I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3932 
To amend the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, to provide for the 
mandatory appointment of a board of inquiry into slow-downs, strikes, 
or lock-outs when certain specified events occur, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 5, 2015 
Mr. NEWHOUSE (for himself, Mr. SCHRADER, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. 
COLE, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. UPTON, and Mr. 
WALDEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, to 
provide for the mandatory appointment of a board of 
inquiry into slow-downs, strikes, or lock-outs when cer-
tain specified events occur, 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 ‘‘Ensuring Continued 
Operations and No Other Major Incidents, Closures, or 
Slowdowns Act’’ or the ‘‘ECONOMICS Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONDITIONS REQUIRING APPOINTMENT OF BOARD 
OF INQUIRY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 206 of the Labor Manage-
ment Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 176) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Whenever in the opinion’’ and 
inserting ‘‘(a) Whenever in the opinion’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘a threatened or actual strike’’ 
and inserting ‘‘a slow-down, or a threatened or ac-
tual strike or lock-out’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) The President shall appoint a board of inquiry 
described in subsection (a) not later than 10 days after 
any of the following events occur: 
‘‘(1) The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the 
monthly Import or Export Vessel Value decreased by 
20 percent or more in any one month from the pre-
vious month in any one of the four metric identifica-
tion regions. 
‘‘(2) A slow-down, or a threatened or an actual 
strike or lock-out takes place at four or more port 
facilities in any one of the four metric identification 
regions. 
‘‘(3) A slow-down, or a threatened or an actual 
strike or lock-out occurs in which the total number 
of employees actively striking, locked-out, or slowing 
down at the affected port facilities in any one of the 
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four metric identification regions, is 6,000 or great-
er. 
‘‘(c) Whenever a board of inquiry is appointed as re-
quired by the occurrence of any of the events described 
in subsection (b), such board shall submit a written report 
to the President not later than 10 days after its appoint-
ment. If a board of inquiry is appointed as required due 
to the occurrence of the event described in paragraph (1) 
of such subsection, such board shall include in its report 
an assessment as to whether a slow-down, or a threatened 
or an actual strike or lock-out contributed to the occur-
rence of such an event resulting in the board’s appoint-
ment. If the board determines that a slow-down, or a 
threatened or an actual strike or lock-out did contribute 
to the occurrence of such an event, the board shall also 
include in its report the additional criteria established in 
subsection (a). The President shall file a copy of such re-
port with the Service and shall make its contents available 
to the public. 
‘‘(d) For purposes of this section, the term ‘metric 
identification region’ means one of the four regions into 
which each of the Nation’s maritime ports is classified by 
the Secretary of Transportation in accordance with section 
4 of the Ensuring Continued Operations and No Other 
Major Incidents, Closures, or Slowdowns Act.’’. 
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(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 208(a) of 
the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 
178(a)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘such strike or lock-out’’ and in-
serting ‘‘such slow-down, strike, or lock-out’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘such threatened or actual 
strike’’ and inserting ‘‘such slow-down, or threatened 
or actual strike or lock-out’’. 
SEC. 3. STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL 
CONDITIONS REQUIRING APPOINTMENT OF 
BOARD OF INQUIRY. 
(a) DATA.—The Director of the Bureau of Transpor-
tation Statistics shall collect the following data relating 
to activity at port facilities in the United States: 
(1) The average number of lifts per hour of 
containers by crane. 
(2) The average cargo container dwell time. 
(3) The average truck times at ports. 
(4) The average rail time at ports. 
(b) RECOMMENDATIONS TO CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Director shall transmit a report to Congress containing 
recommendations for determining whether conditions exist 
requiring the appointment of a board of inquiry pursuant 
to section 206(b) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 
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1947, using the data required to be collected in accordance 
with subsection (a), or any other metric recommended by 
the Director. 
SEC. 4. CLASSIFICATION OF PORTS INTO REGIONS. 
Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall classify 
the Nation’s maritime ports as belonging to one of the 
following four metric identification regions: 
(1) West Coast. 
(2) East Coast. 
(3) Gulf Coast. 
(4) Great Lakes. 
Æ 
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