[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 373 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 373

     To prohibit the acquisition of products produced by forced or 
                        indentured child labor.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 4, 1999

  Mr. Harkin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
           referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To prohibit the acquisition of products produced by forced or 
                        indentured child labor.

    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 ``Forced and Indentured Child Labor 
Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF ACQUISITION OF PRODUCTS PRODUCED BY FORCED OR 
              INDENTURED CHILD LABOR.

    (a) Prohibition.--The head of an executive agency (as defined in 
section 105 of title 5, United States Code) may not acquire an item 
that appears on a list published under subsection (b) unless the source 
of the item certifies to the head of the executive agency that forced 
or indentured child labor was not used to mine, produce, or manufacture 
the item.
    (b) Publication of List of Prohibited Items.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Labor, in consultation 
        with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of State, 
        shall publish in the Federal Register every other year a list 
        of items that such officials have identified that might have 
        been mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured 
        child labor.
            (2) Date of publication.--The first list shall be published 
        under paragraph (1) not later than 120 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Required Contract Clauses.--
            (1) In general.--The head of an executive agency shall 
        include in each solicitation of offers for a contract for the 
        procurement of an item included on a list published under 
        subsection (b) the following clauses:
                    (A) A clause that requires the contractor to 
                certify to the contracting officer that the contractor 
                or, in the case of an incorporated contractor, a 
                responsible official of the contractor has made a good 
                faith effort to determine whether forced or indentured 
                child labor was used to mine, produce, or manufacture 
                any item furnished under the contract and that, on the 
                basis of those efforts, the contractor is unaware of 
                any such use of child labor.
                    (B) A clause that obligates the contractor to 
                cooperate fully to provide access for the head of the 
                executive agency or the inspector general of the 
                executive agency to the contractor's records, 
                documents, persons, or premises if requested by the 
                official for the purpose of determining whether forced 
                or indentured child labor was used to mine, produce, or 
                manufacture any item furnished under the contract.
            (2) Application of subsection.--This subsection shall apply 
        with respect to acquisitions for a total amount in excess of 
        the micro-purchase threshold (as defined in section 32(f) of 
        the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 
        428(f)), including acquisitions of commercial items for such an 
        amount notwithstanding section 34 of the Office of Federal 
        Procurement Act (41 U.S.C. 430).
    (d) Investigations.--Whenever a contracting officer of an executive 
agency has reason to believe that a contractor has submitted a false 
certification under subsection (a) or (c)(1)(A) or has failed to 
provide cooperation in accordance with the obligation imposed pursuant 
to subsection (c)(1)(B), the head of the executive agency shall refer 
the matter, for investigation, to the Inspector General of the 
executive agency and, as the head of the executive agency determines 
appropriate, to the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury.
    (e) Remedies.--
            (1) In general.--The head of an executive agency may impose 
        remedies as provided in this subsection in the case of a 
        contractor under a contract of the executive agency if the head 
        of the executive agency finds that the contractor--
                    (A) has furnished under the contract items that 
                have been mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or 
                indentured child labor or uses forced or indentured 
                child labor in mining, production, or manufacturing 
                operations of the contractor;
                    (B) has submitted a false certification under 
                subparagraph (A) of subsection (c)(1); or
                    (C) has failed to provide cooperation in accordance 
                with the obligation imposed pursuant to subparagraph 
                (B) of such subsection.
            (2) Termination of contracts.--The head of the executive 
        agency, in the sole discretion of the head of the executive 
        agency, may terminate a contract on the basis of any finding 
        described in paragraph (1).
            (3) Debarment or suspension.--The head of an executive 
        agency may debar or suspend a contractor from eligibility for 
        Federal contracts on the basis of a finding that the contractor 
        has engaged in an act described in paragraph (1)(A). The period 
        of the debarment or suspension may not exceed 3 years.
            (4) Inclusion on list.--The Administrator of General 
        Services shall include on the List of Parties Excluded from 
        Federal Procurement and Nonprocurement Programs (maintained by 
        the Administrator as described in the Federal Acquisition 
        Regulation) each person that is debarred, suspended, proposed 
        for debarment or suspension, or declared ineligible by the head 
        of an executive agency or the Comptroller General on the basis 
        that the person uses forced or indentured child labor to mine, 
        produce, or manufacture any item.
            (5) Other remedies.--This subsection shall not be construed 
        to limit the use of other remedies available to the head of an 
        executive agency or any other official of the Federal 
        Government on the basis of a finding described in paragraph 
        (1).
    (f) Report.--Each year, the Administrator of General Services, with 
the assistance of the heads of other executive agencies, shall review 
the actions taken under this section and submit to Congress a report on 
those actions.
    (g) Implementation in the Federal Acquisition Regulation.--
            (1) In general.--The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall 
        be revised within 180 days after the date of enactment of this 
        Act--
                    (A) to provide for the implementation of this 
                section; and
                    (B) to include the use of forced or indentured 
                child labor in mining, production, or manufacturing as 
                a cause on the lists of causes for debarment and 
                suspension from contracting with executive agencies 
                that are set forth in the regulation.
            (2) Publication.--The revisions of the Federal Acquisition 
        Regulation shall be published in the Federal Register promptly 
        after the final revisions are issued.
    (h) Exception.--
            (1) In general.--This section shall not apply to a contract 
        that is for the procurement of any product, or any article, 
        material, or supply contained in a product, that is mined, 
        produced, or manufactured in any foreign country or 
        instrumentality, if--
                    (A) the foreign country or instrumentality is--
                            (i) a party to the Agreement on Government 
                        Procurement annexed to the WTO Agreement; or
                            (ii) a party to the North American Free 
                        Trade Agreement; and
                    (B) the contract is of a value that is equal to or 
                greater than the United States threshold specified in 
                the Agreement on Government Procurement annexed to the 
                WTO Agreement or the North American Free Trade 
                Agreement, whichever is applicable.
            (2) WTO agreement.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
        term ``WTO Agreement'' means the Agreement Establishing the 
        World Trade Organization, entered into on April 15, 1994.
    (i) Applicability.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (c)(2), 
        the requirements of this section apply on and after the date 
        determined under paragraph (2) to any solicitation that is 
        issued, any unsolicited proposal that is received, and any 
        contract that is entered into by an executive agency pursuant 
        to such a solicitation or proposal on or after such date.
            (2) Date.--The date referred to in paragraph (1) is the 
        date that is 30 days after the date of the publication of the 
        revisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation under 
        subsection (g)(2).
                                 <all>