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105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1450
To provide certain requirements for labeling textile fiber products and to
implement minimum wage and immigration requirements in the Common-
wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 24, 1997
Mr. MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. BER-
MAN, Mr. STARK, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. DINGELL, Mr.
MCGOVERN, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. CLAY, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. OLVER, Mr.
EVANS, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Ms. MCKINNEY, Ms. PELOSI, Mrs. CLAY-
TON, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. GREEN, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. KIND, Mr. SAND-
ERS, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. HEFNER, Mr. LANTOS, Mr.
SPRATT, and Mr. BROWN of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Resources
A BILL
To provide certain requirements for labeling textile fiber
products and to implement minimum wage and immigra-
tion requirements in the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands.
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 ‘‘Insular Fair Wage and
Human Rights Act of 1997’’.
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) article V of section 503 of the Covenant
which established a Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands provided the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands with an exemption from
the minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor
Standards Act because immediate application of that
Act could have disrupted the struggling local econ-
omy of that Commonwealth;
(2) the economy of the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands has grown significantly
and, in 1994, annual gross business revenues had
risen to $1,470,000,000;
(3) the current minimum wage in the Common-
wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is only
$2.90 per hour for the garment and construction in-
dustry workers and $3.05 per hour for those work-
ing in other industries;
(4) the legislature of the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands reversed a law that would
have provided for small, incremental increases in the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
minimum wage until that wage reached the Feder-
ally-mandated wage;
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(5) all workers on United States soil should be
paid a living wage;
(6) to allay any concerns of the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands that United States
immigration laws would allow unrestricted immigra-
tion into the small island communities, article V of
the Covenant which established a Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands provided the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands with a
partial exemption from the Immigration and Natu-
ralization Act until Congress acts to make other pro-
visions of that law applicable to the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands;
(7) the Commonwealth of the Northern Mari-
ana Islands then instituted a largely unrestricted im-
migration policy, resulting in a population of over
58,800 people with foreign workers outnumbering
United States citizens;
(8) the Commonwealth of the Northern Mari-
ana Islands has used its immigration policy to re-
cruit a large, low-cost foreign workforce of des-
perately poor individuals with virtually no voice to
demand safe living and working conditions or better
wage and benefit options;
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(9) the recruitment of this large, low-cost for-
eign workforce has led to an unemployment rate of
14 percent among United States citizens in the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
(10) garments made in the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands may carry a ‘‘Made
in USA’’ label, deceiving consumers as to the con-
ditions under which the garments have been made
and competing directly with garments made on the
United States mainland by workers paid a living
wage working in a safe environment;
(11) ‘‘sweatshop’’ conditions exist in the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, where
employers—
(A) provide unsafe and unhealthy working
and living environments;
(B) use bonded and indentured foreign la-
borers;
(C) do not pay wages required under the
Fair Labor Standards Act; and
(D) refuse to recognize the legal rights of
workers to form labor unions without the fear
of retaliation; and
(12) the government of the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands has been ineffective in
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raising the wage and living standards for workers,
stemming the flow of immigration onto United
States soil, and aggressively prosecuting labor and
human rights abuses.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS.
The Joint Resolution entitled ‘‘Joint Resolution to
approve the ‘Covenant To Establish a Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the
United States of America’, and for other purposes’’ ap-
proved March 24, 1976 (48 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), is
amended—
(1) by adding at the end the following new sec-
tion:
‘‘SEC. 7. LABELING OF TEXTILE FIBER PRODUCTS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No textile fiber product shall
have a stamp, tag, label, or other means of identification
or substitute therefore on or affixed to the product stating
‘Made in the USA’ or otherwise stating or implying that
the product was made or assembled in the United States
unless—
‘‘(1) each individual providing direct labor in
production of such textile fiber product was paid a
wage equal to or greater than the wage set by sec-
tion 8; and
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‘‘(2) the product was manufactured in compli-
ance with all Federal laws relating to labor rights
and working conditions, including, but not limited
to, the National Labor Relations Act, the Occupa-
tional Safety and Health Act of 1970, and the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938.
‘‘(b) A textile fiber product which does not comply
with subsection (a) shall be deemed to be misbranded for
purposes of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act
(15 U.S.C. 70 et seq.).
‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section the
term ‘direct labor’ includes any work provided to prepare,
assemble, process, package, or transport a textile fiber
product, but does not include supervisory, management,
security, or administrative work.’’;
(2) by adding, after the new section added by
paragraph (1), the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 8. MINIMUM WAGE.
‘‘The minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), shall apply
to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
except that—
‘‘(1) through December 31, 1997, the minimum wage
applicable to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands shall be $3.55 per hour;
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‘‘(2) on January 1, 1998, and on July 1 and January
1 of each year thereafter, the minimum wage applicable
to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
shall be $0.50 per hour more than the minimum wage that
was applicable to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar-
iana Islands for the preceding six-month period until the
minimum wage applicable to the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands is equal to the minimum wage
rate set forth in section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Stand-
ards Act of 1938; and
‘‘(3) after the minimum wage applicable to the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is equal to
the minimum wage rate set forth in section 6(a)(1) of the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, pursuant to paragraph
(2), the minimum wage applicable to the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands shall increase as nec-
essary to remain equal to the minimum wage rate set forth
in section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938.’’; and
(3) by adding, after the new sections added by
paragraphs (1) and (2), the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 9. APPLICABILITY OF IMMIGRATION LAWS.
‘‘Section 506(a) of the foregoing Covenant shall be
construed and applied as if it included at the end the fol-
lowing subsection:
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‘‘ ‘(e)(1) For purposes of entry into the Northern
Mariana Islands by any individual (but not for purposes
of entry by an individual into the United States from the
Northern Mariana Islands), the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act shall apply as if the Northern Mariana Islands
were a State (as defined in section 101(a)(36) of the Im-
migration and Nationality Act). The Attorney General,
acting through the Commissioner of Immigration and
Naturalization, shall enforce the preceding sentence.
‘‘ ‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), with respect to
an individual seeking entry into the Northern Mariana Is-
lands for purposes of employment in the textile, hotel,
tourist, or construction industry (including employment as
a contractor), the Federal statutes and regulations govern-
ing admission to Guam of individuals described in section
101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act shall apply. Such statutes and regulations shall be so
applied by substituting the term ‘‘United States citizen,
national, or resident workers’’ for the term ‘‘United States
resident workers’’, and by substituting the term ‘‘the
Northern Mariana Islands’’ for the term ‘‘Guam’’ each
place it appears.
‘‘ ‘(3) When deploying personnel to enforce the provi-
sions of this section, the Attorney General shall coordinate
with, and act in conjunction with, State and local law en-
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forcement agencies to ensure that such deployment does
not degrade or compromise the law enforcement capabili-
ties and functions currently performed by immigration of-
ficers.’.’’.
SEC. 4. REPORT.
(a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior
shall include the results of the study required by sub-
section (b) in the annual report transmitted to Congress
which is entitled ‘‘Federal-CNMI Initiative on Labor, Im-
migration, and Law Enforcement’’.
(b) STUDY.—A study shall be conducted of the extent
of human rights violations and labor rights violations in
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, in-
cluding the use of forced or indentured labor, and any ef-
forts being taken by the government of the United States
or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Island to
address or prohibit such violations.
(c) CONSULTATION
REGARDING
STUDY.—Appro-
priate local government officials, law enforcement agen-
cies, and non-governmental organizations active in insti-
tuting and protecting human and labor rights may be con-
sulted when preparing and conducting the study required
by subsection (b).
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SEC. 5. EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.
The provisions of paragraph (1) of section 3 shall be
in addition to, but shall not otherwise modify, the require-
ments of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act (15
U.S.C. 70 et seq.).
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATES.
(a) LABELING OF TEXTILE FIBER PRODUCTS; IMMI-
GRATION OF WORKERS.—The amendment made by para-
graph (1) of section 3 and the provision of the amendment
made by paragraph (3) of section 3 which is designated
as ‘‘(e)(2)’’ shall take effect on the date of the enactment
of this Act.
(b) MINIMUM WAGE.—The amendment made by
paragraph (2) of section 3 shall take effect 30 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) IMMIGRATION.—Except as provided in subsection
(a), the amendment made by paragraph (3) of section 3
shall apply to individuals entering the Northern Mariana
Islands after the expiration of the 6-month period begin-
ning with the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as
may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
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