)(2)(E); 

13 ‘‘(B) make resource materials, including all 

14 reports published and all data collected under 

15 this section, available on the Internet; and 

16 ‘‘(C) conduct conferences and seminars 

17 to— 

18 ‘‘(i) disseminate information on best 

19 practices developed by eligible entities re20 ceiving a grant under this section; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) provide information to the com22 munities of eligible entities. 

23 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 

24 the date of enactment of the Building a Stronger 

25 America Act of 2012 and on an annual basis thereVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:21 Aug 08, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3479.IS S3479

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1 after, the Secretary shall transmit a report to Con2 gress on the industry or sector partnership grant 

3 program established by this section. The report shall 

4 include a description of— 

5 ‘‘(A) the eligible entities receiving funding; 

6 ‘‘(B) the activities carried out by the eligi7 ble entities; 

8 ‘‘(C) how the eligible entities were selected 

9 to receive funding under this section; and 

10 ‘‘(D) an assessment of the results achieved 

11 by the grant program including findings from 

12 the annual reviews described in paragraph 

13 (4)(A). 

14 ‘‘(i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec15 tion shall be construed to permit the reporting or sharing 

16 of personally identifiable information collected or made 

17 available under this section.’’. 

18 Subtitle B—Workforce Innovation 

19 for New Jobs and Applied Edu20 cation 

21 SEC. 111. INNOVATION IN INVESTMENT PILOT PROGRAM. 

22 The Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 

23 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), as amended by section 

24 101, is further amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 29. INNOVATION IN INVESTMENT PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab3 lish and carry out a pilot program, to be known as the 

4 Innovation in Investment pilot program, through which 

5 the Secretary shall make grants as described in subsection 

6 (b), in order to facilitate the provision of workforce devel7 opment activities through public-private partnerships. 

8 ‘‘(b) GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE CONSORTIA.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot 

10 program, the Secretary shall make grants on a com11 petitive basis to eligible consortia in covered States 

12 to enable the consortia to establish and support 

13 State Innovation in Investment pilot programs. 

14 ‘‘(2) NUMBER AND RENEWABILITY OF

15 GRANTS.—The Secretary shall make the grants to 

16 not more than 5 consortia and in amounts of not 

17 more than $3,500,000 per grant. The Secretary 

18 shall not renew a grant made to a consortium under 

19 this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIA.— 

21 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIUM.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re23 ceive a grant under this section, a consortium 

24 shall include— 

25 ‘‘(i) an eligible institution, which shall 

26 serve as the lead applicant for the grant; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) 1 or more businesses that are 

2 representative of a local area in which the 

3 training will be provided; 

4 ‘‘(iii) 1 or more representatives of the 

5 State or local workforce investment sys6 tem; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) 1 or more secondary schools, 

8 area career and technical education schools 

9 (as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Per10 kins Career and Technical Education Act 

11 of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302)), or institutions 

12 of higher education (as defined in section 

13 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

14 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))) that provide a 

15 2-year program described in section 

16 101(a)(3) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

17 1001(a)(3)). 

18 ‘‘(B) MULTIPLE REPRESENTATIVES.—To 

19 the maximum extent practicable, the eligible in20 stitution shall ensure that the eligible consor21 tium includes more than one representative— 

22 ‘‘(i) of entities described in subpara23 graph (A)(ii); 

24 ‘‘(ii) of entities described in subpara25 graph (A)(iii); and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) of entities described in subpara2 graph (A)(iv). 

3 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—In this section 

4 the term ‘community college’ means a community 

5 college, as defined in section 3301 of the Elementary 

6 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 7011). 

8 ‘‘(3) COVERED STATES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the 

10 term ‘covered State’ means a State— 

11 ‘‘(i) for which the percentage of indi12 viduals in the State in households with 

13 household incomes at or below the poverty 

14 line, is greater than the percentage of indi15 viduals in the United States in such house16 holds, as determined on the basis of data 

17 from the Bureau of the Census; 

18 ‘‘(ii) in which the percentage of the 

19 adult population with a baccalaureate de20 gree is not more than 25 percent; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) that meets such other measures 

22 as the Secretary may determine to be ap23 propriate. 

24 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

25 term ‘poverty line’ has the meaning given the 


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1 term in section 673 of the Community Services 

2 Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902). 

3 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—In this section, 

4 the term ‘eligible institution’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) a local board, in partnership with 1 

6 or more community colleges, at which training 

7 programs will occur under a grant described in 

8 subsection (b); 

9 ‘‘(B) a community college district, estab10 lished by a State as a separate entity or gov11 erned by a community education board; 

12 ‘‘(C) a State community college system; or 

13 ‘‘(D) a community college. 

14 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—In order for a consortium to 

15 be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an eligible 

16 institution shall submit an application to the Secretary on 

17 behalf of the consortium at such time, in such manner, 

18 and containing such information as the Secretary shall re19 quire, including— 

20 ‘‘(1) a description of the training program to be 

21 carried out; 

22 ‘‘(2) a description of clear, relevant, and prac23 tical objectives for the program, including how the 

24 program will ensure integration of Federal, State, 

25 and local activities, train workers for high-wage and 


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1 high-skill employment, maximize the return on pub2 lic investment in the program, involve the private 

3 sector, and integrate external learning opportunities 

4 with classroom education; 

5 ‘‘(3) a description of how the consortium will 

6 facilitate development of a 21st century workforce in 

7 the State in which the consortium operates; and 

8 ‘‘(4)(A) standards, agreed on by all members of 

9 the consortium, for data collection on and evaluation 

10 of the performance of the program and participants 

11 in the program; and 

12 ‘‘(B) assurances that the consortium will par13 ticipate in evaluations of that performance by the 

14 Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) TRAINING PROGRAM.—A consortium that 

17 receives a grant under this section shall use the 

18 funds made available under the grant— 

19 ‘‘(A) to support the development or expan20 sion of a training program that is designed to 

21 enable participants to obtain employment (in22 cluding pre-employment training, career coun23 seling, or training that leads to skill certifi24 cation, as determined by the Secretary); 


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1 ‘‘(B) to provide educational assistance de2 scribed in paragraph (3)(B) through an eligible 

3 institution in the consortium for such a pro4 gram; and 

5 ‘‘(C) to otherwise support participation 

6 in— 

7 ‘‘(i) internship or cooperative activi8 ties approved by the consortium and de9 scribed in an application submitted under 

10 subsection (d); or 

11 ‘‘(ii) a registered apprenticeship pro12 gram carried out under the Act of August 

13 16, 1937 (commonly known as the ‘Na14 tional Apprenticeship Act’; 50 Stat. 664, 

15 chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 

16 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPANTS.—The consortium shall 

17 provide training to unemployed individuals, or to 

18 postsecondary students who are not seeking a bacca19 laureate degree. 

20 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS.—An eligible in21 stitution that is part of the consortium shall provide, 

22 for a participant whose participation in the program 

23 leads to a degree, or to the extent practicable, to in24 dustry or professional certification or licensure— 


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1 ‘‘(A) course credit for the training pro2 vided through such program; and 

3 ‘‘(B) reimbursement, in the form of edu4 cational assistance within the meaning of sec5 tion 127(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986, for part or all of the expenses covered by 

7 subparagraph (A) of that section, at the institu8 tion and related to the program. 

9 ‘‘(f) LIMIT ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more 

10 than 10 percent of the funds made available through 

11 grants received under this section shall be used to pay for 

12 administrative costs. 

13 ‘‘(g) ASSESSMENT AND REPORTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT.—The eligible institution in 

15 an eligible consortium that receives a grant under 

16 this section for a program shall carry out data col17 lection concerning and assessment of the program. 

18 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—The eligible institution shall 

19 submit interim and final reports to the State in 

20 which the consortium operates, to the Secretary, and 

21 to the appropriate committees of Congress, con22 taining a summary of the data and the results of the 

23 assessment. The reports shall include a description 

24 of the program, the stated objectives of the program, 

25 information on best practices and lessons learned 


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1 from the program, information that describes how 

2 the businesses in the consortium helped to develop 

3 the program and curriculum for the program, infor4 mation that describes the education gained by and 

5 employment outcomes of participants, recommenda6 tions regarding incentives for business and edu7 cational institutions to participate in similar pro8 grams and to carry out programs that complement 

9 and incorporate successful programs and resources 

10 to the extent practicable, and other relevant data 

11 that may be required by the Secretary. The eligible 

12 institution shall submit the interim report not later 

13 than 3 years after the date on which the grant is 

14 made, and the final report not later than 18 months 

15 after the end of the program.’’. 

16 SEC. 112. REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 

17 The Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known as 

18 the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chapter 

19 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

20 section 3 the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 3A. REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 

22 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

24 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 


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1 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

3 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM.— 

4 The term ‘national apprenticeship system’ means the 

5 organizations, including State apprenticeship agen6 cies described in the first section of this Act, that 

7 carry out activities under this Act. 

8 ‘‘(3) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PRO9 GRAM.—The term ‘registered apprenticeship pro10 gram’ means a program registered under this Act. 

11 ‘‘(b) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) DISSEMINATION BY SECRETARY OF

13 LABOR.—The Secretary of Labor, acting through the 

14 Administrator of the Office of Apprenticeship of the 

15 Department of Labor, shall disseminate information 

16 on the national apprenticeship system (referred to in 

17 this paragraph as ‘apprenticeship information’) 

18 widely and publicly, and make every reasonable ef19 fort to increase awareness of that system. The infor20 mation disseminated shall contain, at a minimum, 

21 information on regionally available registered ap22 prenticeship programs carried out through the sys23 tem, requirements and benefits of each registered 

24 apprenticeship program, and the application and se25 lection process for each such program. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DISSEMINATION BY SECRETARY OF EDU2 CATION.— 

3 ‘‘(A) ELECTRONIC INFORMATION.—When 

4 disseminating any electronic information de5 signed to help students prepare for graduation 

6 from secondary school, the Secretary of Edu7 cation shall include apprenticeship information. 

8 ‘‘(B) PRINT INFORMATION.—The Sec9 retary of Education shall disseminate appren10 ticeship information to State educational agen11 cies, local educational agencies, institutions of 

12 higher education, and relevant State agencies. 

13 The agencies and institutions described in this 

14 subparagraph shall, as a condition of receiving 

15 funding directly or indirectly from the Depart16 ment of Education, distribute the information 

17 to students preparing for graduation from a 

18 secondary school or such an institution. 

19 ‘‘(c) EXPANSION PILOT PROGRAM.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor, 

21 acting through the Administrator of the Office of 

22 Apprenticeship, and in consultation with the Sec23 retary of Education (referred to in this subsection as 

24 the ‘Secretaries’) shall establish a pilot program to 

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1 ating additional programs, in additional sectors, for 

2 approval as registered apprenticeship programs car3 ried out through the system. The pilot program shall 

4 be designed to expand the sectors with registered ap5 prenticeship programs, to include new and evolving 

6 sectors, such as green technology, engineering, com7 munications, health care, information technology, en8 ergy, and disaster and emergency preparedness. The 

9 Secretary of Labor shall carry out the pilot program 

10 for a period of not less than 5 years. 

11 ‘‘(2) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary of Labor 

12 shall establish and use clear, consistent, and relevant 

13 measures for evaluation of the quality and effective14 ness of programs proposed for registration under the 

15 pilot program. The measures shall include measures 

16 for evaluating the quality and effectiveness of the 

17 curriculum and training associated with a proposed 

18 program, and the performance of the program with 

19 respect to performance standards, completion rates 

20 for program participants (for the program and re21 lated education), number of participants entering 

22 employment, credentials and certifications granted, 

23 and the transferability of the credentials and certifi24 cations. 

25 ‘‘(3) STUDY AND REPORTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) STUDY.—In addition to collecting 

2 data in connection with the evaluations, the 

3 Secretary of Labor shall study the pilot pro4 gram. In conducting the study, the Secretary of 

5 Labor shall collect data to determine the extent 

6 to which the programs registered under the 

7 pilot program efficiently and effectively pre8 pared participants for employment, and shall 

9 examine how to encourage more individuals, 

10 partners, and sponsors to participate in pro11 grams carried out through the national appren12 ticeship system. 

13 ‘‘(B) REPORTS.—Not later than 3 years 

14 after the date of the establishment of the pilot 

15 program, and not later than 18 months after 

16 the end of the pilot program, the Secretary of 

17 Labor shall submit a report to Congress con18 taining the results of the study.’’. 

19 Subtitle C—Attracting Jobs and 

20 Certification and Training 

21 Standards 

22 SEC. 121. INBOUND INVESTMENT PROGRAM TO RECRUIT 

23 JOBS TO THE UNITED STATES. 

24 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) DISTRESSED.—The term ‘‘distressed’’, with 

2 respect to an area, means an area in the United 

3 States that, on the date on which the program is es4 tablished under subsection (a)— 

5 (A) is included in the most recent classi6 fication of labor surplus areas by the Secretary 

7 of Labor; and 

8 (B) has an unemployment rate equal to or 

9 great than 110 percent of the unemployment 

10 rate of the United States. 

11 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti12 ty’’ means an entity that employs not fewer than 50 

13 full-time equivalent employees in high-value jobs. 

14 (3) ELIGIBLE FACILITY.—The term ‘‘eligible fa15 cility’’ means a facility at which— 

16 (A) an eligible entity employs not fewer 

17 than 50 full-time equivalent employees in high18 value jobs; 

19 (B) with respect to a rural or distressed 

20 area, the mean of the wages provided by the eli21 gible entity to individuals employed at such fa22 cility is greater than the mean wage for the 

23 county in which the rural or distressed area is 

24 located; and 


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1 (C) derives at least the majority of its rev2 enues from— 

3 (i) goods production; or 

4 (ii) providing product design, engi5 neering, marketing, or information tech6 nology services. 

7 (4) HIGH-VALUE JOB DEFINED.—The term 

8 ‘‘high-value job’’ means a job that— 

9 (A) exists within an eligible facility; and 

10 (B) has a North American Industrial Clas11 sification that corresponds with manufacturing, 

12 software publishers, computer systems design, 

13 or related codes, and is higher than the mean 

14 hourly wage in the country. 

15 (5) RURAL.—The term ‘‘rural’’, with respect to 

16 an area, means any area in the United States which, 

17 as confirmed by the latest decennial census, is not 

18 located within— 

19 (A) a city, town, or incorporated area that 

20 has a population of greater than 20,000 inhab21 itants; or 

22 (B) an urbanized area contiguous and ad23 jacent to a city or town that has a population 

24 of greater than 50,000 inhabitants. 


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1 (b) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

3 of Commerce shall establish a program to award grants 

4 to States that are recruiting high-value jobs. Grants 

5 awarded under this section may be used to issue forgivable 

6 loans to eligible entities that are deciding whether to locate 

7 eligible facilities in foreign countries or in the United 

8 States to assist such entities in locating such facilities in 

9 rural or distressed areas. 

10 (c) FEDERAL GRANTS TO STATES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

12 out the program through the award of grants to 

13 States to provide loans described in subsection (d). 

14 (2) APPLICATION.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—A State seeking a 

16 grant under the program shall submit an appli17 cation to the Secretary in such manner and 

18 containing such information as the Secretary 

19 may require. Once the program is operational, 

20 any State may apply for a grant on an ongoing 

21 basis, until funds are exhausted. The Secretary 

22 may also establish a process for pre-clearing ap23 plications from States. The Secretary shall no24 tify all States of this grant opportunity once the 

25 program is operational. All information about 


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1 the program and the State application process 

2 must be online and must be in a format that 

3 is easily understood and is widely accessible. 

4 (B) ELEMENTS.—Each application sub5 mitted by a State under subparagraph (A) shall 

6 include— 

7 (i) a description of the eligible entity 

8 the State proposes to assist in locating an 

9 eligible facility in a rural or distressed area 

10 of the State; 

11 (ii) a description of such facility, in12 cluding the number of high-value jobs re13 lating to such facility; 

14 (iii) a description of such rural or dis15 tressed area; 

16 (iv) a description of the resources of 

17 the State that the State has committed to 

18 assisting such corporation in locating such 

19 facility, including tax incentives provided, 

20 bonding authority exercised, and land 

21 granted; and 

22 (v) such other elements as the Sec23 retary considers appropriate. 

24 (C) NOTICE.—As soon as practicable after 

25 establishing the program under subsection (b), 


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1 the Secretary shall notify all States of the 

2 grants available under the program and the 

3 process for applying for such grants. 

4 (D) ONLINE SUBMISSION OF APPLICA5 TIONS.—The Secretary shall establish a mecha6 nism for the electronic submission of applica7 tions under subparagraph (A). Such mechanism 

8 shall utilize an Internet website and all infor9 mation on such website shall be in a format 

10 that is easily understood and widely accessible. 

11 (E) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary 

12 may not make public any information submitted 

13 by a State to the Secretary under this para14 graph regarding the efforts of such State to as15 sist an eligible entity in locating an eligible fa16 cility in such State without the express consent 

17 of the State. 

18 (3) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall award 

19 grants under the program on a competitive basis to 

20 States that— 

21 (A) the Secretary determines are most 

22 likely to succeed with a grant under the pro23 gram in assisting an eligible entity in locating 

24 an eligible facility in a rural or distressed area; 


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1 (B) if successful in assisting an eligible en2 tity as described in subparagraph (A), will cre3 ate the greatest number of high-value jobs in 

4 rural or distressed areas; 

5 (C) have committed significant resources, 

6 to the extent of their ability as determined by 

7 the Secretary, to assisting eligible entities in lo8 cating eligible facilities in a rural or distressed 

9 areas; or 

10 (D) meet such other criteria as the Sec11 retary considers appropriate, including criteria 

12 relating to marketing plans, benefits to ongoing 

13 regional or State strategies for economic devel14 opment, and job growth. 

15 (4) LIMITATION ON COMPETITION BETWEEN

16 STATES.—The Secretary may not award a grant to 

17 a State under the program to assist an eligible enti18 ty in locating an eligible facility in such State if an19 other State is seeking to assist such eligible entity 

20 in locating such eligible facility in such other State. 

21 (5) AVAILABILITY OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—For 

22 each grant awarded to a State under the program, 

23 the Secretary shall make available to such State the 

24 amount of such grant not later than 30 days after 

25 the date on which the Secretary awarded the grant. 


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1 The total amount of grants awarded under this pro2 gram may not exceed $100,000,000. 

3 (d) LOANS FROM STATES TO CORPORATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts received by a State 

5 under the program shall be used to provide assist6 ance to an eligible entity to locate an eligible facility 

7 in a rural or distressed area of the State. 

8 (2) LOANS.—A State receiving a grant under 

9 the program shall provide assistance under para10 graph (1) in the form of a single loan to a single 

11 eligible entity as described in paragraph (1) to cover 

12 the costs incurred by the eligible entity in locating 

13 the eligible facility as described in such paragraph. 

14 (3) LOAN TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Each loan 

15 provided under paragraph (2) shall have a term of 

16 5 years and shall bear interest at rates equal to the 

17 Federal long-term rate under section 1274(d)(1)(C) 

18 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

19 (4) AMOUNT.—The amount of a loan issued to 

20 an eligible entity under the program for the location 

21 of an eligible facility shall be an amount equal to not 

22 more than $5,000 per full-time equivalent employee 

23 to be employed at such facility. 

24 (5) REPAYMENT.—Repayment of a loan issued 

25 by a State to an eligible entity under the program 


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1 shall be repaid in accordance with such schedule as 

2 the State shall establish in accordance with such 

3 rules as the Secretary shall prescribe for purposes of 

4 the program. Such rules shall provide for the fol5 lowing: 

6 (A) Forgiveness of all or a portion of the 

7 loan, the amount of such forgiveness depending 

8 upon the following: 

9 (i) The performance of the borrower. 

10 (ii) The number or quality of the jobs 

11 at the facility located under the program. 

12 (B) Repayment of principal or interest, if 

13 any, at the end of the term of the loan. 

14 (e) EXISTING OFFICE.—To the degree practicable, 

15 the Secretary shall carry out the program through an of16 fice of the Department of Commerce that existed on the 

17 day before the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 (f) ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

19 (1) ONGOING ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary 

20 shall conduct an ongoing assessment of the program. 

21 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Secretary may 

22 submit to Congress recommendations for such legis23 lative action as the Secretary considers appropriate 

24 to improve the program, including with respect to 

25 any findings of the Secretary derived by comparing 


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1 the program established under subsection (b) with 

2 the programs and policies of governments of other 

3 countries used to recruit high-value jobs. 

4 SEC. 122. UTILIZATION OF INDUSTRY-APPROVED CERTIFI5 CATION ASSESSMENTS AND STANDARDS TO 

6 IMPROVE EDUCATION AND TRAINING PRO7 GRAM PERFORMANCE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, in 

9 cooperation with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of 

10 Education, and the heads of other relevant Federal agen11 cies and industry partners, shall take such actions as may 

12 be necessary to ensure that industry-approved certification 

13 assessments and standards are established and available 

14 to providers of education and training programs in manu15 facturing and information technology not later than 2 

16 years after the date of the enactment of this Act in order 

17 to improve the performance of training programs and to 

18 ensure that individuals who complete such training have 

19 the skills necessary to enter high-skill, high-demand occu20 pations in manufacturing and information technology. 

21 (b) ACTIVITIES.—To ensure that education and 

22 training providers have access to industry-approved certifi23 cation assessments and standards pursuant to subsection 

24 (a), the Secretary of Commerce shall— 


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1 (1) create an initial list of high-skill, high-de2 mand manufacturing and information technology oc3 cupations where academically accredited degrees are 

4 not required for job entrance; 

5 (2) catalogue existing current, industry-ap6 proved training and education program standards 

7 that have accompanying objective certification as8 sessments, which may be the products of Federal 

9 agencies, State agencies, local workforce investment 

10 boards, community and technical colleges, appren11 ticeships, industry associations, or localized industry 

12 formations within or across States or education or13 ganizations, or any other institution the Secretary 

14 considers appropriate; 

15 (3) identify industry-approved training and edu16 cation program standards that do not have a certifi17 cation assessment to measure the competency of 

18 those completing training, and where such assess19 ments do not exist, work with relevant Federal agen20 cies, State agencies, education and training organi21 zations, and representatives of affected industries 

22 and industry-approved skills standards accrediting 

23 bodies to create objective certification assessments 

24 for industries that have substantial current or future 

25 employment, as determined by the Secretary; 


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1 (4) identify training and education programs 

2 that do not implement industry-approved standards 

3 and accompanying certification assessments, and 

4 where neither standards nor assessments exist, work 

5 with relevant Federal agencies, State agencies, edu6 cation and training organizations, and representa7 tives of the affected industries and industry-ap8 proved skills standards accrediting bodies to create 

9 industry-recognized standards and objective certifi10 cation assessments for industries that have substan11 tial current or future employment, as determined by 

12 the Secretary; 

13 (5) include within the catalogue required by 

14 paragraph (2) any training or education program 

15 standards or certification assessments created under 

16 paragraph (3) or (4); and 

17 (6) not less frequently than once every 3 years, 

18 review the catalogue required by paragraph (2) to 

19 ensure training and education programs and accom20 panying certification assessments are current and 

21 continue to have industry-approval, and in any case 

22 in which training and education programs have lost 

23 industry-approval, work with the effected industries, 

24 related Federal agencies, and education and training 

25 organizations— 


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1 (A) to identify existing standards and as2 sessments that are appropriate; or 

3 (B) to create them. 

4 (c) PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall evaluate 

6 the assessments and standards described in sub7 section (a) by assessing— 

8 (A) how accurately the assessments de9 scribed in such subsection measure the com10 petency of workers who have completed edu11 cation and training programs described in such 

12 subsection; and 

13 (B) the satisfaction of manufacturing and 

14 information technology companies with the 

15 quality of such assessments and standards. 

16 (2) COLLECTION OF DATA.—In evaluating as17 sessments and standards under paragraph (1), the 

18 Secretary shall work with relevant agencies and in19 dustry organizations to collect the following data: 

20 (A) The number of students taking each 

21 occupational assessment annually. 

22 (B) The number of students demonstrating 

23 competency on each assessment on the first, 

24 second, or third attempt, annually. 


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1 (C) The number of assessed students em2 ployed in the occupation for which they were 

3 trained. 

4 (3) ANNUAL SURVEY.—Not less frequently than 

5 once each year, the Secretary shall carry out a sur6 vey, through an existing annual industry survey if 

7 practicable, of a sample of manufacturing and infor8 mation technology firms to assess— 

9 (A) satisfaction with the assessments and 

10 standards described in subsection (a); and 

11 (B) labor shortages by each high-skill, 

12 high-demand occupation. 

13 (4) PUBLICATION OF RESULTS.—Not less fre14 quently than once each year, the Secretary shall 

15 publish the results of the evaluations carried out 

16 under paragraph (1) and the surveys carried out 

17 under paragraph (3). In publishing such results, the 

18 Secretary shall disaggregate data by State and 

19 where possible by county, State and local workforce 

20 investment board, and training or education pro21 vider. 

22 (d) SEAL.—In carrying out subsection (a), the Sec23 retary shall establish a Department of Commerce Certifi24 cation of Excellence that the Secretary shall make avail25 able to education and training providers that use the asVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:21 Aug 08, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3479.IS S3479

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1 sessments and standards described in such subsection and 

2 who show strong evidence of success in placing students 

3 in the occupations for which they were trained. If the Sec4 retary establishes a seal or indicator under this subsection, 

5 the Secretary shall establish a process for revocation of 

6 the seal if the quality of the assessment is not maintained. 

7 (e) INNOVATION AWARDS.—In carrying out this sec8 tion, the Secretary may collaborate with relevant Federal 

9 agencies to issue awards to providers of training and edu10 cation programs described in subsection (a) to encourage 

11 innovative and promising practices for the purpose of de12 veloping, improving, and implementing the most successful 

13 methods for addressing the education and training needs 

14 of participants in career and technical education pro15 grams, including through existing programs at such agen16 cies. 


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1 TITLE II—LEVELING THE PLAY2 ING FIELD IN INTER3 NATIONAL TRADE 

4 Subtitle A—Investigating Claims of 

5 Evasion of Antidumping and 

6 Countervailing Duty Orders 

7 PART I—PROCEDURES 

8 SEC. 201. PROCEDURES FOR INVESTIGATING CLAIMS OF 

9 EVASION OF ANTIDUMPING AND COUNTER10 VAILING DUTY ORDERS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Tariff Act of 1930 is amend12 ed by inserting after section 516A (19 U.S.C. 1516a) the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 516B. PROCEDURES FOR INVESTIGATING CLAIMS OF 

15 EVASION OF ANTIDUMPING AND COUNTER16 VAILING DUTY ORDERS. 

17 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTERING AUTHORITY.—The term 

19 ‘administering authority’ has the meaning given that 

20 term in section 771(1). 

21 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Finance and the 

2 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Ways and Means 

5 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

6 House of Representatives. 

7 ‘‘(3) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘Commis8 sioner’ means the Commissioner responsible for U.S. 

9 Customs and Border Protection. 

10 ‘‘(4) COVERED MERCHANDISE.—The term ‘cov11 ered merchandise’ means merchandise that is subject 

12 to— 

13 ‘‘(A) an antidumping duty order issued 

14 under section 736; 

15 ‘‘(B) a finding issued under the Anti16 dumping Act, 1921; or 

17 ‘‘(C) a countervailing duty order issued 

18 under section 706. 

19 ‘‘(5) ENTER; ENTRY.—The terms ‘enter’ and 

20 ‘entry’ refer to the entry, or withdrawal from ware21 house for consumption, in the customs territory of 

22 the United States. 

23 ‘‘(6) EVADE; EVASION.—The terms ‘evade’ and 

24 ‘evasion’ refer to entering covered merchandise into 

25 the customs territory of the United States by means 


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1 of any document or electronically transmitted data 

2 or information, written or oral statement, or act that 

3 is material and false, or any omission that is mate4 rial, and that results in any cash deposit or other se5 curity or any amount of applicable antidumping or 

6 countervailing duties being reduced or not being ap7 plied with respect to the merchandise. 

8 ‘‘(7) INTERESTED PARTY.—The term ‘inter9 ested party’ has the meaning given that term in sec10 tion 771(9). 

11 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURES FOR INVESTIGATING ALLEGA12 TIONS OF EVASION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) INITIATION BY PETITION OR REFERRAL.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 

15 days after the date on which the Commissioner 

16 receives a petition described in subparagraph 

17 (B) or a referral described in subparagraph (C), 

18 the Commissioner shall initiate an investigation 

19 pursuant to this paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(B) PETITION DESCRIBED.—A petition 

21 described in this subparagraph is a petition 

22 that— 

23 ‘‘(i) is filed with the Commissioner by 

24 any party who is an interested party with 

25 respect to covered merchandise; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) alleges that a person has entered 

2 covered merchandise into the customs ter3 ritory of the United States through eva4 sion; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) is accompanied by information 

6 reasonably available to the petitioner sup7 porting the allegation. 

8 ‘‘(C) REFERRAL DESCRIBED.—A referral 

9 described in this subparagraph is information 

10 submitted to the Commissioner by any other 

11 Federal agency, including the Department of 

12 Commerce or the United States International 

13 Trade Commission, indicating that a person has 

14 entered covered merchandise into the customs 

15 territory of the United States through evasion. 

16 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) PRELIMINARY DETERMINATION.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

19 days after the date on which the Commis20 sioner initiates an investigation under 

21 paragraph (1), the Commissioner shall 

22 issue a preliminary determination, based 

23 on information available to the Commis24 sioner at the time of the determination, 

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1 able basis to believe or suspect that the 

2 covered merchandise was entered into the 

3 customs territory of the United States 

4 through evasion. 

5 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSION.—The Commissioner 

6 may extend by not more than 45 days the 

7 time period specified in clause (i) if the 

8 Commissioner determines that sufficient 

9 information to make a preliminary deter10 mination under that clause is not available 

11 within that time period or the inquiry is 

12 unusually complex. 

13 ‘‘(B) FINAL DETERMINATION.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

15 120 days after making a preliminary deter16 mination under subparagraph (A), the 

17 Commissioner shall make a final deter18 mination, based on substantial evidence, 

19 with respect to whether covered merchan20 dise was entered into the customs territory 

21 of the United States through evasion. 

22 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSION.—The Commissioner 

23 may extend by not more than 60 days the 

24 time period specified in clause (i) if the 

25 Commissioner determines that sufficient 


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1 information to make a final determination 

2 under that clause is not available within 

3 that time period or the inquiry is unusually 

4 complex. 

5 ‘‘(iii) OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMENT; 

6 HEARING.—After making a preliminary de7 termination under subparagraph (A) and 

8 before issuing a final determination under 

9 this subparagraph with respect to whether 

10 covered merchandise was entered into the 

11 customs territory of the United States 

12 through evasion, the Commissioner shall— 

13 ‘‘(I) provide any person alleged 

14 to have entered the merchandise into 

15 the customs territory of the United 

16 States through evasion, and any per17 son that is an interested party with 

18 respect to the merchandise, with an 

19 opportunity to be heard; 

20 ‘‘(II) upon request, hold a hear21 ing with respect to whether the cov22 ered merchandise was entered into the 

23 customs territory of the United States 

24 through evasion; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) provide an opportunity for 

2 public comment. 

3 ‘‘(C) AUTHORITY TO COLLECT AND VERIFY

4 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—In making a pre5 liminary determination under subparagraph (A) 

6 or a final determination under subparagraph 

7 (B), the Commissioner— 

8 ‘‘(i) shall exercise all existing authori9 ties to collect information needed to make 

10 the determination; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) may collect such additional infor12 mation as is necessary to make the deter13 mination through such methods as the 

14 Commissioner considers appropriate, in15 cluding by— 

16 ‘‘(I) issuing a questionnaire with 

17 respect to covered merchandise to— 

18 ‘‘(aa) a person that filed a 

19 petition under paragraph (1)(B); 

20 ‘‘(bb) a person alleged to 

21 have entered covered merchan22 dise into the customs territory of 

23 the United States through eva24 sion; or 


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1 ‘‘(cc) any other person that 

2 is an interested party with re3 spect to the covered merchandise; 

4 or 

5 ‘‘(II) conducting verifications, in6 cluding on-site verifications, of any 

7 relevant information. 

8 ‘‘(D) ADVERSE INFERENCE.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Commis10 sioner finds that a person that filed a peti11 tion under paragraph (1)(B), a person al12 leged to have entered covered merchandise 

13 into the customs territory of the United 

14 States through evasion, or a foreign pro15 ducer or exporter, has failed to cooperate 

16 by not acting to the best of the person’s 

17 ability to comply with a request for infor18 mation, the Commissioner may, in making 

19 a preliminary determination under sub20 paragraph (A) or a final determination 

21 under subparagraph (B), use an inference 

22 that is adverse to the interests of that per23 son in selecting from among the facts oth24 erwise available to determine whether eva25 sion has occurred. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) ADVERSE INFERENCE DE2 SCRIBED.—An adverse inference used 

3 under clause (i) may include reliance on in4 formation derived from— 

5 ‘‘(I) the petition, if any, sub6 mitted under paragraph (1)(B) with 

7 respect to the covered merchandise; 

8 ‘‘(II) a determination by the 

9 Commissioner in another investigation 

10 under this section; 

11 ‘‘(III) an investigation or review 

12 by the administering authority under 

13 title VII; or 

14 ‘‘(IV) any other information 

15 placed on the record. 

16 ‘‘(E) NOTIFICATION AND PUBLICATION.— 

17 Not later than 7 days after making a prelimi18 nary determination under subparagraph (A) or 

19 a final determination under subparagraph (B), 

20 the Commissioner shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) provide notification of the deter22 mination to— 

23 ‘‘(I) the administering authority; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) the person that submitted 

2 the petition under paragraph (1)(B) 

3 or the Federal agency that submitted 

4 the referral under paragraph (1)(C); 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(ii) provide the determination for 

7 publication in the Federal Register. 

8 ‘‘(3) BUSINESS PROPRIETARY INFORMATION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCEDURES.— 

10 For each investigation initiated under para11 graph (1), the Commissioner shall establish 

12 procedures for the submission of business pro13 prietary information under an administrative 

14 protective order that— 

15 ‘‘(i) protects against public disclosure 

16 of such information; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of submitting com18 ments to the Commissioner, provides lim19 ited access to such information for— 

20 ‘‘(I) the person that submitted 

21 the petition under paragraph (1)(B) 

22 or the Federal agency that submitted 

23 the referral under paragraph (1)(C); 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) the person alleged to have 

2 entered covered merchandise into the 

3 customs territory of the United States 

4 through evasion. 

5 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATION IN ACCORDANCE

6 WITH OTHER PROCEDURES.—The procedures 

7 established under subparagraph (A) shall be ad8 ministered, to the maximum extent practicable, 

9 in accordance with administrative protective 

10 order procedures under section 777 by the ad11 ministering authority. 

12 ‘‘(C) DISCLOSURE OF BUSINESS PROPRI13 ETARY INFORMATION.—The Commissioner 

14 shall, in accordance with the procedures estab15 lished under subparagraph (A), make all busi16 ness proprietary information presented to, or 

17 obtained by, the Commissioner during an inves18 tigation available to the persons specified in 

19 subparagraph (A)(ii) under an administrative 

20 protective order, regardless of when such infor21 mation is submitted during an investigation. 

22 ‘‘(4) REFERRALS TO OTHER FEDERAL AGEN23 CIES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) AFTER PRELIMINARY DETERMINA25 TION.—Notwithstanding section 777 and subVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:21 Aug 08, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00071 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3479.IS S3479

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1 ject to subparagraph (C), when the Commis2 sioner makes an affirmative preliminary deter3 mination under paragraph (2)(A), the Commis4 sioner shall, at the request of the head of an5 other Federal agency, transmit the administra6 tive record to the head of that agency. 

7 ‘‘(B) AFTER FINAL DETERMINATION.— 

8 Notwithstanding section 777 and subject to 

9 subparagraph (C), when the Commissioner 

10 makes an affirmative final determination under 

11 paragraph (2)(B), the Commissioner shall, at 

12 the request of the head of another Federal 

13 agency, transmit the complete administrative 

14 record to the head of that agency. 

15 ‘‘(C) PROTECTIVE ORDERS.—Before trans16 mitting an administrative record to the head of 

17 another Federal agency under subparagraph 

18 (A) or (B), the Commissioner shall verify that 

19 the other agency has in effect with respect to 

20 the administrative record a protective order 

21 that provides the same or a similar level of pro22 tection for the information in the administrative 

23 record as the protective order in effect with re24 spect to such information under this subsection. 

25 ‘‘(c) EFFECT OF DETERMINATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) EFFECT OF AFFIRMATIVE PRELIMINARY

2 DETERMINATION.—If the Commissioner makes a 

3 preliminary determination in accordance with sub4 section (b)(2)(A) that there is a reasonable basis to 

5 believe or suspect that covered merchandise was en6 tered into the customs territory of the United States 

7 through evasion, the Commissioner shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) suspend the liquidation of each unliq9 uidated entry of the covered merchandise that 

10 is subject to the preliminary determination and 

11 that entered on or after the date of the initi12 ation of the investigation under paragraph (1) 

13 and, pursuant to the Commissioner’s authority 

14 under section 504(b), extend liquidation of each 

15 unliquidated entry of the covered merchandise 

16 that is subject to the preliminary determination 

17 and that entered prior to the date of the initi18 ation of the investigation under paragraph (1); 

19 ‘‘(B) review and reassess the amount of 

20 bond or other security the importer is required 

21 to post for each entry of merchandise described 

22 in subparagraph (A); 

23 ‘‘(C) require the posting of a cash deposit 

24 with respect to each entry of merchandise de25 scribed in subparagraph (A); and 


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1 ‘‘(D) take such other measures as the 

2 Commissioner determines appropriate to ensure 

3 the collection of any duties that may be owed 

4 with respect to merchandise described in sub5 paragraph (A) as a result of a final determina6 tion under subsection (b)(2)(B). 

7 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF NEGATIVE PRELIMINARY DE8 TERMINATION.—If the Commissioner makes a pre9 liminary determination in accordance with sub10 section (b)(2)(A) that there is not a reasonable basis 

11 to believe or suspect that covered merchandise was 

12 entered into the customs territory of the United 

13 States through evasion, the Commissioner shall con14 tinue the investigation and notify the administering 

15 authority pending a final determination under sub16 section (b)(2)(B). 

17 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF AFFIRMATIVE FINAL DETER18 MINATION.—If the Commissioner makes a final de19 termination in accordance with subsection (b)(2)(B) 

20 that covered merchandise was entered into the cus21 toms territory of the United States through evasion, 

22 the Commissioner shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) suspend or continue to suspend, as 

24 the case may be, the liquidation of each entry 

25 of the covered merchandise that is subject to 


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1 the determination and that enters on or after 

2 the date of the determination and, pursuant to 

3 the Commissioner’s authority under section 

4 504(b), extend or continue to extend, as the 

5 case may be, the liquidation of each entry of 

6 the covered merchandise that is subject to the 

7 determination and that entered prior to the 

8 date of the determination; 

9 ‘‘(B) notify the administering authority of 

10 the determination and request that the admin11 istering authority— 

12 ‘‘(i) identify the applicable anti13 dumping or countervailing duty assessment 

14 rate for the entries for which liquidation is 

15 suspended under paragraph (1)(A) or sub16 paragraph (A) of this paragraph; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) if no such assessment rates are 

18 available at the time, identify the applica19 ble cash deposit rate to be applied to the 

20 entries described in subparagraph (A), 

21 with the applicable antidumping or coun22 tervailing duty assessment rates to be pro23 vided as soon as such rates become avail24 able; 


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1 ‘‘(C) require the posting of cash deposits 

2 and assess duties on each entry of merchandise 

3 described in subparagraph (A) in accordance 

4 with the instructions received from the admin5 istering authority under paragraph (5); 

6 ‘‘(D) review and reassess the amount of 

7 bond or other security the importer is required 

8 to post for merchandise described in subpara9 graph (A) to ensure the protection of revenue 

10 and compliance with the law; and 

11 ‘‘(E) take such additional enforcement 

12 measures as the Commissioner determines ap13 propriate, such as— 

14 ‘‘(i) initiating proceedings under sec15 tion 592 or 596; 

16 ‘‘(ii) implementing, in consultation 

17 with the relevant Federal agencies, rule 

18 sets or modifications to rules sets for iden19 tifying, particularly through the Auto20 mated Targeting System and the Auto21 mated Commercial Environment, import22 ers, other parties, and merchandise that 

23 may be associated with evasion; 

24 ‘‘(iii) requiring, with respect to mer25 chandise for which the importer has reVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:21 Aug 08, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00076 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3479.IS S3479

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1 peatedly provided incomplete or erroneous 

2 entry summary information in connection 

3 with determinations of evasion, the im4 porter to submit entry summary docu5 mentation and to deposit estimated duties 

6 at the time of entry; 

7 ‘‘(iv) referring the record in whole or 

8 in part to U.S. Immigration and Customs 

9 Enforcement for civil or criminal investiga10 tion; and 

11 ‘‘(v) transmitting the administrative 

12 record to the administering authority for 

13 further appropriate proceedings. 

14 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF NEGATIVE FINAL DETERMINA15 TION.—If the Commissioner makes a final deter16 mination in accordance with subsection (b)(2)(B) 

17 that covered merchandise was not entered into the 

18 customs territory of the United States through eva19 sion, the Commissioner shall terminate the suspen20 sion of liquidation pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) and 

21 refund any cash deposits collected pursuant to para22 graph (1)(C) that are in excess of the cash deposit 

23 rate that would otherwise have been applicable the 

24 merchandise. 


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1 ‘‘(5) COOPERATION OF ADMINISTERING AU2 THORITY.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon receiving a noti4 fication from the Commissioner under para5 graph (3)(B), the administering authority shall 

6 promptly provide to the Commissioner the ap7 plicable cash deposit rates and antidumping or 

8 countervailing duty assessment rates and any 

9 necessary liquidation instructions. 

10 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR CASES IN WHICH

11 THE PRODUCER OR EXPORTER IS UNKNOWN.— 

12 If the Commissioner and administering author13 ity are unable to determine the producer or ex14 porter of the merchandise with respect to which 

15 a notification is made under paragraph (3)(B), 

16 the administering authority shall identify, as 

17 the applicable cash deposit rate or antidumping 

18 or countervailing duty assessment rate, the cash 

19 deposit or duty (as the case may be) in the 

20 highest amount applicable to any producer or 

21 exporter, including the ‘all-others’ rate of the 

22 merchandise subject to an antidumping order or 

23 countervailing duty order under section 736 or 

24 706, respectively, or a finding issued under the 


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1 Antidumping Act, 1921, or any administrative 

2 review conducted under section 751. 

3 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) EFFECT ON OTHER AUTHORITIES.—Nei5 ther the initiation of an investigation under sub6 section (b)(1) nor a preliminary determination or a 

7 final determination under subsection (b)(2) shall af8 fect the authority of the Commissioner— 

9 ‘‘(A) to pursue such other enforcement 

10 measures with respect to the evasion of anti11 dumping or countervailing duties as the Com12 missioner determines necessary, including en13 forcement measures described in clauses (i) 

14 through (iv) of subsection (c)(3)(E); or 

15 ‘‘(B) to assess any penalties or collect any 

16 applicable duties, taxes, and fees, including pur17 suant to section 592. 

18 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF DETERMINATIONS ON FRAUD

19 ACTIONS.—Neither a preliminary determination nor 

20 a final determination under subsection (b)(2) shall 

21 be determinative in a proceeding under section 592. 

22 ‘‘(3) NEGLIGENCE OR INTENT.—The Commis23 sioner shall investigate and make a preliminary de24 termination or a final determination under this sec25 tion with respect to whether a person has entered 


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1 covered merchandise into the customs territory of 

2 the United States through evasion without regard to 

3 whether the person— 

4 ‘‘(A) intended to violate an antidumping 

5 duty order or countervailing duty order under 

6 section 736 or 706, respectively, or a finding 

7 issued under the Antidumping Act, 1921; or 

8 ‘‘(B) exercised reasonable care with respect 

9 to avoiding a violation of such an order or find10 ing.’’. 

11 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Clause (ii) of section 

12 777(b)(1)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

13 1677f(b)(1)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(ii) to an officer or employee of U.S. 

15 Customs and Border Protection who is di16 rectly involved in conducting an investiga17 tion regarding fraud under this title or 

18 claims of evasion under section 516B.’’. 

19 (c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Section 516A(a)(2) of the 

20 Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1516a(a)(2)) is amended— 

21 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

22 (A) in clause (i)(III), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

23 the end; 

24 (B) in clause (ii), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 

25 end; and 


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1 (C) by inserting after clause (ii) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(iii) the date of publication in the 

4 Federal Register of a determination de5 scribed in clause (ix) of subparagraph 

6 (B),’’; and 

7 (2) in subparagraph (B), by adding at the end 

8 the following new clause: 

9 ‘‘(ix) A determination by the Commis10 sioner responsible for U.S. Customs and 

11 Border Protection under section 516B that 

12 merchandise has been entered into the cus13 toms territory of the United States 

14 through evasion.’’. 

15 (d) FINALITY OF DETERMINATIONS.—Section 514(b) 

16 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1514(b)) is amended 

17 by striking ‘‘section 303’’ and all that follows through 

18 ‘‘which are reviewable’’ and inserting ‘‘section 516B or 

19 title VII that are reviewable’’. 

20 SEC. 202. APPLICATION TO CANADA AND MEXICO. 

21 Pursuant to article 1902 of the North American Free 

22 Trade Agreement and section 408 of the North American 

23 Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 

24 3438), the amendments made by this part shall apply with 

25 respect to goods from Canada and Mexico. 


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1 PART II—OTHER MATTERS 

2 SEC. 211. DEFINITIONS. 

3 In this part, the terms ‘‘appropriate congressional 

4 committees’’, ‘‘Commissioner’’, ‘‘covered merchandise’’, 

5 ‘‘enter’’ and ‘‘entry’’, and ‘‘evade’’ and ‘‘evasion’’ have the 

6 meanings given those terms in section 516B(a) of the Tar7 iff Act of 1930 (as added by section 201 of this Act). 

8 SEC. 212. ALLOCATION OF U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER 

9 PROTECTION PERSONNEL. 

10 (a) REASSIGNMENT AND ALLOCATION.—The Com11 missioner shall, to the maximum extent possible, ensure 

12 that U.S. Customs and Border Protection— 

13 (1) employs sufficient personnel who have ex14 pertise in, and responsibility for, preventing the 

15 entry of covered merchandise into the customs terri16 tory of the United States through evasion; and 

17 (2) on the basis of risk assessment metrics, as18 signs sufficient personnel with primary responsibility 

19 for preventing the entry of covered merchandise into 

20 the customs territory of the United States through 

21 evasion to the ports of entry in the United States at 

22 which the Commissioner determines potential eva23 sion presents the most substantial threats to the rev24 enue of the United States. 

25 (b) COMMERCIAL ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.—Not 

26 later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 


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1 Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Commis2 sioner, and the Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigration 

3 and Customs Enforcement shall assess and properly allo4 cate the resources of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

5 and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement— 

6 (1) to effectively implement the provisions of, 

7 and amendments made by, this subtitle; and 

8 (2) to improve efforts to investigate and combat 

9 evasion. 

10 SEC. 213. REGULATIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 240 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner shall 

13 issue regulations to carry out the provisions of, and 

14 amendments made by, this subtitle. 

15 (b) COOPERATION BETWEEN U.S. CUSTOMS AND

16 BORDER PROTECTION, U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS

17 ENFORCEMENT, AND DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.—Not 

18 later than 240 days after the date of the enactment of 

19 this Act, the Commissioner, the Assistant Secretary for 

20 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Sec21 retary of Commerce shall establish procedures to ensure 

22 maximum cooperation and communication between U.S. 

23 Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and 

24 Customs Enforcement, and the Department of Commerce 

25 in order to quickly, efficiently, and accurately investigate 


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1 allegations of evasion under section 516B of the Tariff 

2 Act of 1930 (as added by section 201 of this Act). 

3 SEC. 214. ANNUAL REPORT ON PREVENTION OF EVASION 

4 OF ANTIDUMPING AND COUNTERVAILING 

5 DUTY ORDERS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 28 of 

7 each year, beginning in 2013, the Commissioner, in con8 sultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall submit to 

9 the appropriate congressional committees a report on the 

10 efforts being taken pursuant to section 516B of the Tariff 

11 Act of 1930 (as added by section 201 of this Act) to pre12 vent the entry of covered merchandise into the customs 

13 territory of the United States through evasion. 

14 (b) CONTENTS.—Each report required under sub15 section (a) shall include— 

16 (1) for the fiscal year preceding the submission 

17 of the report— 

18 (A) the number and a brief description of 

19 petitions and referrals received pursuant to sec20 tion 516B(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (as 

21 added by section 201 of this Act); 

22 (B) the results of the investigations initi23 ated under such section, including any related 

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1 dumping and countervailing duties collected as 

2 a result of those investigations; and 

3 (C) to the extent appropriate, a summary 

4 of the efforts of U.S. Customs and Border Pro5 tection, other than efforts initiated pursuant 

6 section 516B of the Tariff Act of 1930 (as 

7 added by section 201 of this Act), to prevent 

8 the entry of covered merchandise into the cus9 toms territory of the United States through 

10 evasion; and 

11 (2) for the 3 fiscal years preceding the submis12 sion of the report, an estimate of— 

13 (A) the amount of covered merchandise 

14 that entered the customs territory of the United 

15 States through evasion; and 

16 (B) the amount of duties that could not be 

17 collected on such merchandise because the Com18 missioner did not have the authority to reliq19 uidate the entries of such merchandise. 

20 SEC. 215. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT 

21 ON RELIQUIDATION AUTHORITY. 

22 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

24 States shall submit to the appropriate congressional com25 mittees, and make available to the public, a report estiVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:21 Aug 08, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00085 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3479.IS S3479

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1 mating the amount of duties that could not be collected 

2 on covered merchandise that entered the customs territory 

3 of the United States through evasion during fiscal years 

4 2010 and 2011 because the Commissioner did not have 

5 the authority to reliquidate the entries of such merchan6 dise. 

7 Subtitle B—Foreign Direct 

8 Investment 

9 SEC. 221. REPORT ON ENHANCING COMPETITIVENESS OF 

10 UNITED STATES IN ATTRACTING FOREIGN DI11 RECT INVESTMENT. 

12 Section 3 of the Foreign Direct Investment and 

13 International Financial Data Improvements Act of 1990 

14 (22 U.S.C. 3142) is amended by adding at the end the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(d) REVIEW OF UNITED STATES LAWS AND POLI17 CIES ON FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN THE UNITED

18 STATES.— 

19 ‘‘(1) REVIEW.—The Secretary of Commerce, in 

20 coordination with the heads of other relevant Fed21 eral departments and agencies, shall conduct an 

22 interagency review of United States laws and policies 

23 on foreign direct investment in the United States 

24 and develop recommendations to make the United 


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1 States more competitive in attracting and retaining 

2 strong investment flows from abroad. 

3 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL MATTERS TO BE IN4 CLUDED.—The review conducted pursuant to para5 graph (1) shall include the following: 

6 ‘‘(A) A review of the current economic im7 pact of foreign direct investment in the United 

8 States and broader trends in global cross-border 

9 investment flows, including an assessment of 

10 the current United States competitive position 

11 as an investment location for companies 

12 headquartered abroad. 

13 ‘‘(B) A review of United States laws and 

14 policies that uniquely apply to foreign direct in15 vestment in the United States, with particular 

16 focus on those laws and policies that may have 

17 the effect of diminishing the ability of the 

18 United States to attract and retain foreign di19 rect investment. 

20 ‘‘(C) A review of ongoing efforts of the 

21 Federal Government to reduce investment bar22 riers and facilitate greater levels of foreign di23 rect investment in the United States. 

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1 cluding a comparative analysis of efforts of 

2 other competing countries, to make the United 

3 States more competitive in attracting global in4 vestment. 

5 ‘‘(3) COMMENT PERIOD.—The review conducted 

6 under paragraph (1) shall include an open comment 

7 period to solicit input from experts and industry 

8 stakeholders on matters covered by the review. 

9 ‘‘(4) INCLUSION IN REPORT.—The Secretary of 

10 Commerce shall include the results of the review 

11 conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) in the first re12 port prepared under subsection (a) of this section on 

13 or after the date of the enactment of the Building 

14 a Stronger America Act of 2012.’’. 

15 TITLE III—EXPORT PROMOTION 

16 SEC. 301. IMPROVED COORDINATION OF EXPORT PRO17 MOTION ACTIVITIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES 

18 BY THE TRADE PROMOTION COORDINATING 

19 COMMITTEE. 

20 (a) DUTIES OF TPCC.—Section 2312(b) of the Ex21 port Enhancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727(b)) is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, including 

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1 locate offices or agencies involved in such activities’’ 

2 after ‘‘export financing activities’’; 

3 (2) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para4 graph (8); and 

5 (3) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(5) assess the appropriate levels and allocation 

8 of resources, including the use and coordination of 

9 electronic databases, among agencies in support of 

10 export promotion and export financing and provide 

11 recommendations, including a recommendation for 

12 the unified Federal trade promotion budget required 

13 by subsection (c)(4), to the President based on its 

14 assessment; 

15 ‘‘(6) in conducting assessments under para16 graph (5), review the proposed trade promotion 

17 budget for a fiscal year of each agency with respon18 sibility for export promotion and export financing 

19 activities before the agency submits that budget to 

20 the Office of Management and Budget and the 

21 President for inclusion in the budget of the Presi22 dent for that fiscal year submitted to Congress 

23 under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States 

24 Code; 


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1 ‘‘(7) to the maximum extent practicable, make 

2 available on Federal agency websites related to trade 

3 and export promotion, including Export.gov, a de4 tailed listing of ongoing and anticipated trade mis5 sions, trade fairs, and related Federal and State ex6 port promotion and export financing activities to en7 sure better delivery of services to United States busi8 nesses; and’’. 

9 (b) STRATEGIC PLAN.—Section 2312(c) of the Ex10 port Enhancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727(c)) is 

11 amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), (5), 

13 and (6) as paragraphs (4), (6), (7), and (8), respec14 tively; 

15 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, based on 

16 consultations with, and recommendations from, a 

17 representative number of United States exporters 

18 and other types of export-related businesses’’ after 

19 ‘‘coordination of such activities’’; 

20 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(3) identify countries with which the United 

23 States could negotiate trade agreements to increase 

24 United States exports;’’; 


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1 (4) by inserting after paragraph (4), as redesig2 nated by paragraph (1), the following: 

3 ‘‘(5) identify areas in which the TPCC can 

4 partner and maximize existing partnerships with 

5 agencies by granting the TPCC the ability to part6 ner with a partner of an agency that is a member 

7 of the TPCC without requiring an additional memo8 randum of understanding between the TPCC and 

9 that partner;’’; 

10 (5) in paragraph (7), as redesignated by para11 graph (1), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a semi12 colon; 

13 (6) in paragraph (8), as redesignated by para14 graph (1), by striking the period and inserting a 

15 semicolon; and 

16 (7) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(9) review and propose means to improve edu18 cational outreach to small- and medium-sized busi19 nesses with respect to the resources available 

20 through the TPCC and agencies that are members 

21 of the TPCC, including by consulting with, and con22 sidering recommendations from, United States ex23 porters and the Small Business Administration with 

24 respect to improving outreach by the TPCC; and 


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1 ‘‘(10) clearly describe the role of each agency 

2 that is a member of the TPCC and the responsibility 

3 of each such agency for export promotion and export 

4 financing.’’. 

5 (c) REPRESENTATIVE OF STATE AGENCIES ON

6 TPCC.—Section 2312(d) of the Export Enhancement Act 

7 of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727(d)) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para9 graph (3); and 

10 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(2) REPRESENTATIVE OF STATE AGENCIES.— 

13 In addition to the members specified in paragraph 

14 (1), there shall be one member of the TPCC that 

15 represents State agencies with responsibility for ex16 port promotion and export financing.’’. 

17 (d) REPORTS.—Section 2312(f) of the Export En18 hancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727(f)) is amended 

19 to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) TPCC REPORT.—Not later than 18 

22 months after the date of the enactment of the Build23 ing a Stronger America Act of 2012, and March 30 

24 of each year thereafter, the chairperson of the TPCC 

25 shall submit to Congress a report that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) describes the strategic plan developed 

2 by the TPCC pursuant to subsection (c), the 

3 implementation of the plan, and any revisions 

4 to the plan; 

5 ‘‘(B) describe the goals of and activities 

6 carried out by each agency that is a member of 

7 the TPCC with respect to Federal export pro8 motion and export financing activities, including 

9 efforts to increase efficiency, decrease duplica10 tion, increase interagency coordination, and 

11 meet the goals of each such agency; 

12 ‘‘(C) reviews the proposed annual trade 

13 promotion budgets for each such agency and 

14 provides recommendations with respect to those 

15 budgets based on the strategic plan developed 

16 pursuant to subsection (c) and any anticipated 

17 revisions to the plan; and 

18 ‘‘(D) describes the implementation of sec19 tions 303 and 304 of the FREEDOM Support 

20 Act (22 U.S.C. 5823 and 5824) concerning 

21 funding for export promotion activities and the 

22 interagency working groups on energy of the 

23 TPCC. 

24 ‘‘(2) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

25 REPORT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 

2 months after the date of the enactment of the 

3 Building a Stronger America Act of 2012, and 

4 every 2 years thereafter, the Comptroller Gen5 eral of the United States shall submit to Con6 gress a report that assesses the effectiveness of 

7 the TPCC. 

8 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—The report required by 

9 subparagraph (A) shall include an assessment 

10 of the following: 

11 ‘‘(i) The operational efficiency and ef12 fectiveness of the TPCC. 

13 ‘‘(ii) The performance of each agency 

14 that is a member of the TPCC with re15 spect to Federal export promotion and ex16 port financing activities, including efforts 

17 to increase efficiency, decrease duplication, 

18 increase interagency coordination, and 

19 meet the goals of each such agency. The 

20 efforts of the TPCC to coordinate Federal 

21 export promotion and export financing ac22 tivities, including efforts to coordinate the 

23 trade promotion budgets of the agencies 

24 that are members of the TPCC. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Duplication of administrative 

2 functions, client management functions, 

3 and resources among those agencies and 

4 measures to decrease such duplication, in5 cluding by reducing the office space or 

6 other resources available to those agencies. 

7 ‘‘(iv) Improvements in efficiency and 

8 decreases in duplication of efforts among 

9 those agencies realized by the TPCC. 

10 ‘‘(v) Other relevant information on 

11 the overall effectiveness of the TPCC. 

12 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION OF CHANGING

13 STRATEGY.—In preparing the report required 

14 by subparagraph (A), the Comptroller General 

15 shall take into account that the strategic plan 

16 of the TPCC is subject to change.’’. 

17 (e) EXPORT.GOV; REGULATIONS.—Section 2312 of 

18 the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727) 

19 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON EXPORT.GOV.— 

21 The TPCC shall coordinate with the agencies that are 

22 members of the TPCC to publish information relevant to 

23 export promotion and export financing on Export.gov (or 

24 a successor website), including the information described 

25 in subsections (b)(7) and (c)(10). 


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1 ‘‘(h) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 18 months after 

2 the date of the enactment of the Building a Stronger 

3 America Act of 2012, the President shall prescribe such 

4 regulations as are necessary to provide the chairperson of 

5 the TPCC with the authority to ensure that the TPCC 

6 carries out each of its duties under subsection (b) and de7 velops and implements the strategic plan under subsection 

8 (c).’’. 

9 (f) REPORT ON IMPROVEMENTS TO EXPORT.GOV AS

10 A SINGLE WINDOW FOR EXPORT INFORMATION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Di13 rector of International Trade of the Small Business 

14 Administration shall, after consultation with the en15 tities specified in paragraph (2), submit to Congress 

16 a report that includes the recommendations of the 

17 Director for improving the experience provided by 

18 the website Export.gov (or a successor website) as— 

19 (A) a comprehensive resource for informa20 tion about exporting articles from the United 

21 States; and 

22 (B) a single website for exporters to sub23 mit all information required by the Federal 

24 Government with respect to the exportation of 

25 articles from the United States. 


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1 (2) ENTITIES SPECIFIED.—The entities speci2 fied in this paragraph are— 

3 (A) small business concerns (as defined in 

4 section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

5 632)) that are exporters; and 

6 (B) the President’s Export Council, State 

7 agencies with responsibility for export pro8 motion or export financing, district export coun9 cils, and trade associations. 

10 (g) REPORT ON DEVELOPING A SINGLE WINDOW

11 FOR INFORMATION ABOUT EXPORT CONTROL COMPLI12 ANCE.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the en13 actment of this Act, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 

14 the Small Business Administration shall submit to Con15 gress a report assessing the benefits of developing a 

16 website to serve as— 

17 (1) a comprehensive resource for complying 

18 with and information about the export control laws 

19 and regulations of the United States; and 

20 (2) a single website for exporters to submit all 

21 information required by the Federal Government 

22 with respect to export controls. 


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1 SEC. 302. EFFECTIVE DEPLOYMENT OF RESOURCES OF THE 

2 UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COMMERCIAL 

3 SERVICE. 

4 Section 2301(c)(4) of the Export Enhancement Act 

5 of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4721(c)(4)) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

7 through (F) as subparagraphs (C) through (G), re8 spectively; 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘(4) FOREIGN OFFICES.—(A) 

10 The Secretary may’’ and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(4) FOREIGN OFFICES.—(A)(i) The Secretary 

12 shall conduct a global assessment of overseas mar13 kets to identify the countries to which the United 

14 States could increase exports through Federal export 

15 promotion activities and redeploy Commercial Serv16 ice personnel and other resources on the basis of the 

17 global assessment. 

18 ‘‘(ii) The assessment conducted under clause (i) 

19 shall take into consideration recommendations from 

20 a representative number of United States exporters. 

21 ‘‘(iii) Not later than 180 days after the date of 

22 the enactment of the Building a Stronger America 

23 Act of 2012, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 

24 a report on the results of the first global assessment 

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1 ployment of Commercial Service personnel and other 

2 resources on the basis of the global assessment. 

3 ‘‘(iv) The Secretary shall conduct a global as4 sessment and redeployment described in clause (i) 

5 not less frequently than once in every 5-year period. 

6 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may’’; and 

7 (3) in subparagraph (F), as redesignated, by 

8 striking ‘‘is authorized, upon the request of the Sec9 retary, to provide’’ and inserting ‘‘shall, upon the re10 quest of the Secretary, provide’’. 

11 SEC. 303. STRENGTHENED COMMERCIAL DIPLOMACY TO 

12 INCREASE UNITED STATES EXPORTS. 

13 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—Section 207(c) of the 

14 Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3927(c)) is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(2)(A) Each chief of mission to a foreign country 

19 shall develop a plan for effective diplomacy to remove or 

20 reduce obstacles to exports of United States goods and 

21 services, in consultation with— 

22 ‘‘(i) the ambassador of the United States to the 

23 country; 

24 ‘‘(ii) the Assistant Secretary of Commerce and 

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1 lished by section 2301(a)(2) of the Export Enhance2 ment Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4721(a)(2))); 

3 ‘‘(iii) the heads of other Federal agencies with 

4 export promotion programs, acting through the 

5 Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (estab6 lished by section 2312 of the Export Enhancement 

7 Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727)); and 

8 ‘‘(iv) the trade advisory committees authorized 

9 by paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 135(c) of the 

10 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155(c)), if those 

11 committees request consultation. 

12 ‘‘(B) The chief of mission shall submit the plan re13 quired by subparagraph (A) to the Secretary for review 

14 by the Secretary before implementing the plan.’’. 

15 (b) ASSESSMENTS AND PROMOTIONS.—Section 

16 603(a) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 

17 4003(a)) is amended, in the second sentence, by inserting 

18 after ‘‘disciplinary actions,’’ the following: ‘‘assessments 

19 (with respect to members of the Service with responsibil20 ities relating to economic affairs) of the effectiveness of 

21 efforts to promote the exportation of United States goods 

22 and services in accordance with the plan developed pursu23 ant to section 207(c)(2),’’. 


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1 (c) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Section 209(b) of the 

2 Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3929(b)) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

5 inserting a semicolon; 

6 (2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para7 graph (6); and 

8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol9 lowing new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(5) the effectiveness of diplomacy relating to the 

11 promotion of exports of United States goods and services; 

12 and’’. 

13 SEC. 304. REPORTS ON DISTORTIVE OR DISCRIMINATORY 

14 ECONOMIC POLICIES AND PRACTICES OF 

15 FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 

16 (a) REPORTS BY UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL

17 TRADE COMMISSION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less 

20 frequently than once every 2 years thereafter, the 

21 United States International Trade Commission (in 

22 this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall 

23 submit to Congress and the President a report 

24 that— 


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1 (A) identifies distortive or discriminatory 

2 economic policies and practices of foreign coun3 tries; and 

4 (B) estimates, for the 10 years following 

5 the submission of the report, the effects of such 

6 policies and practices on businesses and work7 ers in the United States. 

8 (2) DISTORTIVE AND DISCRIMINATORY ECO9 NOMIC POLICIES AND PRACTICES.—For purposes of 

10 paragraph (1), distortive or discriminatory economic 

11 policies or practices of foreign countries include poli12 cies and practices that adversely affect the economic 

13 or commercial interests of businesses or workers in 

14 the United States, such as policies and practices 

15 that discriminate against United States persons, 

16 policies and practices permitting trading monopolies, 

17 restrictive government procurement policies or prac18 tices, discriminatory tax policies or preferences, for19 eign direct investment policies or practices, stand20 ards, or subsidies, restrictive domestic financial poli21 cies, and policies and practices that permit violations 

22 of intellectual property rights. 

23 (3) ELEMENTS.—Each report submitted under 

24 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 


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1 (A) Qualitative indicators of specific poli2 cies and practices that may be distortive or dis3 criminatory of specific foreign countries and an 

4 assessment of the relative significance of such 

5 policies and practices. 

6 (B) An assessment of resources expended 

7 in foreign countries that are being used to pre8 clude exports of United States goods and serv9 ices, to harm United States economic interests, 

10 or to support the development of technologies, 

11 manufacturing base, and businesses that com12 pete directly with United States businesses. 

13 (4) FACILITATION.—To assist in the prepara14 tion of each report required by paragraph (1), the 

15 Commission shall facilitate the reporting by inter16 ested persons of distortive or discriminatory eco17 nomic policies and practices of foreign countries, to 

18 the extent possible. 

19 (5) OTHER REPORTS.—In the National Trade 

20 Estimate submitted under section 181(b) of the 

21 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2241(b)) and any 

22 other report of the Commission relating to trade 

23 submitted after the date of the enactment of this 

24 Act, the Commission shall assess the effects of dis25 tortive and discriminatory policies and practices of 


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1 foreign countries that are commercially significant 

2 and pose the greatest potential opportunity or threat 

3 to businesses and workers in the United States dur4 ing the 10-year period following submission of the 

5 report. 

6 (b) REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE

7 UNITED STATES.—Not later than 1 year after the Com8 mission submits the first report required by subsection 

9 (a)(1), the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

10 submit to Congress a report that— 

11 (1) assesses the effectiveness of actions taken 

12 by Federal agencies with responsibility relating to 

13 trade to mitigate the effects of distortive or discrimi14 natory economic policies and practices of foreign 

15 countries, with emphasis on the most egregious of 

16 such policies and practices; 

17 (2) makes recommendations for additional ac18 tions that may be taken by such agencies to mitigate 

19 the effects of such policies and practices; 

20 (3) identifies gaps in the trade or foreign eco21 nomic policies of the United States that should be 

22 addressed by the President or Congress; and 

23 (4) identifies agencies or programs that have 

24 successfully implemented policies to discourage disVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:21 Aug 08, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00104 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3479.IS S3479

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1 tortive and discriminatory economic policies and 

2 practices of foreign countries, including— 

3 (A) specific steps taken by each such agen4 cies and programs to reduce such policies and 

5 practices; 

6 (B) recommendations on how such agen7 cies and programs can improve awareness and 

8 monitoring of such policies and practices and 

9 develop programs to discourage the use of such 

10 policies and practices; and 

11 (C) other information that may help in12 form efforts to develop programs to combat 

13 such policies and practices. 

Æ 


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