I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2926 

To abolish the National Labor Relations Board and to transfer its enforcement authority to the Department of Justice and its oversight of elections 

to the Office of Labor-Management Standards of the Department of 

Labor. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011 

Mr. GOWDY (for himself and Mr. MULVANEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To abolish the National Labor Relations Board and to transfer its enforcement authority to the Department of Justice and its oversight of elections to the Office of LaborManagement Standards of the Department of Labor. 

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 ‘‘National Labor Rela5 tions Reorganization Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 

7 Whenever in this Act an amendment is expressed as 

8 an amendment to a section or other provision, the refVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:12 Sep 17, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2926.IH H2926

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1 erence shall be considered to be made to a section or other 

2 provision of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 

3 151 et seq.). 

4 SEC. 3. ABOLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELA5 TIONS BOARD. 

6 (a) ABOLISHMENT OF BOARD.—Effective on the date 

7 provided in subsection (c), the National Labor Relations 

8 Board is abolished. 

9 (b) REPEAL OF AUTHORITY.—Sections 3, 4, and 5 

10 of the Act are repealed. 

11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

12 on the date that is 30 days after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act. 

14 SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY FOR REPRESENTATIVE 

15 ELECTIONS TO OFFICE OF LABOR-MANAGE16 MENT STANDARDS. 

17 (a) TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY.—The functions and 

18 responsibilities of the National Labor Relations Board for 

19 overseeing elections under section 9 of the National Labor 

20 Relations Act, and any related authorities and functions 

21 under that Act, are hereby transferred to the Secretary 

22 of Labor, to be carried out through the Office of Labor23 Management Standards. 

24 (b) AMENDMENTS TO THE NLRA.— 


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1 (1) DEFINITION.—Paragraph (10) of section 2 

2 (29 U.S.C. 152) is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(10) The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary 

4 of Labor, acting through the office of Labor-Man5 agement Standards of the Department of Labor.’’. 

6 (2) AUTHORITY FOR SUPERVISING ELEC7 TIONS.—Section 9 (29 U.S.C. 159) is amended by 

8 striking ‘‘Board’’ each place it appears and inserting 

9 ‘‘Secretary’’. 

10 (3) RULES AND REGULATIONS.— 

11 (A) AUTHORITY.—Section 6 (29 U.S.C. 

12 156) is amended by striking ‘‘Board’’ and in13 serting ‘‘Secretary’’. 

14 (B) PRESERVATION OF EXISTING REGULA15 TIONS.—Rules and regulations issued under the 

16 National Labor Relations Act prior to and in 

17 effect on the day before the date of enactment 

18 of this Act shall continue in effect and shall be 

19 considered to be rules and regulations issued by 

20 the Secretary of Labor, acting through the of21 fice of Labor-Management Standards of the De22 partment of Labor, under section 6 of such Act, 

23 as amended by paragraph (1). 


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1 (4) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 8 

2 (29 U.S.C. 158) is amended by striking ‘‘Board’’ 

3 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’. 

4 SEC. 5. TRANSFER OF ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY TO THE 

5 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. 

6 (a) TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY.—The functions and 

7 responsibilities of the National Labor Relations Board for 

8 the prevention of unfair labor practices under section 10 

9 of the National Labor Relations Act, and any related au10 thorities and functions under that Act, are hereby trans11 ferred to the Bureau of Labor Relations Enforcement of 

12 the Department of Justice, established under subsection 

13 (b). 

14 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF ENFORCEMENT BUREAU.— 

15 (1) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.—There is 

16 established within the Department of Justice, under 

17 the general authority of the Attorney General, a Bu18 reau of Labor Relations Enforcement, to carry out 

19 the enforcement duties and functions that were, 

20 prior to the date of enactment of this Act, carried 

21 out by the National Labor Relations Board under 

22 section 10 of the National Labor Relations Act. 

23 (2) DIRECTOR.—The Bureau shall be headed 

24 by a Director appointed by the Attorney General. 

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1 management relations and shall not engage in any 

2 other employment than that of serving as Director; 

3 nor shall the Director hold any office in, or act in 

4 any capacity for, any organization, agency, or insti5 tution with which the Bureau makes any contract or 

6 other arrangement. 

7 (c) AMENDMENTS TO THE NLRA.— 

8 (1) DEFINITION.—Section 2 (29 U.S.C. 152) is 

9 further amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(15) The term ‘Bureau’ means the Bureau of 

11 Labor Management Enforcement of the Department 

12 of Justice.’’. 

13 (2) AUTHORITY FOR THE PREVENTION OF UN14 FAIR LABOR PRACTICES.—Section 10 (29 U.S.C. 

15 160) is amended— 

16 (A) in subsections (a), (d), (f), (g), (h), (j), 

17 (k) and (l), by striking ‘‘Board’’ each place it 

18 appears and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’; 

19 (B) in subsection (b)— 

20 (i) in the first sentence— 

21 (I) by striking ‘‘Board’’ each 

22 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Bu23 reau’’; and 

24 (II) by striking ‘‘or a member 

25 thereof’’; 


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1 (ii) in the second sentence— 

2 (I) by striking ‘‘member, agent, 

3 or agency’’ and inserting ‘‘agent or 

4 agency’’; and 

5 (II) by striking ‘‘Board’’ and in6 serting ‘‘Bureau’’; 

7 (iii) in the fourth sentence— 

8 (I) by striking ‘‘member, agent, 

9 or agency’’ and inserting ‘‘agent or 

10 agency’’; and 

11 (II) by striking ‘‘Board’’ and in12 serting ‘‘Bureau’’; and 

13 (iv) in the last sentence, by striking 

14 ‘‘the Act of June 19, 1934’’ and all that 

15 follows and inserting ‘‘section 2072 of title 

16 29, United States Code.’’; 

17 (C) in subsection (c)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘member, agent, or 

19 agency’’ and inserting ‘‘agent or agency’’; 

20 (ii) by striking ‘‘Board’’ each place it 

21 appears and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’; and 

22 (iii) by striking the last sentence; and 

23 (D) in subsection (e)— 

24 (i) by striking ‘‘Board’’ each place it 

25 appears and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘member, agent, or 

2 agency’’ each place it appears and insert3 ing ‘‘agent or agency’’. 

4 SEC. 6. APPLICATION OF TITLE 5 PROVISION WITH RE5 SPECT TO EMPLOYEES. 

6 Section 3503 of title 5, United States Code, shall 

7 apply with respect to employees affected by the transfers 

8 of functions under sections 4 and 5. 

9 SEC. 7. INVESTIGATORY POWERS UNDER THE NLRA. 

10 Section 11 (29 U.S.C. 161) is amended— 

11 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘Board’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘Secretary or the Bureau, as the case may 

14 be,’’; and 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘it’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

16 Secretary or the Bureau, respectively,’’; 

17 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘The 

19 Board, or its’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary 

20 and the Bureau, or their’’; 

21 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 

22 ‘‘Board, or any member thereof’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘Secretary or the Bureau, as the case may be’’; 

24 (C) in the third sentence— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘Board’’ the first place 

2 it appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary or the 

3 Bureau’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘Board’’ the second 

5 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary 

6 or the Bureau, as the case may be,’’; and 

7 (D) in the fourth sentence— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘Any member of the 

9 Board’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary and 

10 the Bureau’’; and 

11 (ii) by striking ‘‘Board’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘Secretary or the Bureau’’; 

13 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘Board’’ each place it ap15 pears and inserting ‘‘Secretary or the Bureau’’; 

16 and 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘member, agent, or agen18 cy’’ both places it appears and inserting ‘‘agent 

19 or agency’’; 

20 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘Board, its 

21 member, agent, or agency’’ both place it appears and 

22 inserting ‘‘Secretary or the Bureau, its agent or 

23 agency’’; and 

24 (5) in paragraph (6)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Board, upon its’’ both 

2 places it appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary or 

3 the Bureau’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘its’’. 

5 SEC. 8. ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

6 The Act is further amended— 

7 (1) in section 12, by striking ‘‘Board or any of 

8 its’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary or the Bureau or any 

9 of their’’; 

10 (2) in section in section 14(c)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘Board, in its discretion’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘Secretary or the Bureau, as the 

13 case may be, in their discretion’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘Board’’ the second, third, 

15 and fourth places it appears and inserting ‘‘Sec16 retary or the Bureau’’; and 

17 (3) in section 18, by striking ‘‘National Labor 

18 Relations Board’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’. 

Æ 


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