103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 257
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas the integration of the global economy is accelerating;
Whereas capital and technology are now easily transferred
across national borders and throughout the world, while
labor policies remain comparatively bound by national
policies and allegiances;
Whereas the importance of promoting international respect
for fundamental worker rights and labor standards is
crucial to building broader support for balanced, equi-
table, and sustainable growth in an expanding global
economy;
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Whereas there exists a growing body of international law and
international trade agreements, some of which originated
in the early 1900s, that firmly establish the free exercise
of fundamental worker rights, improved working condi-
tions, and rising living standards as essential require-
ments of fair competition in a healthy, open, growing
global economy;
Whereas in 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt, as part of the
Atlantic Charter, committed the United States to ‘‘the
fullest collaboration between all nations in the economic
field with the object of securing, for all, improved labor
standards, economic advancement, and social security’’;
Whereas the United States Government during World War II
recognized the crucial importance of the needs, interests,
and aspirations of all working people in general and the
role that trade unions in particular would play in the re-
construction of Europe and the future development of
newly independent nations;
Whereas the United States Labor Attache´ Corps was estab-
lished within the United States Government in 1943 and
individual labor attache´s ever since have been posted to
United States embassies in scores of foreign countries to
study and encourage the concurrent development of pro-
fessional labor ministries within foreign governments and
strong, independent, indigenous trade unions among
working people in foreign countries;
Whereas the United States Labor Attache´ Corps throughout
the cold war played a crucial role in the struggle against
Communism and in building support for freedom and
democratic values and institutions throughout the world;
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Whereas there is an increasing need for the American people
and their policymakers in the post-cold war era to better
understand the needs, interests, and aspirations of work-
ing people abroad and the concerns that they share in
common with working people in the United States;
Whereas the United States Labor Attache´ Corps continues to
reach beyond the traditional focus of the United States
Foreign Service upon senior foreign government officials
to attain a broader, in-depth understanding of grassroots
concerns and developments among working people in for-
eign countries and the wider significance those concerns
hold for political processes and socioeconomic develop-
ments within foreign countries;
Whereas the United States Labor Attache´ Corps for 50 years
has demonstrated repeatedly the crucial importance of
free, independent, and democratic trade unions to the de-
velopment of free, independent, and democratic societies,
thus advancing the profound national interest of the
United States in promoting the further development of
democratic values, processes, and institutions throughout
the world;
Whereas the United States Labor Attache´ Corps facilitates
many useful international exchanges between organized
and unorganized United States and foreign workers and
assists with a wide range of the international activities of
several United States executive agencies, including the
Department of State, the Department of Labor, and the
Office of the United States Trade Representative;
Whereas the national labor policies and standards of foreign
countries, and the extent to which the governments of
foreign countries are meeting and enforcing their legal
obligations in this regard, are increasingly important fac-
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tors in fair trade, particularly in determining whether
consumer markets with broad-based purchasing power
will emerge in those countries and whether most foreign
workers in those countries will ever be able to buy United
States exports, thus making the monitoring and reporting
functions of the United States Labor Attache´ Corps of
growing importance; and
Whereas President Clinton during his official visit to Europe
in January 1994 reaffirmed the United States commit-
ment to promoting respect for the fundamental rights of
workers everywhere and to pursuing policies that will en-
able working people in the United States and abroad to
share more fully in the benefits of expanding inter-
national trade and investment in the global economy:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That—
(1) the Congress commends the United States
Labor Attache´ Corps for the historic role it has
played throughout the past 50 years in nurturing
freedom and assisting in the development of demo-
cratic values and processes throughout the world;
and
(2) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of
Labor should jointly—
(A) review the mission and organization of
the United States Labor Attache´ Corps, and
determine what reforms are necessary to rede-
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sign and assure continued relevance of the work
of the Corps in the post-cold war era;
(B) implement such reforms to the extent
possible under existing law, and consistent with
existing resources;
(C) design and implement an interagency
recruitment and training program to assure
sufficient qualified personnel for the Corps, and
to enhance the professional development of ex-
isting personnel, consistent with the continuing
need for monitoring and reporting on the needs,
interests and aspirations of working people in
foreign countries;
(D) develop a plan to assure that a labor
counselor, attache´ or reporting officer is as-
signed to every United States Embassy abroad
by January 1, 1997, and determine what addi-
tional resources are necessary to achieve this
goal; and
(E) not later than January 1, 1995, sub-
mit a report to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the Chairman of the Com-
mittee on Foreign Relations, detailing the out-
come of the review conducted and the steps un-
dertaken pursuant to this section, and rec-
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ommending such changes in law and such addi-
tional resources as may be necessary to imple-
ment needed further reforms.
Passed the House of Representatives October 3,
1994.
Attest:
Clerk.