I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3675
To provide for the establishment of alternate use committees at defense
facilities to assist in the economic adjustment of communities, industries,
and workers as a result of reductions or realignments in defense or
aerospace spending and arms exports and the closure or realignment
of military installations.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 22, 1993
Mr. NADLER introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the
Committees on Armed Services, Education and Labor, Foreign Affairs,
Science, Space, and Technology, and Merchant Marine and Fisheries
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of alternate use committees
at defense facilities to assist in the economic adjustment
of communities, industries, and workers as a result of
reductions or realignments in defense or aerospace
spending and arms exports and the closure or realign-
ment of military installations.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Defense Alternative Use Committee Act’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purpose.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Establishment of alternative use committees at defense facilities.
Sec. 5. Functions of alternative use committees.
Sec. 6. Administrative provisions.
Sec. 7. Elements of conversion plans.
Sec. 8. Penalties.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) during the past three decades the United
States has made heavy economic, scientific, and
technical commitments for defense;
(2) these commitments led to the development
of specialized skills and business practices not di-
rectly applicable in the civilian sector of the econ-
omy;
(3) as these commitments are modified to take
account of changing requirements for national secu-
rity and domestic needs, careful preparation is nec-
essary if serious economic dislocations are to be
avoided; and
(4) the economic ability of the Nation and of
management, labor, and capital to adjust to chang-
ing national security needs is consistent with the
general welfare of the United States.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to pro-
vide the means through which the United States can pro-
mote orderly economic adjustment which will—
(1) minimize the dislocation of workers, com-
munities, and industries;
(2) assure that such dislocations do not
compound recessionary trends; and
(3) encourage conversion of technologies and
managerial and worker skills developed in defense
production to projects which serve the civilian sector.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘defense agency’’ means the De-
partment of Defense, the Nuclear Weapons Division
of the Department of Energy, the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration, the Coast Guard,
and any other agency of the Federal Government to
the extent it conducts defense-related activities.
(2) The term ‘‘defense contract’’ means—
(A) any contract entered into between a
defense contractor and a defense agency to fur-
nish defense material or services to that agency;
and
(B) any contract entered into between a
defense contractor and any foreign country or
person acting on behalf of a foreign country to
furnish defense material or services to or for
such country pursuant to the Arms Export
Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) or similar
law.
(3) The term ‘‘defense contractor’’ means any
person engaged in the furnishing of defense material
or services pursuant to the terms of the defense con-
tract, including subcontractors, component manufac-
turers, suppliers, service contractors and service sup-
pliers.
(4) The term ‘‘defense facility’’ means—
(A) any private plant or other establish-
ment (or part thereof) used under a defense
contract or engaged in the production, repair,
modification, storage, or handling of defense
material; or
(B) any Government-owned or Govern-
ment-leased facility, including military installa-
tions, bases, forts, shipyards, and depots.
(5) The term ‘‘defense materials or services’’
means—
(A) any item of weaponry, munitions,
equipment, or specialized supplies or services
intended for use by a defense agency or for sale
to or for the use of a foreign country which has
primarily military applications; or
(B) the research, development, production,
test, inspection, or repair of any material de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) for use by a de-
fense agency or pursuant to a defense contract.
(6) The term ‘‘displace’’, with respect to any
worker (including a civilian employee of a defense
agency and an employee of a defense contractor en-
gaged in the provision of defense materials or serv-
ices under a defense contract), means the separa-
tion, on a permanent or temporary basis, of the
worker from employment with the facility or agency.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF ALTERNATIVE USE COMMIT-
TEES AT DEFENSE FACILITIES.
(a) CONDITION
OF
DEFENSE
CONTRACTS.—The
head of each defense agency shall require as a condition
of each defense contract with a private defense contractor
for the provision of defense materials or services to that
agency that the defense contractor agree to establish an
alternative use committee pursuant to this section at each
defense facility that employs at least 100 employees and
is used under the contract. The President shall require
as a condition on the eligibility for export of defense mate-
rials or services under section 38 of the Arms Export Con-
trol Act (22 U.S.C. 2778) or similar law that the private
defense contractor involved in such export agree to estab-
lish an alternative use committee pursuant to this section
at each defense facility that employs at least 100 employ-
ees and is used under the defense contract involved.
(b) FEDERAL FACILITIES.—In the case of a Govern-
ment defense facility (as defined in section 3(4)(B)), the
head of the facility shall establish an alternative use com-
mittee pursuant to this section composed of not less than
eight members, with equal representation of the facility
management and the civilian employees of the installation
(including representatives of union bargaining units and
democratically elected representatives of unorganized civil-
ians).
(c) MEMBERSHIP AND PURPOSES.—An alternative
use committee for a defense facility shall be composed of
not less than eight members, with equal representation of
the facility’s management and labor (including representa-
tives of union bargaining units and democratically elected
representatives of unorganized workers). The committee
shall undertake economic conversion planning and prepa-
ration for the employment of the employees at the defense
facility and the utilization of the equipment and facilities
in the event of a reduction or closure of any defense facil-
ity or the curtailment, conclusion, or disapproval of any
defense contract.
(d) COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES.—The chief ex-
ecutive officer of any unit of general local government
within which a defense facility is located may appoint
nonvoting representatives of the alternative use commu-
nity for that facility to participate in activities of the alter-
native use committee in an advisory capacity. The rep-
resentatives appointed under this subsection shall not in-
clude individuals employed at the facility. The number of
such representatives shall not exceed a number equal to
one-half the total number of voting representatives on the
committee.
(e) 
PROHIBITIONS
AGAINST
DISCRIMINATION
AGAINST REPRESENTATIVES OF UNORGANIZED LABOR.—
The representatives of the unorganized civilian workers on
any alternative use committee shall not be discriminated
against in any manner for their participation in the
committee.
(f) FUNDS.—Funds for performing the planning and
reporting requirements imposed by this Act, including
market research, independent studies, and the employ-
ment of specialized personnel, shall be paid from funds
derived from the defense contract or, in the case of a Gov-
ernment defense facility, the operating account of the fa-
cility. Office space shall be provided to the alternative use
committee by the management of the facility without
charge.
(g) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—This section shall
apply with respect to each defense contract referred to in
subsection (a) that is entered into by the agency after the
date of the enactment of this Act
SEC. 5. FUNCTIONS OF ALTERNATIVE USE COMMITTEES.
(a) EVALUATION OF DEFENSE FACILITY ASSETS.—
The alternative use committee established for a defense
facility shall evaluate the assets of the defense facility and
the resources and requirements of the local community in
terms of physical property, manpower skills and expertise,
accessibility, environment, and economic needs.
(b) DEVELOPMENT OF CONVERSION PLANS.—Con-
sistent with section 7, the alternative use committee estab-
lished for a defense facility shall develop and review at
least biennially a plan for the conversion of the facility
to efficient, nondefense-related productive activity to be
carried out in the event the facility is closed or adversely
affected by the termination of a defense contract or the
disapproval of a license to sell or export defense materials
or services.
(c) RETRAINING AND REEMPLOYMENT.—The alter-
native use committee shall arrange for the provision of oc-
cupational retraining and reemployment counseling serv-
ices for all employees to be displaced by the implementa-
tion of a conversion plan or the closing of the facility as
soon as the date of commencement of the implementation
of that plan or the permanent closing of that facility is
known.
(d) DISSOLUTION.—A alternative use committee shall
dissolve itself and return all assets to the control of the
management of the defense facility involved immediately
upon final completion of the conversion.
SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.
(a) STAFF.—The alternative use committees may
hire staff personnel as well as any specialists it may deter-
mine necessary.
(b) INFORMATION.—The alternative use committees
may obtain a complete and detailed inventory of all land,
building, capital equipment, and other equipment, includ-
ing its condition, and are authorized to obtain information
of a general nature regarding the occupations and skills
of civilian employees, and information concerning existing
collective-bargaining contracts. Any defense agency or
contractor and any department, agency, or other instru-
mentality of the Government shall provide any such inven-
tory or information upon request from an alternative use
committee.
SEC. 7. ELEMENTS OF CONVERSION PLANS.
(a) ELEMENTS OF PLAN.—Conversion plans devel-
oped by an alternative use committee shall—
(1) be so designed as to maximize the extent to
which the personnel required for the efficient oper-
ation of the converted facility can be drawn from
personnel with the types and levels of skill approxi-
mating skill levels and types possessed by civilian
personnel employed at the defense facility prior to
its conversion;
(2) specify the numbers of civilian personnel, by
type and level of skill, employed at the facility prior
to conversion, whose continued employment is not
consistent with the efficient operation of the non-de-
fense-related converted facility;
(3) specify the numbers of positions, by level
and type of skill, if any, that will be needed at the
converted facility because personnel employed at the
preconverted facility do not possess the levels or
types of skills required;
(4) indicate in detail what new plant and equip-
ment and modifications to existing plant and equip-
ment are required for the converted facility; and
(5) include an estimate of financing require-
ments and a financial plan for the conversion; and
(6) provide for completion of the entire conver-
sion process within a period of not less than two
years.
(b) EXTENSION
OF EXISTING AGREEMENTS.—No
plan shall be approved by an alternative use committee
unless the plan provides for extension of wage, labor con-
tract provisions, and other benefits to workers at a defense
facility until conversion to non-defense-related operations
is completed.
SEC. 8. PENALTIES.
If the head of a defense agency determines that a
defense contractor fails to establish an alternative use
committee or refuses or fails to carry out the provisions
of a conversion plan prepared by an alternative use com-
mittee of the defense contractor (as determined by the
head of the defense agency concerned), the defense con-
tractor shall lose eligibility for defense contracts for a pe-
riod of three years, for contract termination payments,
and for tax credits.
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