I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4156 
To establish the Compassionate Capitalist Award to recognize organizations 
that substantially benefit the well-being of their employees, stakeholders, 
and communities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 24, 2021 
Mr. PHILLIPS (for himself, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. CASE, and Mr. EVANS) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce 
A BILL 
To establish the Compassionate Capitalist Award to recognize 
organizations that substantially benefit the well-being of 
their employees, stakeholders, and communities, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring Organiza-
tions Nationally for Ethics, Sustainability, and Trust Act’’ 
or the ‘‘HONEST Enterprise Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMPASSIONATE CAPI-
TALIST AWARD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Compas-
sionate Capitalist Award (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘award’’), which shall be evidenced by a certificate and 
a medal that— 
(1) bear the inscription the ‘‘Compassionate 
Capitalist Award’’; and 
(2) incorporate such design and materials, and 
bear such additional inscriptions, as the Secretary of 
Commerce (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) determines appropriate. 
(b) PRESENTATION OF AWARD.—The President or 
the Secretary shall annually present, with such ceremonies 
as the President or Secretary determines appropriate, the 
award to organizations nominated under subsection (d) 
that the Secretary determines are deserving of recognition 
for substantially benefitting the well-being of their employ-
ees, stakeholders, and communities with respect to the fol-
lowing areas: 
(1) ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP.—The de-
gree to which an organization has in place practices 
to manage the environmental impact of its oper-
ations, supply chain, and distribution channels, in-
cluding with respect to air, water, land, biodiversity, 
and climate effects. 
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(2) GOVERNANCE.—The mission, ethics, and 
transparency of an organization, including, if appli-
cable, the organization’s corporate leadership struc-
ture and executive compensation. 
(3) SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY.—The degree to 
which an organization contributes to the commu-
nities in which it operates and obtains resources 
from, including the organization’s practices with re-
spect to diversity, equity, inclusion, civic engage-
ment, charitable giving, and refraining from doing 
business with exploitative countries. 
(4) WORKER EMPOWERMENT.—The degree to 
which an organization contributes to the financial 
security, workplace safety, healthcare coverage, 
wellness, engagement, satisfaction, and career devel-
opment of employees, and the degree to which an or-
ganization provides a fair and living wage. 
(c) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The President or the Sec-
retary shall present the award to at least one organi-
zation each year in each of the following categories: 
(A) Small businesses (at least 10 and 
fewer than 50 employees). 
(B) Midsized businesses (at least 50 and 
fewer than 250 employees). 
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(C) Large businesses (at least 250 employ-
ees and fewer than 1,000 employees). 
(D) Very large businesses (at least 1,000 
employees). 
(2) TOTAL
NUMBER
OF
AWARDS.—Not more 
than 18 awards may be awarded each year. 
(3) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 
(1), no award shall be awarded in a given category 
if the Secretary determines that no organization 
qualifies for the award with respect to such cat-
egory. 
(d) ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 
a board of directors to nominate organizations for 
the award and assist with administration of the 
award. 
(2) COMPOSITION.—The board shall be com-
posed of the following: 
(A) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce 
for Economic Development, who shall serve as 
chairperson of the board. 
(B) The Administrator of the Wage and 
Hour Division of the Department of Labor, who 
shall serve as vice chairperson of the board. 
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(C) At least 6 individuals appointed by the 
Secretary of Commerce, who shall include— 
(i) 2 individuals representing inde-
pendent nonprofit entities that have dem-
onstrated leadership and excellence in the 
field of standard setting and measurement 
with respect to stakeholder impact; 
(ii) 2 individuals representing cor-
porate business entities that have dem-
onstrated a history of service to society; 
and 
(iii) 2 individuals representing orga-
nized labor entities or worker advocacy or-
ganizations. 
(3) DIVERSITY.—In making appointments to 
the board, the Secretary shall take actions to ensure 
the diversity of the membership with respect to race, 
ethnicity, and gender. 
(4) EVALUATION TOOL.—The board shall seek 
to enter into agreements with appropriate entities to 
obtain an online evaluation tool that meets the re-
quirements of subsection (e) to assist the board in 
making nominations under paragraph (1). 
(5) ADDITIONAL
VERIFICATION.—The board 
shall take actions to verify the accuracy of the facts 
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presented by organizations seeking nomination for 
the award, including by soliciting employee feedback. 
(6) ANNUAL REPORT.—The board shall annu-
ally submit to the Secretary a report that includes— 
(A) nominations for the award; and 
(B) an assessment of the process for pre-
senting awards under this section, including 
recommendations for improving such process. 
(e) EVALUATION TOOL REQUIREMENTS AND ANAL-
YSIS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The evaluation tool de-
scribed in subsection (d)(4) shall— 
(A) with respect to producing the numer-
ical scores described in subparagraph (B), use 
standards specific to the category of business 
an organization qualifies as under subsection 
(c)(1) that are developed in consultation with 
such organizations; 
(B) provide for each organization consid-
ered for an award a numerical score with re-
spect to each of the areas specified in sub-
section (b); and 
(C) provide for each organization consid-
ered for an award a total numerical score. 
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