I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2150 
To ensure that permits issued by the Secretary of Transportation to foreign 
air carriers under the United States-European Union Air Transport 
Agreement of April 2007 do not undermine labor rights or standards, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 26, 2017 
Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, and 
Mr. FERGUSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To ensure that permits issued by the Secretary of Transpor-
tation to foreign air carriers under the United States- 
European Union Air Transport Agreement of April 2007 
do not undermine labor rights or 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 ‘‘Flags of Convenience 
Don’t Fly Here Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FOREIGN AIR TRANSPORTATION UNDER UNITED 
STATES-EUROPEAN UNION AIR TRANSPORT 
AGREEMENT. 
The Secretary of Transportation may not issue a per-
mit under section 41302 of title 49, United States Code, 
or an exemption under section 40109 of such title, author-
izing a person to provide foreign air transportation as a 
foreign air carrier under the United States-European 
Union Air Transport Agreement of April 2007 (as amend-
ed) in a proceeding in which the applicability of Article 
17 bis of such Agreement has been raised by an interested 
person, unless the Secretary— 
(1) finds that issuing the permit or exemption 
would be consistent with the intent set forth in Arti-
cle 17 bis of the Agreement, that opportunities cre-
ated by the Agreement do not undermine labor 
standards or the labor-related rights and principles 
contained in the laws of the respective parties to the 
Agreement; and 
(2) imposes on the permit or exemption such 
conditions as may be necessary to ensure that the 
person complies with the intent of Article 17 bis. 
SEC. 3. PUBLIC INTEREST TEST. 
Section 41302(2) of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended— 
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(1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘under an 
agreement with the United States Government; or’’ 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘the for-
eign air transportation’’ and inserting ‘‘after consid-
ering the totality of the circumstances, including the 
factors set forth in section 40101(a), the foreign air 
transportation’’. 
SEC. 4. PUBLIC INTEREST REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) POLICY.—Section 40101(a) of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(17) preventing entry into United States mar-
kets by flag of convenience carriers.’’. 
(b) INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION.—Sec-
tion 40101(e)(9) of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(2) in subparagraph (E) by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(F) erosion of labor standards associated 
with flag of convenience carriers.’’. 
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