I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2983 
To provide for the establishment of the United States Employee Ownership 
Bank, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2019 
Mr. DEFAZIO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor, 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 provide for the establishment of the United States 
Employee Ownership Bank, 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 ‘‘United States Em-
ployee Ownership Bank Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) between January 2000 and January 2019, 
the manufacturing sector lost 4,458,000 jobs; 
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(2) as of January 2019, only 12,826,000 work-
ers in the United States were employed in the manu-
facturing sector, a lower number than in December 
1941; 
(3) at the end of 2018, the United States had 
a trade deficit of $621,000,000,000, including a 
record $419,162,000,000 trade deficit with China; 
(4) preserving and increasing decent paying 
jobs must be a top priority of Congress; 
(5) providing loan guarantees, direct loans, and 
technical assistance to employees to buy their own 
companies will preserve and increase employment in 
the United States; and 
(6) the time has come to establish the United 
States Employee Ownership Bank to preserve and 
expand jobs in the United States through Employee 
Stock Ownership Plans and worker-owned coopera-
tives. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘Bank’’ means the United States 
Employee Ownership Bank established under section 
4; 
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(2) the term ‘‘eligible worker-owned coopera-
tive’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
1042(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 
(3) the term ‘‘employee stock ownership plan’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 
4975(e)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 
and 
(4) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of the Treasury. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITED STATES EMPLOYEE 
OWNERSHIP BANK WITHIN THE DEPART-
MENT OF THE TREASURY. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF BANK.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall establish the United States Employee Owner-
ship Bank to foster increased employee ownership of 
United States companies and greater employee par-
ticipation in company decisionmaking throughout 
the United States. 
(2) ORGANIZATION OF THE BANK.— 
(A) MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary shall 
appoint a Director to serve as the head of the 
Bank, who shall serve at the pleasure of the 
Secretary. 
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