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“PLANNED SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION EXHIBIT ON SWEATSHOPS IS UNDER ATTACK BY THE APPAREL INDUSTRY” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E2227-E2228 on Nov. 8, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PLANNED SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION EXHIBIT ON SWEATSHOPS IS UNDER ATTACK
BY THE APPAREL INDUSTRY
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HON. TOM LANTOS
of california
in the house of representatives
Friday, November 7, 1997
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for the Smithsonian Institution's planned exhibit on the history of sweatshops in America--``Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A Dialogue on American Sweatshops, 1820-Present.'' The exhibit is scheduled to open at the Smithsonian here in Washington in April 1998. Unfortunately, however, the U.S. apparel industry is seeking to prevent the display of this exhibit on the grounds that the exhibit will not present a balanced picture of the garment industry. Rather than letting an objective exhibit of historical and contemporary significance go forward, the California Fashion Association, which represents major clothing manufacturers in southern California, has vowed to turn the exhibit into a political football and prevent its display.
Mr. Speaker, it is no surprise that clothing manufacturers are opposed to this exhibit. It is also no surprise that the leaders of the opposition to this exhibit are from southern California--notorious for the El Monte apparel sweatshop in which some 70 Thai workers lived under slave-like conditions until the horror was discovered and the brutality was terminated. This, Mr. Speaker, was not a century ago--this was just 2 years ago in my home State.
Make no mistake about it, Mr. Speaker, the garment industry's fear is not that the American people will view the history of sweatshops in the 19th century but that they will view conditions in sweatshops operating today--in 1997.
Sweatshops are in violation of our Nation's overtime, minimum-wage, and safety laws. Sweatshop operations are often underground and disguised, and monetary transactions in connection with these activities are usually done in cash. For these reasons, it is difficult to get a precise idea of how prevalent sweatshops really are. Some specialists have estimated that there are as many as 7,000 sweatshops across the United States.
Sweatshops are often outside the law in other ways, not only evading wage and hour laws, but also avoiding the payment of Federal, State, and local taxes. Violation of local building codes is common, including such serious safety problems as blocked fire exits or no fire exits at all. The operators of these sweatshops seek out and exploit undocumented immigrants. Let me make one thing clear, Mr. Speaker, immigrants are not the cause of sweatshops, they are the victims of the operators of such vicious practices.
Mr. Speaker, I ask that at this point, an excellent editorial--``Save the Sweatshops''--which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle be placed in the Record.
Save the Sweatshops
To its lasting credit, the Smithsonian Institution is planning a hardedged exhibit on sweatshops, an historical look at rapacity and exploitation that is still in our midst. One poignant feature has raised the ire of the apparel industry: a depiction of the El Monte factory raided in 1995 where some 70 Thai immigrants lived in peonage while cranking out clothing.
The exhibit, prepared in part with the help of California state labor authorities, will borrow equipment seized in the raid in order to re-create the dungeon-like sewing shop. Is the factory typical of clothing factories? Obviously not. But it should provoke thought about immigrants, their hunger for work and the role of a vigilant government.
The exhibit, which is due to open next April, will trace sweatshops from early last century to the present. By its very title, it deals with an unsavory back alley of American working life. Along with El Monte, it will highlight the epochal Triangle Shirtwaist fire in Manhattan that killed 146 women trapped in a sweatshop in 1911. Such episodes aren't pretty, but brushing them away, as industry publicists would like, would be a mistake.
These critics may be counting on the Smithsonian to cave in. Several years ago it wanted to mount an exhibit that showed the Japanese death toll from two American atomic bombs that ended World War II. Veterans groups objected saying the decision to drop the bombs was not fairly explained, and the museum eventually recast the exhibit in tamer form. That debate had its own ingredients, and it would be a mistake to compare it to the El Monte dispute.
The Smithsonian, which serves as a curator of American life, cannot survive such challenges and serve its mission well. Critics who want to sanitize controversy deny everyone a chance to experience history.
Mr. Speaker, I further ask that two Letters to the Editor which appeared in the Los Angeles Times also be placed in the Record. The letters appeared in the newspaper after it published news stories about the controversy over the sweatshop exhibit in September of this year. The first letter is from I. Michael Heyman, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and the second is from Evan Smyth of Los Angeles:
Letter of I. Michael Heyman, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational institution that strives to make American history accessible, useful and meaningful to the millions who view our exhibitions, read our catalogues and participate in our public programs. It occasionally presents difficult, unpleasant, or controversial historical episodes, not out of any desire to embarrass, to be unpatriotic, or to cause pain, but out of a responsibility to convey a fuller, more inclusive history. By examining historical incidents ripe with complexities and ambiguities, we hope to stimulate greater understanding and appreciation for the historical forces and choices that shaped America. Ultimately, the Smithsonian Institution mounts these kinds of exhibitions because we have confidence in the American public's desire for candor and appreciation for important historical stories.
The exhibition, ``Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A Dialogue on American Sweatshops, 1920-Present,'' scheduled to open April 15, 1998, will be a balanced presentation, both in the historical material it presents and the outside views and participation it will include. We have sought to include the voices of participants on all sides of this issue. Our exhibition will be strong in scholarship, but equally it will be sensitive to participants' concerns. We will continue to reach out to all interested parties, including the manufacturing, apparel and retail sectors, to ensure a fair and balanced presentation.
Letter of Evan Smyth of Los Angeles
The apparel industry trade groups claim that their position could not be heard in an exhibit like the one proposed for the Smithsonian. Perhaps they are right, but I would be very interested to hear their position on sweatshops in light of the following facts:
The slave conditions at El Monte are a matter of public record.
One of the largest garment manufacturers in Southern California, Guess, Inc., is currently scrambling to defend itself against charges in a class-action lawsuit that minimum wage and overtime violations are rampant in their contractors' sweatshops. Guess, Inc., has been removed from a Department of Labor trendsetters list because of recidivism in its `fight' against wage-and-hour violations. Sweatshop conditions appear to be the cornerstone of the apparel industry rather than ``a few bad apples.''
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