[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 550 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 550
To restore statutory rights to the people of the United States from
forced arbitration.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 7, 2017
Mr. Leahy (for himself, Mr. Franken, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Durbin, Mr.
Whitehouse, Mr. Markey, Ms. Warren, Mrs. Murray, Ms. Baldwin, Ms.
Heitkamp, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Brown, Mr. Booker, and Mrs. Shaheen)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To restore statutory rights to the people of the United States from
forced arbitration.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Restoring Statutory Rights and
Interests of the States Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND INTENT.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Chapter 1 of title 9, United States Code (commonly
known as the ``Federal Arbitration Act''), represented an
exercise of legislative power that required courts to recognize
private voluntary agreements to arbitrate commercial disputes
at a time when the courts were refusing to do so on grounds
that arbitration represented a usurpation of the authority of
the courts to resolve legal disputes.
(2) The Federal Arbitration Act did not, and should not
have been interpreted to, supplant or nullify the legislatively
created rights and remedies that Congress, exercising its power
under article I of the Constitution of the United States, has
granted to the people of the United States for resolving
disputes in State and Federal courts.
(3) Recent court decisions, including AT&T Mobility LLC v.
Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333 (2011) and American Express Co. v.
Italian Colors Restaurant, 133 S. Ct. 2304 (2013), have
interpreted the Federal Arbitration Act to broadly preempt
rights and remedies established under substantive State and
Federal law. As a result, these decisions have enabled business
entities to avoid or nullify legal duties created by
congressional enactment, resulting in millions of people in the
United States being unable to vindicate their rights in State
and Federal courts.
(4) States have a compelling interest in enacting rights
and remedies to protect the welfare of their citizens, and the
Federal Arbitration Act should not be, and should not have
been, interpreted to preempt State legislation that enacted
rights and remedies to protect the welfare of their citizens.
(b) Intent of Congress.--In enacting this Act, it is the intent of
Congress--
(1) to restate and reinstitute the primacy of congressional
and State legislative bodies as the creators of the rights and
remedies available to all the people of the United States;
(2) to clarify that congressionally established rights and
remedies may not be waived prior to the institution of a
dispute by the party intended to be protected by such statute;
and
(3) to reinstate and reaffirm existing rights and remedies
of the people of the United States enacted since the enactment
of the Federal Arbitration Act regarding access to the courts
that have, or may have been, abrogated or diminished.
SEC. 3. ARBITRATION OF FEDERAL STATUTORY CAUSES OF ACTION.
(a) Adjudication of Federal Statutory Rights of Action.--Section 2
of title 9, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``A written'' and inserting ``(a) In
General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), a written'';
and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to a written
provision that requires arbitration of a claim for damages or
injunctive relief brought by an individual or small business concern
(as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), in
either an individual or representative capacity, arising from the
alleged violation of a Federal or State statute, the Constitution of
the United States, or a constitution of a State, unless the written
agreement to arbitrate is entered into by both parties after the claim
has arisen and pertains solely to an existing claim.
``(c) Interaction With State Law.--In subsection (a), the term
`grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of a contract'
includes a Federal or State statute, or the finding of a Federal or
State court, that prohibits the agreement to arbitrate on grounds that
the agreement is unconscionable, invalid because there was no meeting
of the minds, or otherwise unenforceable as a matter of contract law or
public policy.
``(d) Validity and Enforceability.--A determination as to whether
this chapter applies to an agreement to arbitrate shall be made by a
court, rather than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party
resisting arbitration challenges the agreement to arbitrate
specifically or in conjunction with other terms of the contract
containing such agreement.''.
SEC. 4. VACATING AN AWARD MADE IN VIOLATION OF SECTION 2 OF TITLE 9,
UNITED STATES CODE.
Section 10(a) of title 9, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) where the arbitration took place in violation of
section 2.''.
SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY.
This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall apply with
respect to any dispute or claim that arises on or after the date of
enactment of this Act.
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