I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 851

To assess the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement and 

the entry of the People’s Republic of China into the World Trade Organization on American jobs, the environment, and worker rights. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2003

Ms. SLAUGHTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To assess the impact of the North American Free Trade 

Agreement and the entry of the People’s Republic of 

China into the World Trade Organization on American 

jobs, the environment, and worker rights.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trade Accountability 

5 Study Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. TRADE IMPACT COMMISSION. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 

3 ‘‘Trade Impact Review Commission’’ (in this Act referred 

4 to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

5 (b) DUTIES.—The Commission shall—

6 (1) determine—

7 (A) the extent to which exports of goods of 

8 the United States to NAFTA countries, and 

9 imports of goods of NAFTA countries into the 

10 United States, have increased or decreased 

11 since January 1, 1994; and 

12 (B) the number of jobs in the United 

13 States that have been created as a result of in14 creased exports of goods of the United States to 

15 NAFTA countries, and the number of jobs in 

16 the United States that have been lost as a re17 sult of increased imports of goods of NAFTA 

18 countries into the United States, since January 

19 1, 1994; and 

20 (2) determine—

21 (A) the extent to which exports of goods of 

22 the United States to the People’s Republic of 

23 China, and imports of goods of the People’s Re24 public of China into the United States, have in25 creased or decreased since December 11, 2001; 

26 and 
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1 (B) the number of jobs in the United 

2 States that have been created as a result of in3 creased exports of goods of the United States to 

4 the People’s Republic of China, and the number 

5 of jobs in the United States that have been lost 

6 as a result of increased imports of goods of the 

7 People’s Republic of China into the Untied 

8 States, since December 11, 2001; and 

9 (3) submit to the appropriate committees of the 

10 Congress, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary 

11 of Labor, and the United States Trade Representa12 tive, the findings of the Commission under para13 graphs (1) and (2), as well as any recommendations 

14 the Commission has for strengthening the United 

15 States labor force in light of such findings. 

16 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—

17 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com18 mission shall be composed of 5 members appointed 

19 as follows: 

20 (A) 1 member appointed by the President. 

21 (B) 1 member appointed by the Speaker of 

22 the House of Representatives. 

23 (C) 1 member appointed by the minority 

24 leader of the House of Representatives. 
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1 (D) 1 member appointed by the majority 

2 leader of the Senate. 

3 (E) 1 member appointed by the minority 

4 leader of the Senate. 

5 (2) PERSONS ELIGIBLE.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The members of the 

7 Commission shall be individuals who have 

8 knowledge or expertise, whether by experience 

9 or training, in matters to be studied by the 

10 Commission. The members may be from the 

11 public or private sector, and may include em12 ployees of the Federal Government or of State 

13 or local governments, members of academia, 

14 nonprofit organizations, or industry, or other 

15 interested individuals. 

16 (B) DIVERSITY.—It is the intent of the 

17 Congress that persons appointed to the Com18 mission under paragraph (1) be persons who 

19 represent diverse economic and professional 

20 backgrounds from different regions of the 

21 United States. 

22 (3) CONSULTATION AND APPOINTMENT.—

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President, Speaker 

24 of the House of Representatives, minority lead25 er of the House of Representatives, majority 
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1 leader of the Senate, and minority leader of the 

2 Senate shall consult among themselves before 

3 appointing the members of the Commission in 

4 order to achieve, to the maximum extent prac5 ticable, fair and equitable representation of var6 ious points of view with respect to the matters 

7 to be studied by the Commission. 

8 (B) COMPLETION OF APPOINTMENTS; VA9 CANCIES.—The President, Speaker of the 

10 House of Representatives, minority leader of 

11 the House of Representatives, majority leader 

12 of the Senate, and minority leader of the Sen13 ate shall conduct the consultation under sub14 paragraph (A) and make their respective ap15 pointments not later than 60 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 (4) TERMS AND VACANCIES.—Each member of 

18 the Commission shall be appointed for the life of the 

19 Commission. A vacancy in the membership of the 

20 Commission shall not affect the powers of the Com21 mission and shall be filled, not later than 30 days 

22 after the vacancy occurs, in the same manner as the 

23 original appointment was made. 
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1 (5) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The Commission 

2 shall select a Chair and Vice Chair from among its 

3 members. 

4 (d) MEETINGS.—

5 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days 

6 after the date on which all members of the Commis7 sion have been appointed, the Commission shall hold 

8 its first meeting. 

9 (2) SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS.—After the initial 

10 meeting, the Commission shall meet at the call of 

11 the Chair. 

12 (e) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 

13 Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 

14 of business, but a lesser number of members may hold 

15 hearings. 

16 (f) COMPENSATION.—

17 (1) RATE.—Except as provided in paragraph 

18 (2), members of the Commission shall each be paid 

19 the daily equivalent of the annual rate of pay pay20 able for level IV of the Executive Schedule under 

21 section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each 

22 day (including travel time) during which they are en23 gaged in the actual performance of duties vested in 

24 the Commission. 
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1 (2) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION OF FED2 ERAL EMPLOYEES.—A member of the Commission 

3 who is a full-time officer or employee of the United 

4 States or a Member of Congress may not receive ad5 ditional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of his 

6 or her service on the Commission. 

7 (g) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the Com8 mission shall receive travel expenses, including per diem 

9 in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable provi10 sions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United 

11 States Code. 

12 (h) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Commission 

13 may procure temporary and intermittent services under 

14 section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

15 (i) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the re16 quest of the Commission, the head of any Federal depart17 ment or agency may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any 

18 of the personnel of that department or agency to the Com19 mission to assist it in carrying out its duties under this 

20 section. 

21 (j) POWERS.—

22 (1) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commis23 sion may, for the purpose of carrying out this sec24 tion, hold hearings, sit and act at times and places, 
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1 take testimony, and receive evidence as the Commis2 sion considers appropriate. 

3 (2) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any 

4 member or agent of the Commission may, if author5 ized by the Commission, take any action which the 

6 Commission is authorized to take by this section. 

7 (3) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commis8 sion may secure directly from any department or 

9 agency of the United States information necessary 

10 to enable it to carry out this section. Upon request 

11 of the Chair or Vice Chair of the Commission, the 

12 head of that department or agency shall furnish that 

13 information to the Commission. 

14 (4) MAILS.—The Commission may use the 

15 United States mails in the same manner and under 

16 the same conditions as other departments and agen17 cies of the United States. 

18 (5) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—

19 Upon the request of the Commission, the Adminis20 trator of General Services shall provide to the Com21 mission, on a reimbursable basis, the administrative 

22 support services necessary for the Commission to 

23 carry out its responsibilities under this section. 

24 (k) REPORT.—The Commission shall transmit a re25 port containing its findings and recommendations under 
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1 subsection (b)(3) not later than 180 days after the first 

2 meeting of the Commission under subsection (d)(1). 

3 (l) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

4 30 days after submitting its report under subsection (k). 

5 (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

7 necessary to carry out this section. 

8 SEC. 3. FUTURE NEGOTIATIONS. 

9 In preparing for and engaging in negotiations for 

10 trade agreements, the President shall ensure that the find11 ings and recommendations of the Trade Impact Commis12 sion established in section 2 are included in developing 

13 trade policy with respect to such negotiations. 

14 SEC. 4. PRESIDENTIAL CERTIFICATIONS. 

15 The President shall submit to the Congress, not later 

16 than May 31 of each year, a report that certifies whether 

17 or not—

18 (1) each NAFTA country is meeting commit19 ments made in the North American Agreement on 

20 Environmental Cooperation and in the North Amer21 ican Agreement on Labor Cooperation; and 

22 (2) the People’s Republic of China is meeting 

23 its obligations with respect to protection of the envi24 ronment and worker rights by reason of its accession 
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1 to the World Trade Organization, including commit2 ments made to the United States. 

3 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

4 As used in this Act: 

5 (1) NAFTA.—The term ‘‘NAFTA’’ means the 

6 North American Free Trade Agreement entered into 

7 by the United States, Canada, and Mexico on De8 cember 17, 1992. 

9 (2) NAFTA COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘NAFTA 

10 country’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

11 2(4) of the North American Free Trade Agreement 

12 Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3301(4)). 

13 (3) NORTH AMERICAN AGREEMENT ON ENVI14 RONMENTAL COOPERATION.—The term ‘‘North 

15 American Agreement on Environmental Coopera16 tion’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

17 532(b)(2) of the North American Free Trade Agree18 ment Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3472(b)(2)). 

19 (4) NORTH AMERICAN AGREEMENT ON LABOR

20 COOPERATION.—The term ‘‘North American Agree21 ment on Labor Cooperation’’ has the meaning given 

22 that term in section 531(b)(2) of the North Amer23 ican Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (19 

24 U.S.C. 3471(b)(2)).

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