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.
“THE INTERNATIONAL CHILD WELFARE PROTECTION ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Senate section on pages S2388-S2389 on March 8, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE INTERNATIONAL CHILD WELFARE PROTECTION ACT
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, last Friday, on behalf of Senator Bob Kerrey and myself, I introduced legislation that will chart a new United States approach to the terrible problem of child exploitation in overseas labor markets.
This legislation, S. 553, the International Child Welfare Protection Act, will target new, additional trade benefits to countries that comply with the provisions of the International Labor Organization's Convention No. 138 concerning the minimum age for admission to employment, also known as the Minimum Age Convention.
The aim of the Minimum Age Convention is to abolish child labor throughout the world by establishing a minimum age at which children may be employed.
Our legislation will do two things:
It will give the President the authority to grant a country that complies with the Minimum Age Convention up to a 50-percent tariff rate cut on items produced in that country that would not otherwise be eligible for preferential tariff rates.
It will also permit the President to waive current limitations on the amounts of additional goods that countries complying with the Minimum Age Convention may export to the United States.
In the unlikely event the President finds that domestic industries are hurt because of these special, targeted trade benefits, the President also has the authority to suspend, limit, or withdraw the benefits.
This legislation is important for three reasons.
First, it is a tragic fact that child labor is rampant in many places in the world, despite more laws aimed at stopping this inhumane practice. International Labor Organization statistics show that between 100 and 200 million children worldwide are engaged in providing goods and services. Ninety-five percent of these children, according to the ILO, work in developing countries. Why are children pressed into service as low-paid or unpaid workers? Because, according to the ILO, children are ``generally less demanding, more obedient, and less likely to object to their treatment or conditions of work.'' It is very obvious that we must all do what we can to stop this unconscionable practice.
The second reason we need this legislation is because it is clear that regulation and enforcement alone will not work. Incentives are needed as well. The reason that it is so tough to enforce child labor standards is that it is often very difficult to trace specific products to specific plants in specific countries. The Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs says that quantifying the extent of child labor in a particular country's export industry ``can seldom be done with specificity.'' If you can't even trace the goods or services with certainty, you can't expect enforcement alone to be the answer. Hence the incentives that are in our legislation.
Finally, we need this legislation because even though the ILO Minimum Age Convention was adopted in 1973, only 21 developing country member states out of 173 ILO member states have ratified the Convention to stop child labor. Out of the 21 developing country member states that have ratified the Convention, none is from Asia, where over half of all working children are to be found. If even one additional ILO member state ratifies the Convention because of the trade incentives this legislation offers, we will have achieved a great deal.
I am on the floor today stating again what is obvious but also to remind my colleagues, with the introduction of this bill by Senator Kerrey of Nebraska and myself on Friday, you have an opportunity to cosponsor this bill, and I hope you will do so. I hope then that we have results from legislation which we have already on the books to enforce regulation, but we also have results from these efforts that are presented in our legislation for a more market-oriented approach to helping solve this bad economic situation of very young child labor.
I ask unanimous consent that S. 553 be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 553
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 ``International Child Welfare Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN BENEFICIARY
COUNTRIES.
(a) In General.--Section 503(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974
(19 U.S.C. 2463(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(D) Additional benefits for ilo eligible beneficiary countries.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the President may proclaim a rate of duty that is equal to 50 percent of the rate of duty that would otherwise apply under this title with respect to any article referred to in subsection (b)(1) (A), (C), (E), (F), or (G), if the article is an article originating in an ILO eligible beneficiary country.
(b) Waiver of Competitive Need Limitation.--Section 503(c)(2)(D) of such Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(D)) is amended to read as follows:
``(D) Least-developed beneficiary developing country; ilo eligible beneficiary country.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any least-developed beneficiary developing country or any beneficiary developing country that is an ILO eligible beneficiary country.''.
(c) Withdrawal, Suspension, or Limitation of Additional Benefits.--Section 503 of such Act (19 U.S.C. 2463) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(g) Withdrawal, Suspension, or Limitation of Additional Benefits.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President may withdraw, suspend, or limit the designation of any country as an ILO eligible beneficiary country for purposes of the benefits described in subsection
(a)(1)(D) if the President determines that--
``(A) the country no longer meets the criteria set forth in section 507(6); or
``(B) imports of the article to which such additional benefits have been granted have increased in such amounts as to cause, or threaten to cause, injury to a domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with the article.
``(2) Effective date of withdrawal, etc.; advice to congress.--
``(A) Effective date.--A country shall cease to be an ILO eligible beneficiary country on the day on which the President issues an Executive order or Presidential proclamation revoking the designation of such country under this title.
``(B) Advice to congress.--The President shall, as necessary, advise Congress on the application of subsection
(a)(1)(D) and the actions the President has taken to withdraw, to suspend, or to limit the application of preferential treatment with respect to any country which has failed to adequately meet the criteria described in section 507(6).''.
(d) Definitions.--Section 507 of such Act (19 U.S.C. 2467) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(6) ILO eligible beneficiary country.--The term `ILO eligible beneficiary country' means a least-developed beneficiary developing country or a beneficiary developing country that--
``(A) the President determines, after consultation with the Secretary of Labor, is implementing and enforcing the provisions of Convention No. 138 of the General Conference of the International Labor Organization; and
``(B) has requested the additional benefits described in section 503(a)(1)(D).
``(7) Article originating in an ilo eligible beneficiary country.--An article is an article originating in an ILO eligible beneficiary country if the article meets the rules of origin for an article set forth in section 503(a)(2), except that in applying section 503(a)(2), any reference to a beneficiary developing country shall be deemed to refer to an ILO eligible beneficiary country.''.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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