I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1176 
To amend the National Labor Relations Act to ensure the right of employees 
to a secret-ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 25, 2009 
Mr. KLINE of Minnesota (for himself, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. MCKEON, 
Mr. LINDER, Mr. BROWN
of South Carolina, Mr. BONNER, Mr. 
GOHMERT, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. SESSIONS, Ms. FALLIN, Mr. 
HERGER, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. 
BURTON of Indiana, Mr. ISSA, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. WILSON of South 
Carolina, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. JORDAN of Ohio, 
Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. FLEMING, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. 
MCHENRY, Mr. COLE, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. WAMP, 
Mr. BACHUS, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. ROONEY, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. 
FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. LEE of New York, Mr. PITTS, 
Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. GINGREY of Georgia, 
Mr. PENCE, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. HARPER, Mr. 
KINGSTON, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. COBLE, Mr. HELLER, Mr. BARRETT of 
South Carolina, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, 
Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. SMITH of Ne-
braska, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. AKIN, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. 
CULBERSON, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. FLAKE, 
Mr. MACK, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mrs. LUMMIS, Ms. FOXX, Mr. SCALISE, 
Mr. OLSON, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado, Mr. ING-
LIS, Mr. FORBES, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. 
BOOZMAN, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. SCHOCK, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. 
CALVERT, Mr. LATTA, Ms. JENKINS, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. ROE of Ten-
nessee, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Mr. THOMPSON of Penn-
sylvania, Mr. CARTER, Mr. PAULSEN, Mr. POSEY, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, 
Mr. BUYER, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. SHUSTER, 
Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. UPTON, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. JONES, Mr. BILBRAY, and 
Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
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A BILL 
To amend the National Labor Relations Act to ensure the 
right of employees to a secret-ballot election conducted 
by the National Labor Relations Board. 
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 ‘‘Secret Ballot Protec-
tion Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the right of employees under the National 
Labor Relations Act to choose whether to be rep-
resented by a labor organization by way of secret 
ballot election conducted by the National Labor Re-
lations Board is among the most important protec-
tions afforded under Federal labor law; 
(2) the right of employees to choose by secret 
ballot is the only method that ensures a choice free 
of coercion, intimidation, irregularity, or illegality; 
and 
(3) the recognition of a labor organization by 
using a private agreement, rather than a secret bal-
lot election overseen by the National Labor Relations 
Board, threatens the freedom of employees to choose 
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whether to be represented by a labor organization, 
and severely limits the ability of the National Labor 
Relations Board to ensure the protection of workers. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT. 
(a) RECOGNITION OF REPRESENTATIVE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(a)(2) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(a)(2)) is 
amended by inserting before the colon the following: 
‘‘or to recognize or bargain collectively with a labor 
organization that has not been selected by a major-
ity of such employees in a secret ballot election con-
ducted by the National Labor Relations Board in ac-
cordance with section 9’’. 
(2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall not apply to collective bar-
gaining relationships in which a labor organization 
with majority support was lawfully recognized before 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(b) ELECTION REQUIRED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(b) of the National 
Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(b)), as amend-
ed by subsection (c) of this section, is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (6); 
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