PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.
H.Res.479 / 106th Congress

Global Sustainable Development Resolution

Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in House · Apr 13, 2000

Global Sustainable Development Resolution - Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States and the people of the United States, and the people and governments of the other Nations of the world, should take actions to establish democratic control over the global economy.(Sec. 3) Makes findings with respect to unregulated economic globalization and deleterious consequences that it tends to generate, including destructive competition (in which nations are forced to cut labor, social, and environmental costs in order to attract mobile capital), economic inequality, and degradation of democracy.(Sec. 4) Expresses the sense of the House that the United States should adopt specified policies with respect to: (1) global economic goals (reconstructing the global economy to achieve democracy, human rights, environmental sustainability, and economic advancement for the most oppressed and exploited parts of the population); (2) a democratic multilevel global economy; (3) reduction of financial volatility; (4) sustainable development; and (5) democracy.(Sec. 5) Expresses the sense of the House that, to develop the broadest possible dialog by the people of the United States among themselves and with the other peoples of the world regarding the future of the global economy, the United States should establish a United States Commission on the Global Economy which shall: (1) hold hearings to investigate the effect of globalization on the workers, industry, and environment of the United States; and (2) establish a Global Economy Truth Commission.(Sec. 6) Expresses the sense of the House that the United States should enter into negotiations with other members of the United Nations to develop and implement a sustainable development strategy aimed at restructuring the international financial system to avoid global recessions, protect the environment, ensure full employment, reverse the polarization of wealth and poverty, and support the efforts of polities at all levels to mobilize and coordinate their economic resources.Declares that the United States should: (1) work with other Nations to achieve specified goals such as encouraging economic policies based on domestic economic growth and development, not domestic austerity in the interest of export-led growth, and encouraging a return to more stable exchange rates in order to achieve the original purposes of the Bretton Woods agreement; (2) in cooperation with other Nations, establish levies on all foreign currency transactions and establish the mechanisms for implementing such levies on such transactions for specified purposes, establish one or more public international investment funds, develop international institutions to perform functions of monetary regulation that are performed inadequately by national central banks, and establish, for highly indebted nations, an insolvency or bankruptcy mechanism; and (3) take specified actions with respect to debt cancellation.(Sec. 7) Expresses the sense of the House that the United States should impose on any U.S. funding of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), or any other international financial institution specified conditions with respect to worker rights, environmental conditions, social conditions, democracy and human rights conditions, international financial institution governance, participation by certain sectors of civil society, and IMF missions.(Sec. 8) Expresses the sense of the House that, to help establish public control and citizen sovereignty over global corporations and reduce the ability of such corporations to evade local and national law: (1) the United States should enter into negotiations with other countries to establish a binding Code of Conduct for Transnational Corporations, which should impose on each corporation that operates in more than one country requirements regarding toxic substance emissions, facilities, and hazardous materials disclosures, worker rights, environmental standards, termination of operations, unions, financial disclosures, investment, education and job training, and social and environmental standards; (2) there should be established a mechanism of adjudication and sanctions to enforce the code of conduct which allows both governments and citizens to initiate complaints of noncompliance by global corporations and which operates in a transparent manner; (3) Governments should not be subject to trade or other reprisals for efforts to enforce the code of conduct; (4) corporations based in the United States should immediately follow certain standards in their overseas operations, pending the implementation of the code of conduct; and (5) U.S. laws should be amended such that corporations incorporated or operating in the United States are held liable for harms caused abroad and that persons aggrieved by such harms can pursue actions for relief in the U.S. courts.(Sec. 9) Expresses the sense of the House that the President should begin the process of renegotiating all agreements regulating international trade, including the World Trade Organization, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and bilateral investment treaties, with objectives of: (1) reorienting trade and investment to be means of carrying out just and sustainable development; (2) removing labor and environmental rights and conditions and social protections as factors of competition; and (3) incorporating in market prices the long-term costs of industrial production, including resource depletion, waste, and disposal or recycling of final product.Sets forth provisions regarding reporting requirements, withdrawal provisions, and trade agreement negotiating authority.

Read the summary on Congress.gov
PlainBill analysis is coming later. This page presents official source data. We have not yet published a PlainBill explanation for this bill.

Who introduced it

Rep. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT-At Large] · I–VT

Committees

  • Ways and Means Committee
  • Financial Services Committee
  • Foreign Affairs Committee
9 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.

  1. Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.

  2. Referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on Banking and Financial Services, and Ways and Means, 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.

  3. Referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on Banking and Financial Services, and Ways and Means, 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.

  4. Referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on Banking and Financial Services, and Ways and Means, 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.

  5. Referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on Banking and Financial Services, and Ways and Means, 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.

  6. Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy.

  7. Introduced in House

  8. Introduced in House

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.

Source last updated: Aug 20, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

Explore the bill from different angles

Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.

Neutral evidence review

Objective

Analyze H.Res.479 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.

View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact

Progressive lens

Examine H.Res.479 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.

View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope

Conservative lens

Examine H.Res.479 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.

View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power

Liberty lens

Examine H.Res.479 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.

View full prompt & sources