I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2996 
To amend the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability 
Act of 2015 with respect to the protection of human rights and labor 
standards, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2019 
Mr. LEWIS (for himself, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RUSH, Ms. OMAR, Mr. 
COHEN, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. SUOZZI) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the 
Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and 
Accountability Act of 2015 with respect to the protection 
of human rights and labor standards, 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 ‘‘Labor, Human, and 
Civil Rights Trade Policy Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The United States has played a leading role 
in developing global human rights standards since 
the inception of the country. 
(2) The first 10 amendments to the Constitu-
tion are among the guiding principles that helped 
develop the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 
(3) First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt led the 
United States delegation and the United Nations in 
drafting the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights. 
(4) December 10, 2018, marked the 70th anni-
versary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights. 
(5) The General Assembly of the United Na-
tions adopted the International Covenant on Eco-
nomic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Inter-
national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 
1966. 
(6) The United Kingdom implemented the Slave 
Trade Act of 1807, setting a global precedent to-
wards the eventual abolishment of slavery in the 
Americas that the United States eventually followed. 
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(7) The world celebrated the 212th anniversary 
of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade on 
May 1, 2019. 
(8) On January 1, 2019, the United States rec-
ognized the 156th anniversary of the Emancipation 
Proclamation. 
(9) The United States has continuously enacted 
legislation and ratified amendments to the Constitu-
tion to improve the protections of the rights of all 
persons in the United States, including— 
(A) the 13th Amendment to the Constitu-
tion, ratified in 1865; 
(B) the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (14 Stat. 
27); 
(C) the 14th Amendment to the Constitu-
tion, ratified in 1868; 
(D) the 19th Amendment to the Constitu-
tion, ratified in 1920; 
(E) the Social Security Act of 1935 (42 
U.S.C. 301 et seq.); 
(F) the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
(29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); 
(G) the Housing Act of 1949 (63 Stat. 
413); 
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(H) the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (Public 
Law 88–38; 77 Stat. 56); 
(I) the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public 
Law 88–352; 78 Stat. 241); 
(J) the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Public 
Law 89–110; 79 Stat. 437); 
(K) the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.); 
(L) the Age Discrimination in Employment 
Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.); 
(M) the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist-
ance Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 11301 et seq.); 
(N) the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 
1988 (Public Law 100–259; 102 Stat. 28); 
(O) the Americans with Disabilities Act of 
1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.); 
(P) the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (Public 
Law 102–166; 105 Stat. 1071); 
(Q) the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, 
Coretta Scott King, Ce´sar E. Cha´vez, Barbara 
C. Jordan, William C. Vela´squez, and Dr. Hec-
tor P. Garcia Voting Rights Act Reauthoriza-
tion and Amendments Act of 2006 (Public Law 
109–246; 120 Stat. 577); and 
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(R) the Matthew Shepard and James 
Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 
(Public Law 111–84; 123 Stat. 2835). 
(10) Labor, human, and civil rights standards 
and protections require constant review and atten-
tion. 
(11) The Millennium Development Goals of the 
United Nations set forth a 15-year plan to combat 
poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental 
degradation, and discrimination. 
(12) The 43rd General Assembly of the Organi-
zation of American States adopted the Inter-Amer-
ican Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimina-
tion and Related Forms of Intolerance on June 5, 
2013. 
(13) The Global Slavery Index estimates that as 
many as 45,800,000 people around the world were 
in some form of modern slavery in 2016. 
(14) The United States supported the adoption 
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 
the United Nations General Assembly and has rati-
fied significant international human rights treaties, 
including the International Convention on the Elimi-
nation of Racism and Discrimination (November 20, 
1994), the International Convention on the Preven-
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tion and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Feb-
ruary 23, 1989), the International Convention 
against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or De-
grading Treatment or Punishment (November 20, 
1994), and the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights (September 8, 1992). 
(15) The United States has ratified two of the 
eight fundamental conventions outlined by the Inter-
national Labor Organization, including the Conven-
tion (ILO 105) concerning the abolition of forced 
labor (September 25, 1992) and the Convention 
(ILO 182) concerning the prohibition and immediate 
action for the elimination of the worst forms of child 
labor (December 2, 2000). 
(16) The United States has also ratified the 
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights 
of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitu-
tion and Child Pornography (January 23, 2003) and 
the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the 
Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children 
in Armed Conflicts (January 23, 2003). 
(17) The United States signed the Convention 
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on July 
30, 2009. 
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(18) The United States is expected to be a re-
gional and global leader in the international civil and 
human rights movement, including by fighting dis-
crimination, xenophobia, human, labor, and civil 
rights abuses as a part of both domestic and foreign 
policy. 
(19) Throughout United States history, Con-
gress has addressed, debated, and advanced the pro-
tection of human rights through legislation relating 
to taxes and international trade. 
(20) On May 10, 2007, President George W. 
Bush negotiated an agreement with the leadership of 
the 110th Congress, which intended to strengthen 
labor, environmental, intellectual property, access to 
medicines, health, investment, government procure-
ment, and port security standards in United States 
trade agreements. 
(21) This bipartisan deal, referred to as the 
‘‘May 10th Agreement’’, made significant progress 
in recognizing that human, labor, and civil rights 
must be an integral component of United States 
trade policy. 
(22) United States trade policy cannot be static 
in a changing global economy, and it is critical that 
United States trade policy proactively advance do-
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mestic and global efforts to improve human, civil, 
and labor rights and conditions. 
(23) The trade negotiating objectives of the 
United States should also address current, emerging, 
and future attempts to undermine or fail to enhance 
the living, labor, civil, and human rights standards 
of the United States or its trading partners. 
SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING TRADE, LABOR, AND HUMAN 
RIGHTS. 
The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and 
Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4201 et seq.) is 
amended as follows: 
(1) In section 103(b)(3)— 
(A) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking 
‘‘strictly’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (B)(ii), 
a provision may be necessary or appropriate, 
with respect to a trade agreement, if the provi-
sion addresses issues relating to a party to the 
agreement, such as human rights. 
‘‘(D) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), 
the provisions of section 151 of the Trade Act 
of 1974 shall only apply to an implementing bill 
submitted for an agreement that— 
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‘‘(i) achieves the principle negotiating 
objectives with respect to labor described 
in section 102(b)(10); 
‘‘(ii) explicitly provides that, with re-
spect to any country that is a party to the 
agreement— 
‘‘(I) any union in such country 
shall not be required to affiliate with 
any confederation and shall be free to 
form and affiliate with any vertical or 
horizontal workers organization, in-
cluding any confederation, sector- 
wide, or industry-wide union of its 
own choosing; 
‘‘(II) workers in such country 
shall have the right to freely form and 
join an autonomous and independent 
union of their choosing; 
‘‘(III) any union in such country 
engaged in collective bargaining with 
an employer shall be required to dem-
onstrate majority support of that em-
ployer’s workers, on behalf of whom it 
is negotiating, prior to registration of 
any collective bargaining agreement; 
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‘‘(IV) for purposes of the labor 
obligations in the agreement relating 
to procedural guarantees for labor law 
enforcement, 
any 
administrative, 
quasi-judicial, judicial, or labor tribu-
nals or boards composed of members 
with direct or indirect interest in mat-
ters before them shall not be consid-
ered impartial and independent; 
‘‘(V) for purposes of evaluating 
any measures taken by a country to 
substantially reform its laws or insti-
tutions to comply with the core labor 
standards of the trade agreement, an 
independent panel of experts must 
regularly examine and publicly report 
on the implementation of such re-
forms, provide recommendations, and 
identify concerns relating to the com-
pliance of such country with its labor 
obligations 
under 
the 
agreement, 
based on input from the parties to the 
trade agreement, interested stake-
holders, and any other relevant infor-
mation and reporting; and 
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‘‘(VI) if such independent panel 
determines that such country is not in 
compliance with its obligations, the 
determination shall be treated as an 
initial report of an arbitration panel 
under the trade agreement, and the 
matter shall be addressed in accord-
ance with the normal procedures laid 
out for such cases, including through 
an agreement to eliminate the noncon-
formity in the first instance or, as a 
last resort, to suspend benefits under 
the trade agreement; and 
‘‘(iii) implements a trade agreement 
between parties that consistently dem-
onstrates respect for internationally recog-
nized human rights, as indicated through 
assessments such as the annual Country 
Reports on Human Rights Practices or the 
Trafficking in Persons Report, over a pe-
riod of at least ten years.’’. 
(2) In section 111— 
(A) by amending paragraph (7)(E) to read 
as follows: 
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‘‘(E) the elimination of discrimination, in-
cluding discrimination on the basis of race, 
color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, 
religion, political opinion, national extraction, 
social origin, age, disability, HIV/AIDS status, 
engagement in organizing activities, or union 
membership, with respect to employment and 
occupation.’’; 
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (18) 
through (23) as paragraphs (19) through (24), 
respectively; and 
(C) by inserting after paragraph (17) the 
following: 
‘‘(18) INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED HUMAN 
RIGHTS.—The 
term 
‘internationally 
recognized 
human rights’ means the rights stated in the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) The Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights. 
‘‘(B) The International Covenant on Eco-
nomic, Social and Cultural Rights. 
‘‘(C) The Convention on the Elimination of 
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 
and its Optional Protocol. 
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‘‘(D) The Convention on the Rights of the 
Child. 
‘‘(E) The Convention on the Rights of Per-
sons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol. 
‘‘(F) The Convention for the Protection of 
All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. 
‘‘(G) The First Optional Protocol to the 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 
‘‘(H) The Optional Protocol to the Conven-
tion Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman 
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.’’. 
Æ 
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