II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 938 

To establish the America Star program within the Department of Labor, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 14, 2015 

Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

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

A BILL 

To establish the America Star program within the 

Department of Labor, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘America Star Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) AMERICA STAR COMPANY.—The term 

8 ‘‘America Star company’’ means a participating 

9 company that is designated as an America Star com10 pany under section 3(e). 


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1 (2) AMERICA STAR PROGRAM.—The term 

2 ‘‘America Star program’’ means the voluntary pro3 gram established under this Act. 

4 (3) APPLICANT COMPANY.—The term ‘‘appli5 cant company’’ means a company that applies for 

6 designation as an America Star company. 

7 (4) PARTICIPATING COMPANY.—The term ‘‘par8 ticipating company’’ means an applicant company 

9 that— 

10 (A) meets the application requirements set 

11 forth by the Secretary under section 3(b)(1); 

12 and 

13 (B) is not ineligible under section 3(b)(2) 

14 for participation in the America Star program. 

15 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of Labor. 

17 (6) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

18 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 

19 United States Code. 

20 SEC. 3. AMERICA STAR PROGRAM. 

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish, 

22 within the Department of Labor, a voluntary program to 

23 be known as the ‘‘America Star program’’ to annually des24 ignate participating companies as America Star companies 


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1 based on their support for the workforce of the United 

2 States during the previous calendar year. 

3 (b) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

5 procedures for companies seeking a designation 

6 under this Act to apply for participation in the 

7 America Star program for a calendar year, including 

8 a deadline for companies to apply for such participa9 tion. 

10 (2) INELIGIBILITY.—A company shall be ineli11 gible to participate in the America Star program 

12 if— 

13 (A) the Secretary has determined that 

14 such company has committed a serious, re15 peated, or willful violation, as described in para16 graph (3), of a provision under— 

17 (i) the Occupational Safety and 

18 Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et 

19 seq.); 

20 (ii) the National Labor Relations Act 

21 (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); 

22 (iii) the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

23 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); 

24 (iv) the Family and Medical Leave 

25 Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.); 


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1 (v) the Americans with Disabilities 

2 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.); 

3 (vi) the Age Discrimination in Em4 ployment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et 

5 seq.); or 

6 (vii) title VII of the Civil Rights Act 

7 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.); or 

8 (B) there is evidence that such company 

9 has substantially outsourced, as defined by the 

10 Secretary, jobs in the United States to another 

11 country during the previous 5 calendar years. 

12 (3) SERIOUS, REPEATED, OR WILLFUL VIOLA13 TION.— 

14 (A) SERIOUS.—For the purpose of deter15 mining whether a violation is serious under 

16 paragraph (2)(A), the Secretary shall, with re17 spect to each of the previous 3 calendar years, 

18 consider— 

19 (i) the number of employees of such 

20 company affected by the violation; 

21 (ii) the degree of risk posed or actual 

22 harm caused by the violation to the health, 

23 safety, or well-being of an employee of 

24 such company; 


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1 (iii) the amount of damages incurred 

2 or fines or penalties assessed on account of 

3 the violation; and 

4 (iv) any other consideration the Sec5 retary determines appropriate. 

6 (B) REPEATED.—For the purpose of de7 termining whether a violation is repeated under 

8 paragraph (2)(A), the Secretary shall consider 

9 whether such company has had 1 or more addi10 tional violations of the same, or a substantially 

11 similar, requirement during any of the previous 

12 3 calendar years. 

13 (C) WILLFUL.—For the purpose of deter14 mining whether a violation is willful under 

15 paragraph (2)(A), the Secretary shall consider 

16 whether such company knew of, showed reckless 

17 disregard for, or acted with plain indifference 

18 as to whether the conduct of such company was 

19 prohibited by any of the laws listed in para20 graph (2)(A) during any of the previous 3 cal21 endar years. 

22 (c) CLASSIFICATION GROUPS.—The Secretary shall 

23 place each applicant company that meets the requirements 

24 under subsection (b) into a classification group based on 

25 size and industry. 


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1 (d) SCORING SYSTEM.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta3 tion with any other relevant Federal agency as de4 termined by the Secretary, shall develop a system to 

5 score participating companies based on their per6 formance, during the previous calendar year, in the 

7 categories described in paragraph (2), compared to 

8 other participating companies within the classifica9 tion group of such company as determined under 

10 subsection (c). 

11 (2) CATEGORIES.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The score that a par13 ticipating company receives for such company’s 

14 performance during the previous calendar year 

15 shall be based on the following categories: 

16 (i) WAGES.—The ratio of the total an17 nual compensation, including benefits, of 

18 the employee receiving the greatest com19 pensation at such participating company 

20 compared to the median total annual com21 pensation, including benefits, of all employ22 ees at such company, with a higher score 

23 for participating companies with a lower 

24 such ratio. 


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1 (ii) MADE IN USA.—The percentage of 

2 the products manufactured or sold by such 

3 participating company that meet the 

4 standards of the Federal Trade Commis5 sion for labeling as ‘‘Made in USA’’, with 

6 a higher score for participating companies 

7 with a higher such percentage. 

8 (iii) VETERANS.—The use of veterans 

9 employment initiatives to promote employ10 ment opportunities at such participating 

11 company for veterans, with a higher score 

12 for participating companies utilizing more 

13 robust initiatives as determined by the Sec14 retary. Such initiatives may include— 

15 (I) veterans recruitment and hir16 ing programs; 

17 (II) job training and counseling 

18 programs for veterans; 

19 (III) internal education pro20 grams, for human resources or hiring 

21 staff, on the skills veterans attain 

22 from serving as veterans and the posi23 tive roles veterans can play at such 

24 participating company; and 


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1 (IV) mentorship programs involv2 ing veterans working at such partici3 pating company and unemployed vet4 erans. 

5 (iv) ADDITIONAL CATEGORIES.—For 

6 any classification group determined appro7 priate by the Secretary, the Secretary may 

8 add any additional category that such Sec9 retary determines to be representative of 

10 overall positive treatment of workers in the 

11 United States, including— 

12 (I) the implementation and use 

13 of initiatives or practices to promote 

14 diversity and employment of women; 

15 (II) the demonstration of pay 

16 parity for men and women of equiva17 lent levels of employment performing 

18 equivalent work; and 

19 (III) the implementation of work20 er support programs, including— 

21 (aa) retirement plans; 

22 (bb) paid family and medical 

23 leave insurance; 

24 (cc) development programs, 

25 such as job training courses or 


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1 assistance with attaining a higher 

2 education degree; and 

3 (dd) work schedule flexi4 bility. 

5 (B) PRIORITY OF CATEGORIES.—In scor6 ing each participating company, the Secretary 

7 shall weigh the categories described in subpara8 graph (A) by offering the greatest number of 

9 points for performance under clauses (i), (ii), 

10 and (iii) of such subparagraph, with perform11 ance under each such clause receiving an equal 

12 weight, and the least number of points for per13 formance under clause (iv) of such subpara14 graph. 

15 (e) AMERICA STAR DESIGNATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon scoring each partici17 pating company, the Secretary shall, if appropriate, 

18 designate participating companies, within each clas19 sification group receiving the highest, or relatively 

20 high, scores or otherwise demonstrating exceptional 

21 support for workers in the United States based on 

22 performance in the categories under subsection 

23 (d)(2). 

24 (2) NUMBER OF DESIGNATIONS.—For each cal25 endar year, the Secretary shall determine the numVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:32 Apr 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S938.IS S938

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1 ber of participating companies to designate as Amer2 ica Star companies within each classification group 

3 determined under subsection (c). 

4 (3) DEADLINE.—On Labor Day of each cal5 endar year, the Secretary shall announce the compa6 nies to be designated as America Star companies. 

7 (f) MARKETING; ADVERTISING.— 

8 (1) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall annually 

9 market the America Star program through a 

10 webpage, on the website of the Department of 

11 Labor, that includes— 

12 (A) general information describing the 

13 America Star program; 

14 (B) the relevant information for applying 

15 to such program, including the application proc16 ess, the ineligibility criteria, any deadlines 

17 under subsection (b), and how to submit such 

18 application; and 

19 (C) a list of companies designated under 

20 subsection (e) as America Star companies for 

21 each previous calendar year. 

22 (2) AWARDS.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall de24 sign a label for designation as an America Star 

25 company. 


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1 (B) PERMISSIBLE USES.—An America 

2 Star company may, subject to subparagraph 

3 (C)(i), use a label designed under subparagraph 

4 (A) for advertising purposes by displaying such 

5 label next to the logo for such company. 

6 (C) IMPERMISSIBLE USES.— 

7 (i) RECIPIENT COMPANIES.—An 

8 America Star company may not use a label 

9 designed under subparagraph (A) to adver10 tise a specific product. 

11 (ii) NONRECIPIENT COMPANIES.—A 

12 company that is not designated as an 

13 America Star company under subsection 

14 (e) may not use a label designed under 

15 subparagraph (A) for any purpose. 

16 (3) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COM17 MISSION.— 

18 (A) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRAC19 TICE.—A violation of paragraph (2)(C)(ii) shall 

20 be treated as a violation of a rule defining an 

21 unfair or deceptive act or practice described 

22 under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 

23 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

24 (B) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade 

2 Commission shall enforce this subsection in 

3 the same manner, by the same means, and 

4 with the same jurisdiction, powers, and du5 ties as though all applicable terms and pro6 visions of the Federal Trade Commission 

7 Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incor8 porated into and made a part of this sub9 section. 

10 (ii) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.— 

11 Any person who violates this subsection 

12 shall be subject to the penalties and enti13 tled to the privileges and immunities pro14 vided in the Federal Trade Commission 

15 Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

16 (iii) RULEMAKING.—The Federal 

17 Trade Commission may promulgate stand18 ards and rules to carry out this subsection 

19 in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 

20 United States Code. 

Æ 


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