IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 276
Providing that any agreement relating to trade and investment that is nego-
tiated by the executive branch with other countries must comply with 
certain minimum standards. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 10, 2003
Mr. BROWN of Ohio (for himself, Mr. QUINN, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. PETERSON 
of Minnesota, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. LATOURETTE, and Mr. GEORGE MILLER 
of California) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Providing that any agreement relating to trade and invest-
ment that is negotiated by the executive branch with 
other countries must comply with certain minimum 
standards.
Whereas there is general consensus among the American pub-
lic and the global community that, with respect to inter-
national trade and investment rules—
(1) global environmental, labor, health, food secu-
rity, and other public interest standards must be 
strengthened to prevent a global ‘‘race to the bottom’’; 
(2) domestic environmental, labor, health, food secu-
rity, and other public interest standards and policies 
must not be undermined, including those based on the
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use of the precautionary principle, the internationally rec-
ognized legal principle which holds that, when there is 
scientific uncertainty regarding the potential adverse ef-
fects of an action or a product or technology, govern-
ments should act in a way that minimizes the risk of 
harm to human health and the environment; 
(3) provision and regulation of public services such 
as education, health care, transportation, energy, water, 
and other utilities are basic functions of democratic gov-
ernment and must not be undermined; 
(4) raising standards in developing countries re-
quires additional assistance and respect for diversity of 
policies and priorities; 
(5) countries must be allowed to design and imple-
ment policies to sustain family farms and achieve food se-
curity; 
(6) healthy national economies are essential to a 
healthy global economy, and the right of governments to 
pursue policies to maintain and create jobs must be 
upheld; 
(7) the right of State and local and comparable re-
gional governments of all countries to create and enforce 
diverse policies must be safeguarded from imposed down-
ward harmonization; and 
(8) rules for the global economy must be developed 
and implemented democratically and with transparency 
and accountability; and
Whereas many international trade and investment agree-
ments in existence and currently being negotiated do not 
serve these interests, and have caused substantial harm 
to the health and well-being of communities in the United 
States and within countries that are trading partners of 
the United States: Now, therefore, be it
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Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That any agreement relating to trade and in-
vestment that is negotiated by the executive branch with 
other countries should comply with the following: 
(1) REGARDING
INVESTOR
AND
INVESTMENT 
POLICY.—No such agreement that includes provi-
sions relating to foreign investment may permit for-
eign investors to challenge or seek compensation be-
cause of a measure of a government at the national, 
State, or local level that protects the public interest, 
including, but not limited to, public health, safety, 
and welfare, the environment, and worker protec-
tions, unless a foreign investor demonstrates that 
the measure was enacted or applied primarily for the 
purpose of discriminating against foreign investors 
or investments. 
(2) REGARDING
SERVICES.—Any such agree-
ment, to the extent applicable, shall comply with the 
following: 
(A)(i) The agreement may not discipline 
government measures relating to—
(I) public services, including public 
services for which the government is not 
the sole provider;
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plication under section 212(n)(1) of that 
Act; and 
(iii) guarantee the same workplace 
protections for temporary workers that are 
available to all workers. 
(E) The agreement shall guarantee that all 
governments that are parties to the agreement 
can regulate foreign investors in services and 
other service providers in order to protect pub-
lic health and safety, consumers, the environ-
ment, and workers’ rights, without requiring 
the governments to establish their regulations 
to be the least burdensome option for foreign 
service providers. 
(3) REGARDING POLICIES TO SUPPORT AMER-
ICAN WORKERS AND SMALL, MINORITY, AND WOMEN-
OWNED
BUSINESSES.—Any such agreement shall 
preserve the right of Federal, State, and local gov-
ernments to maintain or establish policies to support 
American workers and small, minority, or women-
owned businesses, including, but not limited to, poli-
cies with respect to government procurement, loans, 
and subsidies.
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(4) REGARDING ENVIRONMENTAL, LABOR, AND 
OTHER PUBLIC INTEREST STANDARDS.—Any such 
agreement—
(A) may not supersede the rights and obli-
gations of parties under multilateral environ-
mental, labor, and human rights agreements; 
and 
(B) shall, to the extent applicable, include 
commitments, subject to binding enforcement 
on the same terms as commercial provisions—
(i) to adhere to specified workers’ 
rights and environmental standards; 
(ii) not to diminish or fail to enforce 
existing domestic labor and environmental 
provisions; and 
(iii) to abide by the core labor stand-
ards of the International Labor Organiza-
tion (ILO). 
(5) 
REGARDING
UNITED
STATES
TRADE 
LAWS.—No such agreement may—
(A) contain a provision which modifies or 
amends, or requires a modification of or an 
amendment to, any law of the United States 
that provides to United States businesses or
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workers safeguards from unfair foreign trade 
practices, including any law providing for—
(i) the imposition of countervailing or 
antidumping duties; 
(ii) protection from unfair methods of 
competition or unfair acts in the importa-
tion of articles; 
(iii) relief from injury caused by im-
port competition; 
(iv) relief from unfair trade practices; 
or 
(v) the imposition of import restric-
tions to protect the national security; or 
(B) weaken the existing terms of the 
Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of 
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 
1994, or the Agreement on Subsidies and Coun-
tervailing Measures, of the World Trade Orga-
nization, including through the domestic imple-
mentation of rulings of dispute settlement bod-
ies. 
(6) REGARDING
FOOD
SAFETY.—No such 
agreement may—
(A) restrict the ability of the United States 
to ensure that food products entering the
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United States are rigorously inspected to estab-
lish that they meet all food safety standards in 
the United States, including inspection stand-
ards; 
(B) force acceptance of different food safe-
ty standards as ‘‘equivalent’’, or require inter-
national harmonization of food safety stand-
ards, which undermine the level of human 
health protection provided under domestic law; 
or 
(C) restrict the ability of governments to 
enact policies to guarantee the right of con-
sumers to know where and how their food is 
produced. 
(7) REGARDING AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SE-
CURITY.—No such agreement may, with respect to 
food and other agricultural commodities—
(A) contain provisions that prevent coun-
tries from—
(i) establishing domestic and global 
reserves, 
(ii) managing supply, 
(iii) enforcing antidumping disciplines, 
(iv) ensuring fair market prices, or
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(v) 
vigorously 
enforcing 
antitrust 
laws, 
in order to guarantee competitive markets for 
family farmers; or 
(B) prevent countries from developing the 
necessary sanitary and phytosanitary standards 
to prevent the introduction of pathogens or 
other potentially invasive species which may ad-
versely affect agriculture, human health, or the 
environment. 
(8) REGARDING
TRANSPARENCY.—(A) The 
process of negotiating any such agreement must be 
open and transparent, including through—
(i) prompt and regular disclosure of full 
negotiating texts; and 
(ii) prompt and regular disclosure of nego-
tiating positions of the United States. 
(B) In negotiating any such agreement, any re-
quest or offer relating to investment, procurement, 
or trade in services must be made public within 10 
days after its submission if such request or offer—
(i) proposes specific Federal, State, and 
local laws and regulations in the United States 
to be changed, eliminated, or scheduled under 
such an agreement, including, but not limited
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to, subsidies, tax rules, procurement rules, pro-
fessional standards, and rules on temporary 
entry of persons; 
(ii) proposes for coverage under such an 
agreement—
(I) specific essential public services, 
including, but not limited to, public bene-
fits programs, health care, education, na-
tional security, sanitation, water, energy, 
and other utilities; or 
(II) private service sectors that re-
quire extensive regulation or have an in-
herently social component, including, but 
not limited to, maritime, air transport, 
trucking, and other transportation services, 
postal services, utilities such as water, en-
ergy, and sanitation, corrections, education 
and childcare, and health care; or 
(iii) proposes a discipline or process of gen-
eral application which may interfere with the 
ability of the United States or State, local, or 
tribal governments to adopt, implement, or en-
force laws and regulations identified in clause 
(i) or provide or regulate services identified in 
clause (ii).
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(C) The broad array of constituencies rep-
resenting the majority of the people of the United 
States, including labor unions, environmental organi-
zations, consumer groups, family farm groups, pub-
lic health advocates, faith-based organizations, and 
civil rights groups, must have at least the same rep-
resentation on trade advisory committees and access 
to trade negotiators and negotiating fora as those 
constituencies representing commercial interests. 
(D) Any dispute resolution mechanism estab-
lished in any such agreement must be open and 
transparent, including through disclosure to the pub-
lic of documents and access to hearings, and must 
permit participation by nonparties through the filing 
of amicus briefs, as well as provide for standing for 
State and local governments as intervenors. 
(9) REGARDING GOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITY.—
No such agreement may contain provisions that bind 
national, State, local, or comparable regional govern-
ments to limiting regulatory, taxation, spending, or 
procurement authority without an opportunity for 
public review and comment described in paragraph 
(8), and without the explicit, informed consent of the 
national, State, local, or comparable regional legisla-
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tive body concerned, through such means as is de-
cided by such legislative body. 
(10) REGARDING ACCESS TO MEDICINES AND 
SEEDS.—(A) No such agreement may contain provi-
sions that prevent countries from taking measures to 
protect public health by ensuring access to medi-
cines. 
(B) No such agreement may constrain the 
rights of farmers to save, use, exchange, or sell 
farm-saved seeds and other publicly available seed 
varieties. 
(11) REGARDING
DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES.—
Any such agreement must grant special and dif-
ferential treatment for developing countries with re-
gard to the timeframe for implementation of the 
agreement as well as other concerns.
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