IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 938 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the leaders of 

Congress and other legislative branch offices should work together to 

establish and implement a coordinated program for the reuse, recycling, 

and appropriate disposal of obsolete computers and other electronic 

equipment used by offices of the legislative branch. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2009 

Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mrs. 

BONO MACK, and Mr. BILBRAY) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the leaders of Congress and other legislative branch offices should work together to establish and implement 

a coordinated program for the reuse, recycling, and appropriate disposal of obsolete computers and other electronic equipment used by offices of the legislative branch. 

Whereas electronic waste (or ‘‘e-waste’’) that is generated 

from obsolete computers and other electronic equipment 

is rapidly becoming a serious concern to State and local 

governments; 

Whereas e-waste is one of the fastest growing sectors in the 

solid waste stream; 


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•HRES 938 IH 

Whereas the disposal of e-waste is essentially unregulated at 

the Federal level; 

Whereas e-waste generated in the United States is most likely 

to be exported to developing countries; 

Whereas the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has 

found that, ‘‘A substantial quantity [of exported used 

electronics] ends up in countries where the items are 

handled and disposed of in a manner that threatens 

human health and the environment’’; 

Whereas GAO has also found that ‘‘Federal agencies . . . are 

not required to track the ultimate destination of their donated or recycled e-waste’’ and therefore ‘‘have little assurance that their e-waste is ultimately disposed of in an 

environmentally responsible matter’’; 

Whereas the United States has a growing domestic e-waste 

disposal industry that employs hard-working Americans; 

Whereas the United States owns and operates UNICOR, the 

trade name for Federal Prison Industries, Inc., which 

employs offenders incarcerated in correctional facilities 

under the Federal Bureau of Prisons; 

Whereas UNICOR operates 8 e-waste recycling facilities in 

direct competition to privately owned and operated ewaste disposal facilities in the United States; 

Whereas the Basel Action Network (BAN) has designed the 

e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and 

Reuse of Electronic Equipment, which forbids the export 

of e-waste to developing countries and the use of prison 

labor for recycling services; and 

Whereas Congress should lead by example to address this 

growing problem: Now, therefore, be it 


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•HRES 938 IH 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that the leaders of the House of Representa3 tives, the Senate, and other legislative branch offices 

4 should work together to establish and implement a coordi5 nated program for the reuse, recycling, and appropriate 

6 disposal of obsolete computers and other electronic equip7 ment used by offices of the legislative branch, using only 

8 those companies certified by accredited e-Stewards certifi9 cation bodies to be in conformance with the requirements 

10 of the e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and 

11 Reuse of Electronic Equipment. 

Æ 


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