The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“CARE ACT OF 2015” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E979-E980 on June 25, 2015.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
CARE ACT OF 2015
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HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD
of california
in the house of representatives
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, on June 12, we observed International Day Against Child Labor. This is the day set aside to remind us of the plight of hundreds of millions of children throughout the world who are engaged in dangerous work that often deprives them of obtaining adequate education, health and decent living conditions.
Unconscionably, hundreds of thousands of these children live right here in the United States. These children work long hours and under dangerous conditions in our nation's agricultural industry.
This industry has a fatality rate nearly 8 times the national average, yet our labor laws do not protect children in agriculture in the same way they protect children in every other industry.
The impact of our permissive child labor laws is most evident in our tobacco fields. Human Rights Watch recently issued a study that found children as young as twelve suffering from nausea, vomiting, headaches and dizziness, all symptoms of acute nicotine poisoning, likely contracted by absorbing nicotine through their skin while harvesting tobacco plants.
Many of these children say they work long hours without overtime pay, often in extreme heat, without sufficient breaks, or adequate protective gear.
These hazards have led countries like Russia and Kazakhstan to restrict tobacco harvesting to adults, but no such protections exist for children in the United States.
The time has come for the United States of America to bring child labor laws in line with our American values and give all of our children the fundamental protections they need and rightfully deserve.
That is why I am once again re-introducing the Children's Act for Responsible Employment, better known as the CARE Act.
While retaining current exemptions for family farms and agricultural education programs like 4-H and Future Farmers of America, the CARE Act raises labor standards and protections for farm worker children to the same level set for children in all other occupations.
Specifically the CARE ACT ends our country's double standard that allows children in agriculture to work at younger ages and for longer hours than those working in all other industries.
It raises the minimum age for agricultural work to 14 and restricts children under 16 from work that interferes with their education or endangers their health and well-being.
The CARE Act also prohibits children under the age of 18 from working in agricultural jobs which the Department of Labor has declared as particularly hazardous. This is consistent with current law governing every industry outside of agriculture.
No child should be discriminated against based on the work they do. All of America's children deserve to be protected equally under our laws.
Mr. Speaker, it is our moral obligation to do everything in our power to protect the rights, safety and educational future of our most precious resource--America's children, and I urge my colleagues to support the CARE Act.
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