[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                          FROM COBALT TO CARS:
                           HOW CHINA EXPLOITS
                   CHILD AND FORCED LABOR IN DR CONGO
=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

              CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                           NOVEMBER 14, 2023

                               __________

 Printed for the use of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China
 
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              Available at www.cecc.gov or www.govinfo.gov

                               __________

                   U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

              CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA

                    LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS

          House				Senate

CHRIS SMITH, New Jersey,             JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon, Co-chair
Chair                                STEVE DAINES, Montana
JAMES P. McGOVERN, Massachusetts     MARCO RUBIO, Florida
BRIAN MAST, Florida                  TOM COTTON, Arkansas
JENNIFER WEXTON, Virginia            ANGUS KING, Maine
MICHELLE STEEL, California           TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania             DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
ANDREA SALINAS, Oregon
ZACHARY NUNN, Iowa
RYAN ZINKE, Montana

                     EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS

               DANIEL K. KRITENBRINK, Department of State

                  MARISA LAGO, Department of Commerce

                   THEA MEI LEE, Department of Labor

                     UZRA ZEYA, Department of State

                   ERIN BARCLAY, Department of State

                      Piero Tozzi, Staff Director

                   Matt Squeri, Deputy Staff Director

                                  (ii)


                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                               Statements

Opening Statement of Hon. Chris Smith, a U.S. Representative from 
  New Jersey; Chair, Congressional-Executive Commission on China.     1
Statement of Hon. Jeff Merkley, a U.S. Senator from Oregon; Co-
  chair, 
  Congressional-Executive Commission on China....................     3
Statement of Hon. Michelle Steel, a U.S. Representative from 
  California.....................................................     5
Statement of Hon. Andrea Salinas, a U.S. Representative from 
  Oregon.........................................................     5
Statement of Hon. Eric Schultz, former U.S. Ambassador to Zambia.     7
Statement of Milos Ivkovic, international arbitrator, and Adjunct 
  Professor, Washington University School of Law.................     9
Statement of Joseph Mulala Nguramo, Non-Resident Fellow, Atlantic 
  Council's Freedom and Prosperity Center and Scowcroft Center 
  for Strategy and Security......................................    12
Statement of Nicolas Niarchos, freelance journalist whose work on 
  conflict and minerals in Africa has been published in The New 
  Yorker.........................................................    15

                                APPENDIX
                          Prepared Statements

Schultz, Eric....................................................    34
Ivkovic, Milos...................................................    35
Nguramo, Joseph Mulala...........................................    40
Niarchos, Nicolas................................................    44

Smith, Hon. Chris................................................    46
Merkley, Hon. Jeff...............................................    48
McGovern, Hon. James P...........................................    49

                       Submissions for the Record

 ``The Dark Side of Congo's Cobalt Rush'' by Nicolas Niarchos, 
  from The New Yorker, May 31, 2021..............................    51
CECC Truth in Testimony Disclosure Form..........................    76
Witness Biographies..............................................    77

                                 (iii)

 
     FROM COBALT TO CARS: HOW CHINA EXPLOITS CHILD AND FORCED LABOR.
                              IN DR CONGO

                              ----------                              


                       TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2023

                            Congressional-Executive
                                       Commission on China,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The hearing was held from 10:01 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., in Room 
2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Representative Chris 
Smith, Chair, Congressional-Executive Commission on China, 
presiding.
    Also present: Senator Jeff Merkley, Co-chair, and 
Representatives Zinke, Steel, Salinas, and Nunn.

   STATEMENT OF HON. CHRIS SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW 
   JERSEY; CHAIR, CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA

    Chair Smith. Good morning. Today's hearing, ``From Cobalt 
to Cars: How China Exploits Child and Forced Labor in DR 
Congo,'' will come to order.
    The Commission knows all too well about the Chinese 
government's egregious human rights abuse, blatant disregard 
for international law, and its ever-expanding authoritarian 
influence beyond its borders. This influence is pervasive, felt 
in boardrooms and C-suites, in supply chains, and on assembly 
lines, in classrooms and textbooks, in cities in our very own 
country, and, indeed, other countries as well. Today's hearing 
will highlight China's malign influence in Africa, specifically 
in the cobalt mining industry in the Democratic Republic of 
Congo. China's repressive long arm is ubiquitous in the DRC. 
Located in central Africa, the DRC is massive and blessed with 
natural resources, including metals and minerals, and of course 
its greatest asset is its people, who are being exploited today 
by the Chinese Communist Party.
    It is a country that has been brutally pillaged throughout 
history, fueled by corrupt men's unquenchable thirst for power, 
riches, land, rubber, copper, palm oil, and now cobalt, all at 
the expense of innocent women, men, and children. The DRC is 
home to more than 70 percent of the world's cobalt, an 
essential metal for lithium-ion batteries, powering our 
smartphones, computers, and electric vehicles, lest we forget 
our own complicity, however unwitting, through our use of 
cobalt in our everyday lives.
    Siddharth Kara's book, ``Cobalt Red''--and I recommend that 
everyone on this Commission and people who are concerned about 
these issues read this book--``Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the 
Congo Powers Our Lives,'' vividly describes the tragic 
realities of this industry that has all too willingly turned a 
blind eye to human dignity. There is no such thing as a clean 
supply chain of cobalt from Congo. says Kara. Kara writes in 
his book, ``Stakeholders have formulated international 
coalitions to help ensure that their supply chains are clean. 
The two leading coalitions are the Responsible Minerals 
Initiative and the Global Battery Alliance, the GBA. The GBA,'' 
he goes on, ``has developed a Cobalt Action Partnership to 
immediately and urgently eliminate child and forced labor from 
the cobalt value chain.'' Kara, however, goes on to write, ``in 
all of my time in the Congo I never saw or heard of any 
activities linked to either of these coalitions.''
    To this day, child and forced Congolese laborers toil in 
hazardous conditions to extract cobalt from unsafe mines, 
including artisanal mines, in the DRC. Hastily dug, artisanal 
mines are always subject to collapsing, and many have indeed 
collapsed, crushing, amputating limbs, and killing miners, 
including children. It is impossible to escape the disastrous 
environmental impact of cobalt mining in these communities, as 
the very air they breathe and the water they drink are 
contaminated by toxic chemicals, dirt, and sediment.
    The biggest beneficiaries of this cobalt continue to remain 
silent and refuse to face this uncomfortable truth. From dirt 
to battery, from cobalt to cars, the entire system is fueled by 
violence, cruelty, and corruption. ``Therein lies the greatest 
tragedy of the Congo's mining provinces,'' says Kara. ``No one 
up the chain considers themselves responsible for the artisanal 
miners, even though they all profit from them.'' China has 
gained almost full dominance of every single step of the cobalt 
supply chain. Money talks and human rights go right out the 
window. Corrupt government officials in the DRC sign billion 
dollar deals with China and pocket the money for themselves. 
Major companies, both Chinese and Western, close their eyes.
    Over a year ago, on July 22nd, 2022, I chaired a hearing of 
the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission entitled ``Child Labor 
and Human Rights Violations in the Mining Industry of the 
Democratic Republic of Congo.'' And thank you, Ambassador 
Schultz, because you were one of our very distinguished 
witnesses. One of our expert witnesses at that hearing at the 
time, Herve Kyungu, testified--and I quote him in part, ``Child 
labor is one of the worst forms of abuse. It is forbidden by 
both Congolese legislation as well as international rules and 
norms.'' ``In the mining industry in my country,'' he went on, 
``the Democratic Republic of Congo, children are often exposed 
to radioactive minerals, injuries, deadly and painful 
diseases.''
    ``For example,'' he goes on, ``with respect to the 
extraction of cobalt in artisanal mines, within the Lualaba 
province children are routinely used as part of the workforce. 
They are unremunerated and exploited, and the work is often 
fatal, as these children are required to crawl into small holes 
dug in the earth to recover sacks of ore containing rich grades 
of heterogenite, which is almost 60 percent cobalt. These 
children are not going to school. Their health is exposed as 
they are living in precarious conditions.''
    Another witness at our hearing, also from the DRC, Father 
Bihuzo, a Jesuit, he's the regional coordinator of the 
Ecclesial Network on the Congo Basin Forest and head of the 
research department of the Jesuit Center for Study and Social 
Action. He pointed out that their ``report noted that artisanal 
miners are not provided with any protective equipment. They 
work seven days a week and more than 12 hours a day. In 
reality, their working hours are not defined and include 
weekends and holidays. They are exposed to radiation from the 
products they use and to the danger of the explosives they 
use.''
    The United States has been, at best, asleep at the wheel 
or, worse, complicit in enabling for too long, and China has 
taken advantage of that. We need to provide alternative 
options, options that champion transparency, human rights, 
peace, and prosperity for all. This week I will be introducing 
legislation to ensure that goods made using or containing 
cobalt refined in the PRC do not enter the United States 
market, under the presumption that it is extracted or processed 
with the use of child and forced labor in the Democratic 
Republic of Congo.
    Among its provisions, the bill--called the COBALT Supply 
Chain Act, will, as did the Uyghur Forced Labor Act, require 
that the customs commissioner apply this presumption--it's a 
rebuttable one--but that he apply this presumption, unless the 
commissioner determines that the importer of record of the 
covered goods being imported has (1), demonstrated by clear and 
convincing evidence that the covered goods were not made or 
manufactured in the PRC using or containing cobalt, or (2), has 
demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that the covered 
goods from the PRC contain no trace of cobalt extracted or 
processed in the DRC.
    The Convention on the Rights of the Child, as many of us 
know, recognizes ``the right of the child to be protected from 
economic exploitation and from performing any work that is 
likely hazardous.'' By ignoring these rights and by treating 
people, including children, as expendable, China is committing 
gross violations of human rights and is seeking to rewrite the 
international order, all while controlling the supply chains of 
this critical metal, cobalt.
    I'd now like to yield to the Co-chair, our distinguished 
member from the Senate--it was great to be over in the Senate 
with you today, Senator Merkley.

STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF MERKLEY, A U.S. SENATOR FROM OREGON; CO-
       CHAIR, CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA

    Co-chair Merkley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Indeed, I was 
confused about the location. I was halfway to the House before 
I recognized that you were coming across. So welcome. Thank you 
for your passionate concern about this very real problem.
    Thank you for convening this hearing. It builds on several 
hearings that this Commission has held on the issue of forced 
labor and other abuse, including child labor and supply chains 
dominated by Chinese companies, and the importance of holding 
them accountable when they are complicit in human rights 
violations. This Commission regularly spotlights the repression 
of the Chinese government, whether within their own borders--
such as Xinjiang or in Hong Kong--or through efforts to reach 
across borders to other countries, including right here in the 
United States. Today, we'll hear about how these two forms of 
repression are entwined in the cobalt supply chain, originating 
in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
    Cobalt is a critical component in lithium ion batteries, 
which are used in everything from our cellphones to our 
electric cars, as well as industrial and defense applications. 
Almost half the world's known reserves of cobalt, about 3.4 
million metric tons, are in southern DRC, and the country 
accounts for roughly 70 percent of global production. A 
whopping 80 percent of DRC's cobalt output is owned by Chinese 
companies. It's refined in China. It's then sold to companies 
outside of China--to the United States, Europe, and elsewhere 
for use in batteries and other equipment. So-called artisanal 
cobalt mines remain largely unregulated, operating alongside 
larger industrial operations.
    Artisanal miners often include women and children who work 
for the equivalent of a dollar or two a day, carrying heavy 
loads out of dangerous mines, children as young as 3 learning 
to sift through the stones to wash and sort ore. The U.S. 
Department of Labor estimates that at least 25,000 children are 
working in cobalt mines in the DRC, and they do it, as the 
Chairman pointed out, without basic protective equipment, 
gloves, and face masks. A study in The Lancet found that women 
living in areas close to cobalt mines had, ``metal 
concentrations that are among the highest ever reported for 
pregnant women,'' with heavy metals linked to stillbirths and 
birth defects.
    Cobalt mining also causes enormous environmental 
degradation from large-scale open pit mines or ordinary people 
tearing up the ground looking for cobalt, following the veins 
wherever they lead. DRC isn't just a top producer of cobalt. 
It's also a top producer of other minerals that are vital 
components in batteries and other advanced technologies, like 
copper and rare earth metals. Facilitated by widespread 
corruption in the DRC's mining sector, Chinese companies and 
the Chinese government directly profit from forced and child 
labor used to mine these minerals, extending their abusive 
practices across the continents. They supply American companies 
that produce products that all of us use every day.
    American consumers deserve to be protected from becoming 
unwitting and unwilling accomplices in this abuse. All of these 
issues have enormous implications for our supply chains at 
every step, as we seek to accelerate the transition to a clean, 
sustainable energy future. American companies and those in 
like-minded countries have leverage over these tainted supply 
chains, which they can and must exert to improve transparency 
and implement responsible sourcing. Both the executive branch 
and Congress have important roles to play to reduce and 
eliminate labor and other human rights abuse in DRC mining 
operations.
    Addressing these issues is an opportunity for the United 
States to lead the world both in clean, sustainable energy and 
in human rights. I look forward to learning from our experts 
who are here today. Thank you for joining us and sharing your 
knowledge, and thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chair Smith. Thank you, Senator.
    On the line, we're joined by Commissioner Michelle Steel, 
and Congresswoman Salinas is also on the line. So, Michelle, I 
yield to you for any opening comments you might have.

               STATEMENT OF HON. MICHELLE STEEL,
             A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA

    Representative Steel. Thank you, Chairman Smith, for 
hosting this important meeting. I want to say thank you to the 
witnesses for joining today and for sharing their key insights 
on how China exploits child and forced labor in DR Congo. I'm 
deeply concerned with child and forced labor tainting the 
supply chain of cobalt and other rare earth minerals. I have 
raised these concerns at other hearings and believe the United 
States must work with trusted allies on this issue. Many have 
turned a blind eye to these human and child labor abuses. I 
hope we all share the concern that the U.S. and Europe are 
reliant on the CCP for critical minerals, as our government 
mandates EV cars in the 2030s.
    I'm highly concerned that this administration isn't doing 
enough to counter CCP influence. There are also possible 
environmental concerns that will occur due to increased mining 
in the region. The CCP only cares about the bottom line. If 
everyone needs to be driving new electric vehicles by 2030, as 
demanded by Governor Newsom in California, we need to allow for 
safe and clean mining within the United States. We must work 
together to end very harmful and severe consequences of 
supporting a cobalt supply chain tainted with child labor, 
slave labor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this timely hearing.
    Chair Smith. Thank you very much, Commissioner Steel.
    Congresswoman Salinas.

               STATEMENT OF HON. ANDREA SALINAS, 
               A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM OREGON

    Representative Salinas. Thank you so much, Chair Smith and 
Senator Merkley, for holding this very important hearing. Thank 
you to our esteemed witnesses for taking the time to be with us 
here today and sharing your thoughts and potential solutions to 
this issue. As we know, the conditions in the cobalt and 
lithium mines in the DRC threaten the dignity, rights, and 
safety of the workers who labor every day to meet the global 
demand for these valuable minerals and threaten to undermine 
the innovation and development of U.S. companies and products.
    This problem is of particular interest to me, because just 
north of my district, Intel employs over 20,000 Oregonians, 
several thousand in my district. They use cobalt to create 
their microchips and semiconductors. Intel has developed 
internal processes to assess and audit their global supply 
chain to be a responsible actor in this space, but as we roll 
out new programs under the CHIPS and Science Act, the 
bipartisan infrastructure bill, and the Inflation Reduction 
Act, it is imperative that we ensure that the global supply 
chain is not tainted with materials produced with inhumane or 
forced labor.
    I am really looking forward to hearing more from our 
witnesses and my colleagues about how we can continue to 
innovate and electrify here, while also maintaining fair and 
humane labor practices in the global supply chain. Thank you so 
much for holding this hearing today.
    Chair Smith. Thank you so very much.
    Now let me introduce our very distinguished panel, and we 
are grateful to have Ambassador Eric Schultz join us again. He 
is a friend who has previously testified before the Lantos 
Human Rights Commission, but this is his first time appearing 
before the China Commission. Thank you, Ambassador.
    Ambassador Schultz is a former senior American diplomat 
with decades of experience in the Commonwealth of Independent 
States and in southern African countries. He has worked 
extensively with Ukraine, Russia, Turkmenistan, Georgia, and 
has experience in emerging markets around the world. Ambassador 
Schultz served as U.S. Ambassador to Zambia. He was Deputy U.S. 
Ambassador to Ukraine, Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs 
at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, and also a deputy U.S. 
ambassador in Zimbabwe. Prior to these assignments, he has 
worked in Georgia, Madagascar, and so many other places 
throughout the world. Ambassador Schultz graduated from 
Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota and holds an M.A. 
degree in international studies from Denver University. He 
speaks English, French, Ukrainian, and Russian. Hopefully 
English will be his preferred language today. [Laughter.] I'd 
like to thank Ambassador Schultz for his extensive service to 
our country and, again, for being here to give us his insights.
    Our next witness will be Milos Ivkovic, a law professor at 
Washington University in St. Louis, who teaches Introduction to 
Human Rights and International Criminal Law. He also served as 
an international arbitrator and human rights advocate over the 
course of the last decade. He has been raising awareness about 
the deteriorating state of democracies worldwide, including the 
ongoing illicit weaponization of trade and supply chains to 
target and disempower free societies. He is recognized for his 
extraordinary efforts and actions to eradicate the worst forms 
of child slavery, human rights abuse, torture, and human 
trafficking in Africa and throughout the world. Professor 
Ivkovic was also involved in the release of journalists 
wrongfully imprisoned in Africa and serves on the board of the 
Inter-Parliamentary Task Force on Human Trafficking. Professor, 
again, we appreciate the work you do on all of these issues. I 
work so much on the trafficking issue. I greatly respect your 
work on that.
    Then we'll be joined by Joseph Mulala Nguramo, a non-
resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, both for the Freedom 
and Prosperity Center and the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and 
Security. He was born and spent his formative years in the DRC. 
He was also the first and thus far the only Congolese graduate 
of the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he 
majored in defense and strategic studies. He holds a master's 
degree in global theory and history from the School of Advanced 
International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where he's 
also been co-teaching a course on modern supply chain 
diplomacy.
    Additionally, Joseph has worked as a research assistant at 
the Brookings Institution, where he focuses on education, as 
well as the Taubman Center for State and Local Government 
within Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where 
he focused on African public policy. Joseph also worked at the 
International Economic Alliance, where he led the student 
internship program and organized meetings between governments 
and private sector participants to promote trade, economic 
growth, and development. Currently at the Atlantic Council, he 
focuses on advancing democracy, quality governance and the rule 
of law, and the implications of the return of great-power 
competition and how it is shaping the new world in the 21st 
century. We're grateful to have you here and thank you for 
being here.
    Finally, we'll hear from Stavros Niarchos, also known as 
Nick, who is a journalist based in New York. His work focuses 
on minerals, migration, and conflicts. He is a regular 
contributor to the New Yorker magazine, which has published his 
work on cobalt and the DRC. His work from Ukraine won a 2023 
Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News 
Association. In addition to the DRC, Nick has written stories 
from Ukraine, Indonesia, Yemen, Burkina Faso, Niger, Morocco, 
Western Sahara, Djibouti, Iran, Uzbekistan, Bhutan, and, of 
course, Greece. He is currently writing a book for Penguin 
Books about the battery metal supply that includes reporting 
from the United States, Europe, and Africa. He holds an M.S. 
from Columbia School of Journalism and a B.A. from Yale 
University.
    On a personal note, I'm very grateful to have Nick here 
with us today, as he had a precarious time while in the DRC 
just last year. Because of his work reporting on alleged ties 
between mining groups and separatists in the DRC, he and fellow 
journalists were detained by Congolese officials in July of 
2022. My staff and I advocated for Nick's release, and we were 
greatly relieved to hear that he was released six days later 
from his harrowing ordeal. You might want to share a little bit 
on that, but above all, what we're here to talk about, 
obviously, is cobalt. But I want to thank him for his speaking 
truth to power and doing it when there's such a great cost to 
him personally.
    Ambassador Schultz, the floor is yours.

                STATEMENT OF HON. ERIC SCHULTZ, 
                FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ZAMBIA

    Ambassador Schultz. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Co-Chairman, it's an 
honor and a privilege to be here today. As Chairman Smith 
mentioned, about a year ago I spoke in front of the Tom Lantos 
Human Rights Commission on a very similar topic. My 
presentation then characterized our relationships with China 
and Russia as adversarial ones, tantamount to conflict. 
Moreover, I argued it was a conflict we were losing, and had in 
fact been losing for many years. U.S. policy toward Africa 
through administrations of both parties has been characterized 
too often by neglect, I would argue. We have taken an interest 
in Africa episodically, usually prompted by a crisis of some 
sort. And that interest often wanes as soon as the crisis 
begins to ebb, and it moves on.
    The result is that we left Africa for others, especially 
China and Russia. They have expanded their economic and 
political influence on the continent for decades, I would 
argue, at our expense. Moreover, it would have been a struggle 
regardless. They had advantages that we lacked. China and 
Russia were on the right side of Africa's liberation struggles. 
Although that was two generations ago, it still matters to 
Africans. It always will matter. It is an obstacle that we need 
to overcome. Also, their governments subsidize and support 
their commercial ventures in a way that we do not.
    And they don't play fair. They abet corruption and they 
ignore violations of civil, political, and human rights--as 
this hearing today focuses on. As many others have argued, the 
world is at an inflection point of sorts right now, riven by 
rivalry and by violence. China and Russia pose a systemic 
threat. They are allied against us, and they mean to change the 
world order that we helped build. Africa is one of the key 
battlegrounds in this conflict. To win in Africa, there are 
several things that we should and must do.
    To start with, we need to acknowledge that it is a 
conflict. To win in Africa--sorry. It is no longer acceptable 
to say that Chinese investment is simply filling in where the 
West was too timid or too biased to venture. The old adage of 
one man, one vote, one time also applies to China and Africa, 
to its investment. One investment, one country, for all time. 
The Chinese mean to freeze us out of African resources as best 
they can, and they have spent hundreds of billions of dollars 
in this effort. Africa's resources are essential to next-
generation economic growth, especially copper, rare earths, and 
cobalt.
    The Belt and Road Initiative, at least in Africa, is a 
transparent effort to gain the upper hand and assert dominion 
in Africa on the part of the Chinese. There are a few African 
countries that have not taken money and that are not in China's 
debt. Russia's role is smaller, but I would argue no less 
malign. Whether or not Wagner still exists is beside the point. 
Russian mercenaries and Russian arms merchants are ubiquitous 
in Africa. Nor should it be acceptable to be on our opponents' 
payrolls. Neither China nor Russia has real private companies. 
Working for a Chinese or a Russian company means working for 
their governments.
    We are not immune in the U.S. from what they call the 
Schroederization of Europe's elite. Many American businessmen, 
consultants, retired government officials, and the like, have 
taken Chinese and Russian money and have aided their efforts. 
We also need to change the way our government and businesses 
work together abroad, especially in Africa. We are a private 
sector economy and are stronger for it, but in many places in 
Africa, the investment risk is high enough that government 
support needs to be overt to convince American companies to 
invest. The argument that we can't pick winners among American 
companies should no longer be an excuse for inaction.
    Supporting American companies should be one of the, if not 
the principal, tasks of American foreign policy. The 
Development Finance Corporation is a good start to making that 
support more tangible, but it needs to be more active, to have 
fewer constraints on what it can support, and, above all, it 
needs to have more money. Its job should be to expand the reach 
and influence of the American government by expanding the reach 
and influence of American commerce. It should not make the 
perfect the enemy of the good.
    The U.S. Government itself should be cautious about 
imposing its views on Africans. Supporting democracy and human 
rights has to be the center of U.S. foreign policy, but not at 
the expense of friendships, because friendship is the key to 
winning in Africa and, for that matter, everywhere else. Less 
finger-wagging, more listening. More recognition of the way the 
world is and less dreaming about the way we want it to be. The 
U.S. is and always has been a better friend and a better ally 
than our rivals. At the end of the day, that is how we win. 
When an Indian company, for instance, has its mine expropriated 
in Africa, our response should not be to ignore the situation 
or to blame the victim. It should be to help the company of a 
friendly country.
    When African countries find themselves in trouble, deep in 
debt, often as not the result of the corruption of previous 
regimes, we need to be more active in helping. Chinese debt is 
still rising in Africa, even if investment itself is tailing 
off. The problem now and for decades to come is the vast sums 
owed and the interest rates that cause those sums to compound 
and continue rising, with no real prospect that the debts can 
ever be repaid. And China doesn't forgive. The IMF is a useful 
institution, but using it to help countries meet their debt 
payments to Africa seems counterproductive. Wouldn't it be 
better to help African countries organize to negotiate as a 
group to press China for better terms, including especially the 
forgiveness of some loans, at least of those that can 
demonstrably be shown to be odious and the consequence of 
corruption?
    The Global South, including especially Africa, is rising in 
importance, its clout growing in a polarized world. A New York 
Times headline the other day said it all: by 2050, one in four 
people will be African. And their economies are also among the 
fastest growing. Africa's friendship matters. PEPFAR was a 
great initiative 20 years ago. It saved millions of African 
lives. However, Africans tend to take it for granted now and 
are more interested--or more impressed--by China's 
infrastructure projects, however poorly built and misconceived. 
We can do better. We should do better.
    My favorite proverb--Chinese ironically but taught to me by 
Africans, says that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years 
ago. The second-best time is today. So today is a good time to 
start fighting for Africa. Thank you.
    Chair Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador.
    I would now like to recognize Mr. Ivkovic.

       STATEMENT OF MILOS IVKOVIC, INTERNATIONAL ARBITRA
-TOR AND ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

    Mr. Ivkovic. Thank you, Chairman. Congressman Smith, 
Senator Merkley, honorable members of the Commission, thank you 
for the invitation to appear before you today. The story of 
cobalt is an unfortunate example of de facto informed silence 
and continued inaction in response to the worst devastation of 
basic human rights of the most vulnerable. It has been 14 years 
since the Department of Labor added cobalt mine in the DRC to 
its list of commodities produced by child or forced labor. 
Since then, it is estimated that anywhere between 35,000 and 
40,000 children, some as young as 6 to 9, have been 
continuously involved in adverse mining operations in the DRC. 
In addition to life threatening hazardous conditions, children 
are subjected to inhumane working hours of up to 24 hours each 
day, exposure to potentially toxic materials, physical abuse, 
and sexual exploitation.
    And yet, instead of receiving protection over the years, 
the DRC national army itself was recently declared, and I 
quote, ``complicit in the worst forms of child labor.'' At the 
same time, forced mining expanded to include other minerals in 
DR Congo. Transparency International's Corruption Perception 
Index of 2022 ranked the DRC among the 15 most corrupt nations 
worldwide, with significant reports connecting corruption to 
the country's mining sector. Unfortunately, these truly 
horrific practices are unlikely to change until and unless 
incentives and impunity for wrongdoing are removed. Recognizing 
that the assumption of a simple solution does not do justice to 
the actual complexity of the matter, the remainder of my 
testimony will seek to address the various underlying causes of 
the crisis at hand, coupled with the powers available to the 
United States to counteract, in line with its current policies.
    The upstream segment of the cobalt supply chain generally 
includes mining, mineral trading, and subsequent processing in 
smelters and refineries. There are two distinct sets of 
considerations which can be observed ``on the ground'' in the 
DRC. On the one hand, absolute poverty affects 16 million 
Congolese who will have to live on less than $2.15 a day. In 
addition, 33 million Congolese have limited to no access to 
drinking water, and 43 percent of children up to the age of 5 
across the country suffer from malnutrition. Free education 
remains largely unavailable. It is rather impossible to speak 
of free will in such a state of effective survival.
    Hence, the families become a target for exploitation, or 
worse. Children who end up working in cobalt mines are paid as 
little as one to two dollars a day. They may additionally be 
subjected to extortion by local law enforcement and security 
guards. To put it in simple terms, the only source of income 
for these people is participation in the cycle of abuse. The 
other side of the same coin, of the same upstream coin, is the 
demand. Over 70 percent of the world supply of cobalt comes 
from the DRC. Between 20 and 30 percent of those quantities may 
be traced back to the mines powered by child labor.
    Traders purchase cobalt and then sell it on to processing 
plants--meaning that it is often inevitable that illegally 
obtained cobalt will be mixed into the mass of exported 
minerals. In 2020, Chinese companies imported nearly 90 percent 
of their cobalt needs from the DRC. It is publicly known that 
at least 8 out of 14 of the largest cobalt mines in the DRC are 
controlled by Chinese companies, but the actual number is 
likely to be much higher. In addition, mainland China accounts 
for 80 percent of the world's cobalt refining capacity.
    The downstream segment of the cobalt supply chain generally 
includes manufacturing activities--the activities that we face 
in the United States--such as components, lithium ion batteries 
coming into EV vehicles. In 2020 alone, 41 percent of all 
batteries globally were imported from China. U.S. battery 
imports were even more significant, reaching 47 percent in the 
same year. I would like to underline this. These figures 
suggest an absolute monopoly on what has become one of the most 
critical supply chains, and may help explain why years of 
reporting on the link between the worst forms of child labor 
and the cobalt supply chain have regularly fallen on deaf ears.
    Since 2020, I have to say, manufacturing activity has been 
aggressively attracted to the United States. This is, indeed, a 
big step in the right direction. However, despite its obvious 
potential, it does not address the rest of the upstream issues, 
which necessarily remain tied to the DRC and abusive practices 
in its mining sector. From the corporate perspective, there 
have been public signals of willingness to act and remedy the 
situation. However, these promises of change may have fallen 
desperately short of expectations. In 2017, Amnesty 
International concluded that the majority of downstream 
companies had taken minimal to no action to improve their due 
diligence on the issue of child labor.
    Just two years later, a report cited by OECD found, and I 
quote, ``low levels of due diligence disclosure with none of 42 
companies examined having described the steps taken to manage 
risk or summarize the risk mitigation strategies related to 
child labor.'' The German government reaffirmed in 2022 that up 
to 30 percent of cobalt in the DRC will continue to come from 
mines powered by child labor, while in the same year, the 
Department of Labor announced minimal progress in efforts to 
eliminate the worst forms of child labor in DRC.
    So what can be done? On one hand, corporate pressure is 
theoretically possible, and it requires a high degree of market 
dominance or importance, which can be then translated into 
pressure on upstream actors to aggressively address child labor 
in the cobalt supply chain. Nonetheless, the argument that, to 
date, Western companies themselves have the power or incentive 
to force Chinese-backed counterparts to comply with 
international standards is absurd. As noted above, Chinese 
companies control almost all the mines and refineries needed to 
produce batteries.
    In addition, China is expected to remain the world's 
largest EV market in the short term, with a market share of up 
to 45 percent. Finally, current projections suggest that the 
Chinese EV manufacturers will gain over 20 percent of global 
market share by 2030. Another commercial reality is that the 
current supply chain is simply affordable, and readjustment 
could well lead to higher costs and negatively affect the 
prices of final products. Therefore, in the absence of any 
underlying positive incentives, such as non-market 
interventions and direct governmental support, Western 
companies may have little motive to enter additional segments 
such as re
fining or mining themselves.
    Secondly, notwithstanding positive actions, so long as 
crimes go unpunished and actors responsible for the worst forms 
of child labor enjoy effective immunity, it is difficult to 
expect rapid and meaningful change. Hence, a careful 
consideration of tangible consequences has to take place. The 
first one has been mentioned by the Chairman, and this is, 
potentially, a temporary suspension of international trade or 
import of cobalt-related products into the United States. The 
positive effects of such an act are that the U.S., by virtue of 
its market position, can exert far more dominant pressure than 
commercial actors themselves independently, and thus influence 
the triggering of remedial market practices.
    It should be noted, however, that an absolute ban on 
imports may have negative short-term effects on the U.S. 
market, an issue that can be resolved, as drafted in the 
Countering China's Exploitation of Strategic Metals and 
Minerals and Child and Forced Labor in the DRC Act, through 
licensing and due diligence requirements. The second, in 
observing the sheer scale of uninterrupted violations of 
fundamental human rights for more than a decade and the 
potentially lethal nature of the worst forms of child labor in 
the DRC, are the sanctions on states, companies, and 
individuals involved in these practices.
    The third one is criminal investigations. Let it be clear 
that not only I but many of my colleagues believe that child 
labor in hazardous conditions constitutes a violation of 
peremptory norms of international law and has to be criminally 
prosecuted. Secondly, inhumane acts intentionally causing great 
suffering or serious injury to the body or to mental health, if 
widespread or systematic and directed against a civilian 
population, are crimes against humanity. So we arguably have a 
legal obligation to act.
    Finally, the local Congolese population should be given 
alternatives to forced mining. Let there be no doubt, artisanal 
mining cannot be made safer or more humane. As somebody who has 
personally seen the suffering, as a father whose young children 
born in the DRC could have ended up in the same cycle of abuse, 
and as a true believer in the rule of law, I ask you to 
consider a series of actions that can put an end to the worst 
forms of child labor in the DRC. I also take a moment to note 
that the U.S. Congress and the U.S. administration are truly 
the last human hope for all of these millions of people.
    Thank you very much for your attention.
    Chair Smith. Mr. Ivkovic, thank you so much for that 
testimony and those recommendations.
    I'd now like to recognize Joseph Nguramo.

   STATEMENT OF JOSEPH MULALA NGURAMO, NON-RESIDENT FELLOW, 
ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY CENTER AND SCOWCROFT 
                    CENTER FOR STRATEGY AND
                            SECURITY

    Mr. Nguramo. Thank you, Chairman Smith, and the whole 
Commission. I am truly honored and humbled to be given this 
opportunity to share with you my understanding of the urgent 
issue affecting my home country, the DRC. As a member of the 
African diaspora and working with the Atlantic Council on the 
future of U.S. and China-Africa relations in this new era of 
global-power competition, I follow this issue closely.
    The working conditions of women and children in the 
Congolese mines constitute a humanitarian tragedy. They are 
dehumanizing, degrading, and they represent more than debt 
slavery and even worse. African children are exploited like 
slaves to serve a global market for new and cleaner energy. 
Children under 10 years old are forced to carry bags of sand 
weighing up to 60 kilograms. These bags are then shipped to 
China for refining to extract cobalt and copper, critical 
minerals that enable the global energy transition from fossil 
fuel to clean energy. Over 40,000 children are reported to work 
in these mines, mostly without pay. Typically, less than $10 a 
day. By the way, Mr. Ivkovic mentioned this in his speech. They 
pick up rocks with bare hands and without shoes. They have no 
adequate protective gear. They are exposed to contamination. 
And they have no medical insurance.
    They work in tunnels, which often collapse, and then die 
under the rubble. Stories of people beaten up in these mines 
because they were claiming their rights are not acceptable. 
Besides the unacceptable humanitarian cost, there is as well 
environmental degradation affecting the health of the 
population leaving these facilities. Credible scientific 
reports have shown that the exposure to toxic chemicals and 
waste dumped by mining operations leads to cancer, lung 
disease, and DNA modification, according to Amnesty 
International. Most of the cobalt mines in the DRC are owned by 
Chinese companies. For example, 15 out of 19 companies 
operating in Katanga are Chinese. The DRC supplies about 70 
percent of cobalt to the global markets, and 30 percent of that 
cobalt originates from what is called artisanal sector mining, 
small-scale mining that relies not on industrial tools but on 
manual labor, and is characterized by a lack of transparency/
accountability and rampant corruption.
    The inhumane mining of cobalt is facilitated by the 
poverty, corruption, lack of quality governance, and the rule 
of law in the DRC. Sadly, China and the private sector 
artisanal mining companies have taken advantage of the 
vulnerability of the Congolese population and found willing 
collaborators among the ranks of U.S. Government officials. The 
U.S. Government has been mostly complicit with mining 
exploitation, and its promises to revise in 2008 Chinese mining 
contract have barely brought concrete results.
    So what can be done? We should work on reducing Chinese 
dominance in the DRC mining sector, while mitigating the global 
reliance on the Belt and Road Initiative by applying the 
strategy of de-risking and diversification of our supply chain. 
Particularly, we must address the issue of child labor and 
corruption, as proposed by Congressman Smith, to ban certain 
goods made with child labor or forced labor in the Democratic 
Republic of Congo from entering the United States, Mexico, and 
the Canada markets.
    To that end, I propose the following: advancing an 
aggressive implementation and expansion of the African Growth 
and Opportunity Act, AGOA, U.S. Development Finance Corporation 
and the Prosper Africa programs; reinforcing and improving 
public-private partnerships with governments across the board 
working with big tech companies and even development and 
financial institutions with direct impact and influence in the 
market, using their leverage, incentives, and tools to ensure a 
clean supply chain, not tainted with child labor, corruption, 
and abuse.
    We should pressure China through our strategic engagement 
to practice due diligence in dealing with the DRC government 
and private-sector companies to prevent human exploitation. 
After all, China has a vested interest in being seen as a 
responsible producer of goods, especially once awareness of the 
human cost of Congolese mining is widely known. Enforcing the 
DRC laws: The DRC government must ensure that existing laws are 
fully enforced. The DRC government officials implicated in 
collusion with businesses that engage in inhumane practices 
must be prosecuted and held accountable. There should be 
sanctions: U.S. and private sector engagement in the DRC must 
be conditional upon the upholding of humanitarian guidelines 
set forth by international and companies' laws.
    We should encourage and assist the DRC to establish itself 
as a key player in the global green energy revolution. 
Countries like South Korea, Finland, and Latvia have proven to 
be models for electronic and cyber innovation. Given its 
abundant resource, cheap labor, access to trade routes, and 
location at the center of Africa, the DRC could become the 
leader responsible for cobalt production and a hub for 
electronic manufacturing. As such, the DRC will provide the 
Western market with an alternative to China. Here, by the way, 
I would like to mention, as well, the African Continental Free 
Trade Agreement, which I think will offer an opportunity for 
future American companies.
    We should support and protect independence and credible 
reports, research, and the whistleblowers. We should keep 
working and supporting an independent civil society movement 
that can report about the issues with credibility. We should 
promote democracy and the rule of law with special focus on the 
upcoming DRC elections. The elections are an opportunity to 
ensure the legitimacy of national institutions, without which 
instability, poor governance, and lawlessness persist. A strong 
dynamic of a thriving democracy in the DRC constitutes a U.S. 
national security interest. As a matter of fact, the BRIDGE to 
DRC Act, introduced by Congressman John James, must be ratified 
and become U.S. official policy and strategy with the DRC and 
the region. And here I'd like as well to recognize the letter 
that Senator Coons and Chairman McCaul wrote, I think about two 
days ago, three days ago, about the upcoming DRC elections.
    And lastly, investing in education. As Nelson Mandela once 
remarked, ``Education is the most powerful tool to change the 
world.'' Children must have access to quality education and not 
be caught between the global race for industrialization and 
great-power competition. Thank you for having me, gentlemen. 
I'm looking forward to your questions.
    Chair Smith. Thank you so very much. The Commission will 
have to take a very brief break, recess. There's a vote on the 
floor. I have one minute to get to the House, so I'm going to 
run. There's one right after it, but I'll be back in about 15 
minutes or so. I apologize but I do have to go, and I'll be 
right back, hopefully with some other members.
    [Recess.]
    Chair Smith. The committee will resume its sitting. I 
apologize for that delay. We did have two votes. Commissioner 
Ryan Zinke is here, former Secretary of the Interior and now a 
Member of Congress. Thank you, Ryan, for joining us and for 
your leadership on this Commission. I'd now like to go to Nick 
Niarchos for his testimony.

                STATEMENT OF NICOLAS NIARCHOS, 
                      FREELANCE JOURNALIST

    Mr. Niarchos. Chairman Smith, Chairman Merkley, and all 
other members of the Commission, thank you for inviting me to 
speak. I'm here to testify about the environmental impact of 
copper-cobalt mining in the southern DRC. I'm happy to talk 
about other things in questions, but I was asked to talk about 
the environmental impact. I visited the DRC six times between 
2019 and 2022, reporting for The New Yorker, The Nation, and 
Antelope magazines, and for an upcoming book. On each of these 
trips, I have seen the intense environmental degradation and 
deleterious effects of the practice on the health of the local 
population. Copper and cobalt are two key materials for the 
creation of lithium-ion batteries, electric devices, and 
especially for the electrification of transport, which is an 
important factor in the reduction of fossil fuel emissions and 
the slowing of climate change.
    The question we must ask ourselves is whether the harm done 
by the extraction of these metals, and indeed the fossil fuels 
expended in their mining, transport, processing, and so on, 
does not outweigh the benefit. Is the juice worth the squeeze? 
Too often have natural environments been destroyed in the name 
of progress and too often have the lives of people far from the 
cities in which the minerals are consumed, been destroyed. The 
local population does not benefit, and they are left with 
little more than holes in the ground. There is even a term for 
these places. They are known as sacrifice zones.
    In reporting for the Nation and for the New Yorker, I have 
seen how landscapes in Congo, Indonesia, and the Western Sahara 
have been destroyed, the water polluted, and the air filled 
with dust and carbon as mining companies rush to extract 
minerals like copper, cobalt, lithium, and phosphates. 
Oftentimes human rights abuses go hand-in-glove with these 
environmental catastrophes. In Congo, the miombo forests of the 
southern savanna have been cut back, and the land looks as if 
it has been bombed. I have also seen that there are ways to 
mine responsibly, ways in which mining can be done in what is 
known as a closed loop. Sadly, these examples are exceptions to 
the rule.
    An environmental catastrophe is underway in the southern 
DRC. The rush to produce devices, batteries, and electric 
products more cheaply has created a demand for the metals that 
has led to more and more unscrupulous behavior. Chinese firms 
and traders are at the forefront of these practices. There is a 
saying in Congo: If they don't give their workers shoes in 
their own country, why would they give us shoes here?
    In Congo, there are two types of mine, although there are 
many gradations between these two. There are industrial mines. 
They use modern and mechanized methods, and they are 
responsible for the majority of the cobalt that comes out of 
the DRC. The industrial mines I've been allowed to visit, 
including the giant Kamoto Copper Company mine near Kolwezi--
that's owned by Glencore--have emphasized their environmental 
mitigation efforts. However, I was not permitted to visit the 
giant Tenke-Fungurume Mine, or TFM, located between the towns 
of Likasi and Kolwezi and operated by the giant Chinese firm 
CMOC or China Moly.
    Other journalists have also been subjected to harassment 
while visiting the Tenke-Fungurume site. I visited an adjacent 
site where small-scale miners show me polluted rivers in which 
women washed clothes and minerals. A 2021 report by the NGO 
Save the Children showed white residue flowing out from the TFM 
site. This morning, I spoke to my friend Hugh Kinsella 
Cunningham, who's a photojournalist. He's out in DRC at the 
moment, and he contributed to that report. He told me that in 
the village of Mulundu he saw white residue blanching the 
fields and that residents there complained that their crops 
were dying and that they had to wash in polluted water.
    The second type of mine in Congo is the artisanal mine. 
Artisanal miners are people who mine for themselves or small 
cooperatives. Before sale at these depots, but in some cases 
after, the ore is crudely processed by washing it in local 
water supplies. Studies show that fish and rivers in the mining 
provinces have been contaminated with heavy metals and uranium. 
At the village of Samukinda I saw how cobalt washing, as well 
as effluent from a factory processing copper and cobalt, had 
destroyed fields. The chief of the village, Rikomeno Samukinda, 
explained that they can no longer grow food there and that more 
and more of the villagers had to take risky mining jobs in 
order to provide for their families.
    In southern Congo, women wash raw mining material, which is 
often full of toxic materials and in some cases is mildly 
radioactive. If a pregnant woman works with such heavy metals 
as cobalt, it can increase her chances of having a stillbirth 
or a child with birth defects. We've heard from Senator Merkley 
about the 2020 study in The Lancet showing that women in 
southern Congo had metal concentrations that are among the 
highest ever reported for pregnant women. They also find a 
strong link between fathers who worked in mining and fetal 
abnormalities in their children.
    What's more, children as young as 3 mine and handle the 
toxic ore. They are sometimes drugged and deprived of food. 
These factors all contribute to developmental disorders and 
reduce life expectancy in the mining regions of the DRC. In 
March 2022, I spent a day with Dr. Billy Mukong, a local 
physician in the mining town of Kolwezi. As Dr. Mukong did his 
rounds, he introduced me to women whose children were born with 
defects. Some had swollen heads. Some were developmentally 
disabled. The defects, he said, were thanks to exposure to dust 
that is blown off the back of trucks carrying raw and processed 
ore around Kolwezi.
    The depots where the ore is collected are often run by 
foreign traders. Many are Chinese. In fact, most are Chinese. 
There are also some Lebanese and Indian nationals who have 
settled in the region. Some of the depots are owned by or 
supply larger depots owned by international mining companies. 
The most prominent of these is Congo Dongfang Mining. CDM is a 
subsidiary of Huayou, a Chinese-based company that has supplied 
cobalt to firms like Apple and Samsung. CDM has said that they 
have made efforts to clean up their supply chain and ensure 
that children, for example, are not mining cobalt, but last 
year, I traveled from an illegal mine site outside the town of 
Fungurume with a local dealer in copper and cobalt ore who 
pointed out where he sold his product--completely unregulated 
product. The site was owned by CDM, who could not possibly have 
controlled how the ore was mined or who mined it. When cobalt 
is collected, it is processed into hydroxide. This is often 
done inside the DRC, but sometimes the unprocessed product is 
shipped out on a flatbed truck. At the Kasumbalesa border post, 
trucks idle for days until they are allowed out of the country. 
People in the towns complain of severe asthma.
    At processing facilities in China and in Korea, this 
material can be mixed with industrial product.
    More needs to be done to trace the supply chain and ensure 
the rights of the people at the very bottom of it.
    The bottom of the supply chain is rife with human rights 
abuses, as we have heard. Such abuses also happened to 
journalists and investigators. As has been noted in my own 
work, I was disappeared and detained for six days by the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo's government as I tried to 
shed light on some of the abuses I document above. I'd like to 
take this opportunity to thank the members of this Commission 
and others in the U.S. Government who helped secure my release. 
I want to note that some Congolese journalists are not so 
lucky. The journalist Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala languishes in 
jail for a report that he reportedly did not even write, and 
more must be done to promote transparency and thorough 
reporting on the supply chain, which firms and governments 
would rather keep secret.
    I'd like to close quickly with a thought or two about 
solutions. Banning Congolese cobalt--it's a good idea on the 
face of it but it needs to be coupled with action to create 
jobs in the province. Without provision of an alternative form 
of employment, it could harm the poorest people in that nation. 
In the DRC, we've seen how bans of tantalum and tin ore have 
contributed to criminality instead of curbing it. So new 
solutions must be envisaged. They have also empowered 
unscrupulous traders who deal in falsified tags. Let's try and 
not make the same mistake again.
    Let me be clear that the consuming countries need to 
provide real solutions to address the lack of work in places 
like the DRC, to provide alternatives to artisanal mining or at 
least to make it safer and cleaner. Countries like the U.S. 
need to insist on environmental protection and on recycling to 
recover critical metals. We also need to ensure that democracy 
and the rule of law are upheld. As Congo moves towards its 
elections this December, I believe the United States should 
insist on a free and fair voting process as the bedrock of any 
state of law. This will be key in regulating this industry and 
making sure that value can be shared with some of the poorest 
people in the world. Thank you for your time today, and forgive 
me for going over.
    Chair Smith. Mr. Niarchos, thank you for your testimony, 
and we're glad you're safe. Thank you for doing a strong appeal 
for those journalists who do remain in prison, especially the 
Congolese. Thank you.
    Commissioner Zinke.
    Representative Zinke. Thank you. As a former Secretary, and 
looking at lithium, cobalt, and the series of critical minerals 
that the DRC--and, by the way, I've been to DRC. It's 
struggling--that would be a kind way to say it. But there were 
some efforts, I understand, by Ford Motor Company and IBM on 
using blockchain on cobalt, particularly to try to look at 
where it's coming from. Are you aware of any of those efforts 
as far as blockchain being used, technology, to make sure that 
the cobalt and critical minerals, that there's a supply chain, 
and we can follow it through from beginning to end?
    Mr. Niarchos. The question is to me?
    Representative Zinke. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Niarchos. Yes, I'm--well, thank you very much for the 
question. Yes, I'm aware of many of these efforts. There are 
several different programs to do so.
    Representative Zinke. I'll open it up to the panel. Is 
anyone else aware of those efforts?
    Mr. Ivkovic. Yes, sir. Though I would like to note that 
trying to trace back the payments is not the only way to go 
about it. We have a serious problem that the entire refining is 
in China and that most of the mines are controlled by China, so 
the unreported cobalt that ends up in China being refined, 
being shipped into the United States, is the actual problem. It 
is not how to administratively address the issue of payments 
themselves. In my view, to say that this cobalt coming from 6-, 
7-, 8-, 9-year- old kids is not landing in the United States is 
an absurd argument. It's certainly not a serious one, because 
mathematically it cannot be backed.
    Representative Zinke. What do you think the percentage is?
    Mr. Ivkovic. We don't need to think. We can see the 
reports. More than 80 percent of world refineries are in China.
    Representative Zinke. In particular on child labor being 
used on cobalt, the percentage--what do you guess it to be?
    Mr. Ivkovic. The reports today say that somewhere around 
40,000 kids, age 6 and above, work in these illegal sites, and 
the proceeds of their work land in the supply chain. This is a 
matter of public record and the Department of Labor confirmed 
it.
    Representative Zinke. How does that translate, if you 
would, your guess on the amount of cobalt? What percentage is 
from child labor?
    Mr. Ivkovic. The German government in 2022 said that from 
artisanal mines, which include mines where people--or kids--
work, at least 30 percent of the cobalt coming from the DRC is 
coming from these sites. It's a huge amount. This is a 2022 
report to the German government.
    Representative Zinke. I appreciate that. Mr. Chairman, I 
yield back. Thank you.
    Chair Smith. Commissioner Nunn.
    Representative Nunn. Well, first off, Mr. Chairman, I 
appreciate you bringing together this august panel. To the 
panel yourselves, thank you for taking the time to share with 
us. I think this is something that has sprung up on the front 
pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall 
Street Journal. Really doing a deep dive to see the impact of 
this on our communities is chilling.
    I want to talk specifically about the Communist Party's 
extensive use of forced child labor in the world's cobalt 
industry. In the pursuit of innovation and the creation of 
cutting-edge technologies that we use here every day in the 
United States, we have inadvertently become consumers that bear 
the product of heavy exploitation, much of it coming from 
children around the world. One such example is the extraction 
of cobalt, a vital component in the batteries that power 
everything from our devices here to so many of the cars that we 
see on the road today here in the United States.
    Tragically, this extraction of cobalt is often tainted by 
the stain of child labor. The numbers are simply staggering. 
Eighty percent of the world's cobalt output is owned by Chinese 
companies. China imports 63 percent of the world's cobalt. As 
we just heard, more than 30 percent of the cobalt being 
extracted is coming from artisanal mines that would exploit 
child labor. Nearly 25,000 children are used to mine this rare 
earth metal. Now, as a dad of six who just was fortunate to get 
to adopt two young girls this year, I cannot imagine the 
cruelties and the hardships that these children are being 
exposed to daily in the mines where they are forced to extract 
this.
    I'm appalled, as this Commission has long been, at the use 
by the CCP of child labor in these horrific mining situations. 
The truth of the matter is that during Xi Jinping's 
authoritarian expansion, he has used his notorious Belt and 
Road Initiative, and the Chinese Communist Party has swept up 
millions of unwilling individuals to fuel their economic 
regime, something that both Republicans and Democrats have 
called out as being completely untenable. And yet here he is in 
the United States attempting to expand influence on our energy 
production in America.
    Today we examine specific instances where the Chinese 
Communist Party has used forced child labor to supply the 
world's electronics with cobalt. Getting into it, Ambassador, 
you have been on the front line. Mr. Schultz, you have seen the 
wolf warriors that come from Beijing and their attempt to 
pressure other countries around the world--following their 
economic advantage. So I'd like to talk a little bit about, 
first, just the scene setter on how the Belt and Road 
Initiative has contributed to the cobalt disaster that the rest 
of the world is now facing today.
    Ambassador Schultz. Thank you for the question. My 
expertise probably isn't as good as Milos's and some of the 
other witnesses in terms of the nitty gritty, the details of 
the cobalt industry, but I can talk a little bit about what I 
saw in Africa when I served there and how China works there. In 
fact, we were just discussing it at the break that, you know, 
China provides money to Africa, at least in theory. The whole 
Belt and Road Initiative is--you know, I think I misspoke 
earlier when I said that they've devoted millions of dollars to 
preventing or trying to exclude the United States from African 
markets. It's, of course, billions, and probably tens of 
billions, if not hundreds of billions.
    So the way it works--actually, in simple terms is, the 
Chinese come to an African country, and they say: We think you 
need a road from point A to point B. We're willing to finance 
it. We'll give you a project loan to build that road. In return 
for that money, you have to agree to sole source--it has to be 
a Chinese company. It has to be Chinese labor. It has to be 
Chinese materials, Chinese equipment, etc., etc. So in fact, 
there's no follow-on effect in the local economy because no 
local people are working on the projects. It's only Chinese 
labor that's brought into the country, and often as not is 
demobilized in place, so you end up with a Chinese minority in 
an African country where it never existed before.
    Representative Nunn. Ambassador, you would say then that 
all roads and the Belt and Road Initiative really are leading 
to Beijing? I mean, at the end of the day--
    Ambassador Schultz. Yes, that's a very nice way of putting 
it. I would say that, yes.
    Representative Nunn. I would concur with you on this. Look, 
at this point, China is by all means economically exploiting 
other countries.
    Ambassador Schultz. Well, I think it's fair to say that 
it's a debt trap, you know? And what the sweetener is, of 
course, is that they're offering the government in power money 
under the table. So in Zambia, when I was ambassador there, it 
was pretty clear that the previous government, you know, that 
there were officials in it that were getting a piece of the 
pie. They were being paid to accept these projects that the 
country really didn't need.
    I mean, in fact, we were just talking about this a moment 
ago--Zambia has two brand new airports, or virtually brand new. 
Both of them were built for close to a billion dollars, the two 
of them together. There are no airplanes because--I mean, one 
of them is in the northern part of the country, Ndola. No one 
flies there really, to speak of, so you've got this huge 
Chinese-built airport that's empty. Even the airport in Lusaka 
is not heavily used. On top of which, the other problem with 
Chinese projects is that they're not necessarily well built, so 
they tend to deteriorate fairly rapidly.
    In Zambia, the Chinese roads are painted. They're painted 
with black paint, and so the first time you hit a heavy 
rainfall, they start to wash out. You know, meanwhile, of 
course, you've got billions and billions and billions of 
dollars of debt that's been put on the country's credit card 
that has to be paid back.
    Representative Nunn. Right. I think that's really what 
we're looking at. You use the term debt trap. I think you're 
absolutely right. It's economic hostage-taking that they've 
indebted these countries to, and then bridled them with a 
modern-day colonialism to exploit some of their most precious 
commodities, in this case their children. They're also using 
that exploitation to go after rare earth minerals in the form 
of cobalt.
    I want to speak here to Professor Ivkovic. Milos, you 
talked about a recent report that shows violence in Congo has 
displaced approximately 7 million people. What does that mean 
for those left behind today and the type of forced labor 
they're required to do, in the machinations of Chinese cobalt 
exploitation?
    Mr. Ivkovic. That means that they don't have any 
alternative but to work as slaves.
    Representative Nunn. So now we have both economic hostage 
taking and human exploitation happening right on the same hand. 
Will the factions in charge of these mines refill employees 
with other parts of the world? Are they going to continue to 
dig into an exploited underclass, largely children, in your 
opinion?
    Mr. Ivkovic. Absolutely. Not only children, but all the 
underprivileged. As I mentioned in my testimony, almost 60 
million Congolese live on under $2.15 a day. They're forced to 
work as slaves. We describe this as effective slavery under 
international law.
    Representative Nunn. China's even gone beyond this 
indentured servitude or slave labor, as you highlight, locally. 
But they're starting to bring in others from, you know, 
exploited masses around the world--Uyghurs from China, 
dissidents from North Korea, people that they find untenable 
they send to work, basically to death, in these cobalt mines in 
the heart of Africa. Is that correct?
    Mr. Ivkovic. That is exactly correct. And our problem is 
not enforcing U.S. laws, which are already on the record. It is 
not as if we need new bills to remedy the situation. This grave 
circumstance is already covered by Federal legislation. It is 
just that we do not have enforcement that would stop the supply 
chain. So long as there is demand, there will be slavery.
    Representative Nunn. I'd like to turn next to you, Joseph. 
One of the things you highlighted here with the Atlantic 
Council is how conflicts around the world could increase 
China's superiority over the West, including the United States, 
with owning the vast majority of cobalt and how dependent the 
rest of the world has become on it. Could you talk a little bit 
on where China really has a chokehold on this rare earth 
mineral that the rest of the world could not make up if there 
were to be sanctions or if there were, God forbid, a conflict 
directly with mainland China and the United States?
    Mr. Nguramo. Yes, sir, absolutely. Well, I've been thinking 
about this situation, particularly child labor and--let's say 
the whole equation of how the global economy has been working 
over the past 30 years, and how we basically got ourselves into 
this situation that we are heavily dependent on China, 
particularly in terms of products such as semiconductors which 
derive from DRC cobalt and lithium and copper, sadly, with 
child labor and human right exploitation.
    First, we have to be, I think, frank, in terms of looking 
at the problems, how we got here, and have the courage and the 
leadership as well to try to address the problems. Of course, 
it's a very complex equation, so we cannot solve it in, let's 
say, one day or maybe 5 or 10 years, but I'm very encouraged as 
well to see all this engagement here. I've read some, I think, 
great documents that the U.S. Government is putting forward in 
terms of addressing these issues--such as the U.S. National 
Security Strategy, and the bill that the congressman is putting 
in as well.
    I think this kind of initiative, this approach, will help 
us to maybe step by step, you know, create a new strategy so 
that the United States is not dependent on China, especially if 
there is a conflict. Because, quite frankly, right now we are 
very vulnerable. Let's just put it very straightforward: If 
there is a conflict with China, China can just cut off the 
supply of semiconductors and our defense is exposed. You know, 
so the last thing we want to do is get in that position. So 
that's a problem.
    I'll just say as well that just engaging these countries, 
like the DRC, is very difficult, for different reasons--the 
lack of rule of law, quality governance, you know. But here's 
the thing--and again, I'd really like to mention this 
actually--I am really, really supportive of the bill that 
Congressman John James put forth. For these reasons. I read it 
and I read the Chair's bill as well. Actually, I feel like 
they're kind of complementary because the John James bill 
actually says that we should make it a national U.S. priority 
to make sure the DRC is stable, the entire region. I think 
there's actually a national security interest. It addresses 
issues with child labor, but not to the extent of Congressman 
Smith's bill.
    I like to think that we should somehow maybe combine both--
see what's going in one bill and what's going in the other 
bill, and we will have a more coherent comprehensive rule of 
law. And hopefully, that will be the basis of a strategy 
dealing with not only the DRC, but the entire region. 
Hopefully, in the longer term, we'll be able to somehow take a 
more, let's say, balanced approach, in case we get into trouble 
with China, you know? We see what's happening in Ukraine with 
Russia. You know, these countries tend to weaponize these kinds 
of tools. We're very vulnerable. Thank you so much.
    Representative Nunn. I'd just like to--want to thank the 
Chairman, Chairman Smith. You have led a dedicated effort to 
hold the Chinese accountable for what they've done internally 
to the People's Republic as well as what they've done 
externally, and then this tragic case of exploiting children. 
You have brought this to the forefront. There are so many, I 
think, incredibly timely things that the United States needs to 
do on a strategic level to be able to not only counter China, 
but really this mass amount of child exploitation that's 
happening in the world over a rare earth mineral.
    I want to ask the panel very quickly, writ large here, 
strategically, what things can we be doing to hold Xi Jinping 
accountable on this front, and our allies, and to offer a 
better lifeline to those countries in Africa that want to come 
into the global economic success story that has been the rest 
of the world, without feeling that they have to be economically 
held hostage or they are in a death spiral that they cannot get 
out of with China's One Belt, One Road Initiative? I'd open it 
up to the panel.
    Ambassador Schultz. Well, I'll say two things, actually, 
that I mentioned in my testimony. The first is I think we 
should be providing more money through the Development Finance 
Corporation. We should actually be competing with China to 
provide project loans to help build needed infrastructure in 
Africa but do a better job of it than the Chinese do. Giving 
them infrastructure that they actually need and building it 
well, and doing it at a cost that they can afford.
    The second thing is I think we should be--we should be 
pretty proactive, frankly, about helping African countries get 
out from under China's debt. You know, in 2011, the HIPC 
process basically wiped out the debt of most countries, you 
know, in Africa. We were major players in that, along with the 
European countries. I think that China basically needs to take 
a haircut. They have been, you know, kind of force-feeding 
these debts, these loans, into these countries. They now have 
tens of billions of dollars that they'll never be able to pay 
off. They should be encouraged to basically write those debts 
off.
    Mr. Ivkovic. In looking at this problem, we have two 
perspectives. The first one is U.S. national security, which I 
think is in danger. The supply chain shows that the U.S. cannot 
object to the practices because it is so heavily dependent. In 
order to address national security perspectives, first we need 
friends, as the Ambassador said. And for everybody who has ever 
been to the DRC, to Zambia, to the countries in the region, if 
you go to the villages, these people are U.S. friends. They 
adore the United States and they're hopeful that this body and 
the U.S. administration will actually protect them. What we 
need to do is show our friendship back. Apart from stating, 
``We are here for you,'' there is nothing else happening. These 
people need roads. They need schools. They need hospitals. 
Nothing is happening, so we need to be there also helping them 
help themselves.
    The second issue is, we need to help our companies operate 
in the region of Africa and in the supply chain. Currently, 
without governmental support, we will not have U.S. companies 
being engaged. There is zero chance. Their incentive is legally 
jeopardized because they can face investigation and criminal 
prosecution if even their sub-subcontractors did something 
wrong in Africa, while we have practices of child abuse which 
are not prosecuted at all. So they do not want to go into these 
regions. Secondly, it is very affordable to keep the supply 
chain active, so we do need a nonmarket intervention 
immediately in the supply chain.
    Let me be very clear, if we want to build a refinery--we 
need a refinery, because all refineries are in China. If we 
want them to be built by U.S. companies--and the U.S. companies 
can build them because they develop patterns for these 
refineries--they need support from the government. They cannot 
be led into the belief that they can compete in the market with 
Chinese prices, because they cannot. They will have a loss of 
two to three years in their investment unless the government 
steps in.
    Then we need to address these atrocities. There are some 
sanctions on the record, but by far not addressing all the 
actors involved in these abuses. There is almost no criminal 
prosecution on the record, even though we are talking about 
crimes against humanity and crimes which are very similar to 
slavery under international law. So long as we are silent and 
we allow impunity for actions, and we do that because our 
national security is jeopardized, there won't be a solution to 
this issue.
    Representative Nunn. Thank you.
    Mr. Nguramo. Congressman, I did not really understand the 
last part of the question well, so if you could repeat it, 
please, that would be great.
    Representative Nunn. Strategic solutions to counter China's 
exploitation in Africa.
    Mr. Nguramo. Yes, absolutely. So, first of all, Ambassador 
Schultz and Ivkovic have already mentioned it. I will just 
maybe add a few elements to that. I think we have really solid 
strategic documents framing these issues. I'm really encouraged 
by the bipartisan approach. If you look, let's say, at the 
previous administration, the Trump administration, and this 
administration, the Biden administration, they actually keep in 
place or have kept going with certain decisions that were taken 
before--related to these issues.
    Here's the thing. If we don't lead, nobody will ever do it. 
We have got to understand that. As was just mentioned here, a 
lot of people in the DRC actually, interestingly enough, always 
look up to the United States for help and support. They do, 
which is interesting in many ways, and I think that's for good 
reasons. You know, they think that the U.S. can help, so we 
should not let them down. And particularly address this issue 
of child labor and human exploitation in these mines.
    Now, here's another thing. We have to be realistic. We have 
to have this ideal role; eventually we hope democracy will 
prevail but at the same time we have to narrow it down in terms 
of how we actually operationalize this ideal, make it happen. 
That will be short- and long-term goals that we are having 
together. And eventually, I'd like to think that the U.S. will 
prevail over China.
    Concretely, what we can do--for example--we have these DRC 
elections coming up this December. Let's make sure those 
elections are credible, fair, and transparent, OK? Because the 
history of this country has shown that as long as there is this 
issue of illegitimacy of elections, we spend a lot of time, 
politicians do, trying to find a solution, five years later, 
and then we go back to that the next election. Here's the 
thing: If we don't do that, for example, China will not come 
back and say, hey, we would like to know the truth about the 
election that happened. No, but that leadership can only come 
from the United States and from, let's say, our allies, like 
the European Union, for example.
    Why does this matter for us and our interests? I like to 
think that a strong democracy in the longer term actually will 
be in our national security interest. A strong democracy in the 
center of Africa--it's such a big country with enormous 
potential, you know, great people, by the way, very dynamic, 
very hardworking people--will offer a lot of opportunity, even 
for our private companies to go and invest there. So those are 
the small things, I think, that will help us eventually prevail 
over China in the long term in this battle of global-power 
competition.
    You know, what I mentioned earlier in terms of some of the 
policies in place, such as--I guess I agree with this. You 
know, sometimes I hear this word ``decoupling.'' I think it's a 
bit, quite frankly, not pragmatic. You know, I mean, we cannot 
really completely decouple from China. If you look at the 
financial and economic integration, it's almost impossible, but 
I think using de-risking and diversification is probably be 
doable.
    As a matter of fact, I'd like as well to make sure the 
electric vehicles project--I think the MOU was signed between 
the U.S. and Zambia and the DRC. Those are the kinds of things 
we need to be supporting. I think the Lobito Corridor was 
agreed upon as well. I think these are the pragmatic projects 
that if you actually were serious about getting engaged about 
this issue, will actually help us to prevail over China in this 
competition.
    Representative Nunn. Thank you.
    Mr. Niarchos. Well, as a journalist, I guess that it's sort 
of beyond my expertise, but I can offer a few observations. You 
know, you go down roads between different towns in the DRC and 
you see, you know, ChinaAid, you see the Chinese hospital, then 
you see maybe Japan, or this was given by the--you see very 
little evidence of U.S. aid and U.S. programs in that part of 
the world. So I think that that's very important. I also would, 
once again, want to say that the protecting of people who are 
trying to bring information about these mines and about the 
conditions on these mines to the forefront is very important, 
because a lot of the time, you know, people will look at a 
phone or an electric car and not understand where that came 
from.
    Representative Nunn. Right. I want to thank the panel. I 
want to thank the Chair on this. I think every American should 
consider the next time they use their cell phone, or jump into 
an electric vehicle, or have power that is provided by cobalt, 
they should look at the supply chain that's provided it. They 
should recognize immediately there's a national security 
interest that's undermining the U.S. ability to influence the 
world. They should recognize that they're playing a direct role 
in the exploitation of millions within China, and specifically 
those in Africa--young children exploited inhumanely, working 
in a mine far worse than any shoe factory in China, but are 
being worked literally to their death as indentured servants.
    America has a leading role to play in this. So does the 
West, but so does China. Calling them on these types of issues 
ensures not only that Beijing is aware of what's happening, but 
that there will be a cost to pay for the exploitation, for the 
pillaging of Africa and its children, as well as what we as 
Americans have responsibility to do to ensure that this does 
not happen going forward. Mr. Chair, this is a bipartisan 
issue. I cannot thank you enough for helping lead the charge 
and helping to salvage not only America's national security, 
our economic interests, our industrial strength, but calling 
the bad actors on profiting from the death of others. Thank 
you, sir.
    Chair Smith. Thank you so very much for your eloquent 
statement and for your excellent questions. I have some 
questions I'd like to ask, and then we'll conclude. I thank you 
for your patience, especially during that interruption during 
the voting.
    I wonder how many of the car companies--including Tesla, 
Ford, GM, and the others--including the United Auto Workers, 
who by the way, endorsed me for election. I'm a pro-labor 
Republican and believe very strongly in labor. But how many of 
them have spoken up about the supply chain--that the product 
that they're obviously including in their EVs has been 
absolutely tainted by child labor and adult forced labor, 
which, as has been said a few times here, is a crime against 
humanity? I'm wondering, where are they? I mean, we're going to 
ask the UAW to come and testify in a future hearing. We're 
going to ask the car makers if they'll come forward. This 
Commission has done that with regard to the genocide Olympics, 
when we called forth and heard from others, like Coca-Cola. So 
I'm wondering, have they said anything? Are they--in your 
opinion, have they been in any way intervening on behalf of the 
exploited?
    Nick.
    Mr. Niarchos. I would say that, yes, some car companies 
have addressed it. Off the top of my head, BMW has said that 
they will only buy cobalt from one mine in Morocco. This has 
come out in the German press recently: there were some 
criticisms of that mine in Morocco. And I believe Elon Musk was 
asked about it and said he was going to put cameras on the 
heads of children or--sorry--cameras in the mines, or something 
like that, to stop children going down. I'm not sure what other 
solutions have been proposed.
    Chair Smith. Yes.
    Mr. Ivkovic. If I may, I think we need to recognize the 
situation. I doubt that there is any Western company that 
wishes to have this supply chain, to be very frank. Whether 
they use sufficient pressure is questionable. The second 
question is whether they have sufficient pressure over the 
supply chain which is completely monopolized by China. That 
said, it is important that there be a joint effort between car 
companies and the U.S. Government to address this issue, 
because only that joint strength can bring about a resolution 
of the problem.
    Chair Smith. Have you witnessed any joint strength coming 
from the administration?
    Mr. Ivkovic. Well, what I have seen is an aggressive policy 
of bringing battery production facilities to the United States, 
which is a step in the right direction in my view. I also think 
it's a good step to start sanctioning actors that through 
corruption are supporting all of these practices, at least 
indirectly. Whether there is room for improvement? Absolutely, 
yes, because it cannot be that in 2020 the Department of Labor 
publishes that the armed forces of the DRC are effectively 
complicit in the worst forms of child labor and there be no 
reaction.
    Chair Smith. Let me ask you, have there been any 
prosecutions of the people that are running the mines in the 
DRC? We had in our last hearing a witness tell us how some of 
the individuals were whipped by Chinese guards, and there was 
nothing from his point of view that was done about that. Are 
there any prosecutions?
    Mr. Ivkovic. If I may just speak to the pattern of how 
these ``prosecutions,'' work, because I cannot call them, as 
somebody who teaches law, prosecutions. They are announced to 
the general public whenever there is international pressure, 
such as this hearing or any sort of similar act, mostly coming 
from Washington. Then after six months, the government comes to 
a resolution, which is in billions and should be paid to 
selected accounts or selected governmental entities, mostly by 
the Chinese. So it is just a cost of doing business. There is 
no serious punishment. There is no actual punishment for the 
crimes that you mentioned.
    Chair Smith. Do any of those funds find their way to the 
exploited person who has been beaten or even killed?
    Mr. Ivkovic. To put it politely, I doubt it.
    Chair Smith. Anybody else know that?
    Mr. Niarchos. There's also probably a sort of extrajudicial 
process of deportation for smaller Chinese firms and things 
like that, and workers that are kicked out. One has to remember 
as well that quite a lot of the Chinese people who come to DRC 
are, you know, themselves exploited and themselves kind of 
living in situations of quite intense poverty, that I've seen.
    Chair Smith. Let me ask you with regard--I met with 
Ambassador Lucy Tamlyn, our DR Congo ambassador. A very fine 
person. We talked about the MOU, and I also raised this with 
John Kerry at a hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee. The 
concern I have with it--I mean, it's very nice sounding. It's 
``sense of the Congress'' language, which we do often here, or 
``sense of the Senate.'' But it really has no teeth. It's 
aspirational. Even my bill that's pending, and the new one that 
we're going to do, talks about strategies, which is all great.
    I'm the author of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2000. It took me three years to get that piece of legislation 
enacted into law. It was bipartisan. It was vigorously opposed 
by the Clinton administration. I had the hearings, so I can say 
without any fear of contradiction, they thought even a TIP 
Report would be counterproductive. Naming names would be 
counterproductive. They said it on the record. Above all, they 
thought that any kind of sanction would also be fruitless and 
counterproductive. Madeleine Albright made it very clear that 
she was not for this sanctions regime that was included in the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
    We did prevail, and I've done 20-plus hearings in follow-
up. I think it's 35 hearings since. No one doubts the 
importance of having at least some sword of Damocles hanging 
over an offending nation or entity, that they're going to be 
held to account. It's like a criminal sanction for breaking 
laws, you know, right here in DC or in my own state of New 
Jersey. You've got to have a penalty phase. The MOU, nice, but 
I think 10 years from now we'll say it was nice but didn't do 
anything. You know, so our bill would provide a rebuttable 
presumption. It is serious. It has a long way to go, because 
it's going to be difficult to get it passed. This 
administration probably will not support it. Maybe a future one 
will.
    But those kids--I mean, our Labor Department says 25,000, 
others have said 35,000 to 40,000 kids--there's all different 
estimates, of course, but lots of children are being exploited. 
As you had mentioned, Milos, you know, very, very young kids as 
well. We need a penalty phase, if not to do anything else but 
to get the DR Congolese government to incentivize their own, 
create their own capability, their own refining capacity, and 
make the money that they're now shipping off to China, and all 
of that exploitation. It doesn't happen in a day, but I think 
there needs to be a pivot point. And I think a significant 
penalty would be one of them.
    There are, thankfully, some other mines. I don't know how 
profitable they are in terms of producing product. Not money, 
but how efficacious they are. It would seem to me that for our 
critical military means, for cell phones and other things, you 
know, there could be a pivot to doing more of those mines. And 
of course, as you said, Milos, bring back that capacity here, 
but for the DR Congolese, they should do it there. It should be 
all within the parameters of one country, so they reap the real 
benefits, and not the Chinese Communist Party. We're seeing it 
in other areas where our pharmaceuticals are gravely at risk. 
We all know that. Antibiotics are at risk. We've had hearings 
on that as well.
    In a conflict with the PRC, they'll shut off our medical 
supplies in addition to everything else. We're much too 
beholden to them, and as we all know, they have five-year 
plans, where they want to monopolize. They do predatory pricing 
to get there, and they get there. All of a sudden, they own it 
all. I think--you know, a lot of people don't like sanctions, 
but I was for the apartheid sanctions. I was one of the few 
Republicans early on back--I've been here since 1980--who not 
only voted but spoke out against apartheid, believing 
passionately that, yes, sanctions may hurt some of the 
Africans--Black Africans--South Africans. But the appalling 
nature of apartheid was such that sanctions are a means to an 
end.
    So I just raise that, this idea of sanctions. Your thoughts 
on that? Our bill of--we did the bipartisan, the four corners 
of our Commission backed it the strongest, and it did become 
law. There was pushback from the administration at first, but 
thankfully Joe Biden did sign it--the legislation with regard 
to the Uyghurs, the Uyghur Forced Labor Act. That had a 
presumptive rebuttable presumption in it. We've had hearings 
since on implementation. It's not being implemented in a great 
way, but it is being implemented. It's very hard, but I think 
we really need to step up. Your thoughts.
    Ambassador Schultz. I guess I will flip it a little bit, 
because for me, when I think about sanctions, I tend to see it 
in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and, you know, 
sort of the central role that it's playing there. You know, I 
think that you're right to raise apartheid as an example as 
well. I mean, there aren't very many instances where sanctions 
have been successful. Where they have been successful, it's 
because the international community is applying the sanctions, 
not an individual country. So if we were going to do this in 
the context of child labor in Congo over cobalt, we need to 
have our friends and allies applying those sanctions as well. 
There needs to be widespread pressure brought to bear and I 
think that that's why the sanctions have had an effect in the 
Russia-Ukraine conflict as well, because they've been 
widespread. Because Europe is with us on this, and that makes a 
big difference. So that's kind of my----
    Chair Smith. I agree with that. When you have global or a 
lot of buy-in with the European Union and others, it's great. 
I'm the author of the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004, '06, '11, 
and then the most recent one. When we did the original Belarus 
Democracy Act, there was pushback galore. Nobody would ever 
tell Lukashenko what to do. We got it passed. Bush implemented 
it very, very aggressively, put 200 names right off the bat, 
including Lukashenko's top cronies, on there. They couldn't get 
a visa, couldn't do any kind of trade. To our great, great 
happiness, all of us, the European Union followed suit and had 
pretty much the same list, so we got people out of prison, lots 
of them. Of course, Lukashenko is doing horrible misdeeds now 
in tandem with Putin--but it worked.
    But we led, that's the point I'm getting at. We led. And 
this--the idea behind this bill is we want the others to join 
us. We hope we're not alone but, frankly, even if we are, it 
might save some children, it might get the leadership of the DR 
Congo to really accelerate taking ownership of their own--you 
know, to do that. So it's all--you know, and you won't have 
child labor or this forced labor for the adults. But I take 
your point. Thank you.
    Ambassador Schultz. Well, and I take yours, too. I think 
there's no--there's no substitute for American leadership. I 
think that's kind of the message that all four of us have 
shared today.
    Chair Smith. We also have done it on--as you know too--
Global Magnitsky. Not everybody was on board on that at first, 
but it has made a difference.
    Mr. Ivkovic. Chairman, if I may, on the issue of sanctions. 
I would like just to answer three tough questions, and I think 
they're going to your point absolutely.
    Firstly, are we obliged to act? We are obliged to act, 
because there are crimes against humanity and crimes analogous 
to slavery that are taking place now. We are also obliged to 
act in order to protect the national security of the United 
States and its allies. As a matter of first legal reason, 
absolutely, sanctions can be used. They are countermeasures 
under international law. They should be used against states, 
companies, and individuals for acts that we described today.
    The problem with sanctions is their limited legal nature. 
Sanctions are temporary, and they cannot be punitive, meaning 
that they should just temporarily halt a wrongful doing from 
happening, but then we need a solution. That solution is 
presently lacking. We need to support U.S. companies to find 
another supply chain, an alternative supply chain, and build it 
up. We also need to have actual meaningful consequences, such 
as criminal investigations, which will go after those who 
organized this supply chain and the suffering of tens of 
thousands of kids.
    Now, the last point that I wanted to raise is, I do agree 
that just U.S. action is limited, but it is incredibly 
meaningful. And it can start a movement. If we look at Global 
Magnitsky, the problem with Global Magnitsky is not U.S. visas, 
because these gentlemen either way do not want to come to 
Washington, DC. The problem is that every single bank on the 
face of this planet will have to know your client rules, and 
they will not open bank accounts anymore. The U.S. will have 
the power through Federal criminal law to go after anybody who 
would allow circumventing the sanctions. This is an immensely 
powerful tool that can bring even those committing the hardest 
crimes into compliance. And then the EU and the U.K. can 
follow. Thank you.
    Mr. Nguramo. I'd like just to substantiate the point, as 
Milos just mentioned here, and try to use a case of--by the 
way, Congressman, thank you so much for your leadership between 
2005, '16, '18, to the election in 2018, you know, in trying to 
get a bill out. You know, I was following what was going on in 
Congress, in the State Department. I'd like to say thanks 
largely to the leadership, and as well to Senator McCain--
sadly, he passed away--who was really, really engaged. 
Thankfully, we were able to kind of corner Kabila to respect 
the constitution of his country and not seek an illegal term.
    Coming back to sanctions--this case in Israel, Dan Gertler. 
That's a specific example of how U.S. sanctions are very 
powerful in bringing these guys to reason. Say, Hey, stop what 
you're doing, you know. Even beyond that, I think the way to 
phrase this one in the particular theme of sanctions, we can 
look at the tactical, operational, strategic level. What does 
that mean? At the tactical level, you know, a lot of these DRC 
government officials are getting money from Chinese companies 
to do these kinds of things. As a matter of fact, I think the 
bill you just mentioned already mentioned these kinds of 
things.
    If we get credible reports that there are certain DRC 
government officials who have been benefiting from these kind 
of things, we should sanction them. We should sanction them. As 
a matter of fact, you know, they like to have the U.S. dollar 
in their pockets, in the bank, so it's going to be easy to do. 
The other thing I'd like to mention is in terms of strategic 
engagement, we have the APEC meeting going on in San Francisco, 
I think, yesterday and today.
    I think a strategy or policy done with China should be 
included in our conversations or our talking points with the 
CCP about these issues. You know, let's face it, maybe the DRC 
government might have a bit more of a conflict of interest in 
these kinds of things. But I'd like to think that the U.S. 
President, the Secretary of State, you know, the Secretary of 
the Treasury engaging with these kinds of issues, with the 
Chinese CCP, I think is going to have some kind of impact.
    Of course, along the supply chain, some people are doing 
some bad stuff, or they're just part of a corrupt business 
model, you know, that is perpetuating human exploitation. If 
you have credible information that anyone or any companies 
benefit from these kind of things, we should slap sanctions on 
them.
    Mr. Niarchos. Just two observations. One, sanctions have 
been used in the DRC against people in this sector before. 
Especially on Dan Gertler, who was involved in many of the 
largest copper-cobalt mines. Also, I just want to go back to 
something that you said in your question, Chairman Smith--
whether cobalt can be refined in DRC. One of the big questions 
there is actually power supply. And to help the DRC refine 
their cobalt effectively, perhaps some sort of solution to 
DRC's power supply or engagement with that issue is very 
important.
    Chair Smith. Thank you. On that point, we have passed 
legislation--I was a co-sponsor of it--called Power Africa. And 
the whole idea is to try to bring the blessings of power, to 
schools, hospitals, and homes, to the greatest extent possible. 
It's a great point that you bring up. It becomes another 
incentive to up the power capacity of the DR Congo.
    Just a couple of final questions--the U.N. role. Are they 
playing a positive role? Is the U.N. Human Rights Council, for 
example, investigating, sending in fact-finding teams of any 
kind? Worker recruitment and retention, how coercive is it, 
particularly for the children? I mean, when people find out, 
yes, there's an opportunity here, and then they realize how 
coercive it is, or isn't. If you could speak to that. Can they 
leave if they want to? The idea of payoffs to government 
officials in the DR Congo, is there any evidence that high-
ranking officials are getting bribes? Who's looking into it? Is 
there any kind of investigative team looking into that, other 
than journalists who take great risks to raise questions? And 
people who are like yourselves, all of you? Who's doing it, 
anybody?
    Mr. Niarchos. Yes, I can just talk very quickly on how 
coercive it is for children. You know, I've interviewed a lot 
of children who have been down into the mines. Often the 
pressure comes from the family. It's a poverty-related issue. 
As Milos said, you know, there's basically no other choice for 
these families. You know, if you're a child and you're 
basically told to go by your parents, I'd say it's sort of 
fully coercive. Is it coercive on the side of the companies 
that are buying? No, but basically, there's no other option.
    And then, in terms of payoffs, yes, you know, there have 
been investigations of these Congolese ministers, and 
governors, and things like that. But often those are 
politically motivated. I think we saw the long investigation of 
former Governor Richard Muyej of Lualaba Province, which 
concluded with a whimper rather than a bang, and I think that, 
again, it's used as a political tool rather than a real 
investigative tool in DRC.
    Chair Smith. Yes. Thank you.
    Mr. Ivkovic. Chairman, trying to address your questions as 
they were asked, the United Nations lost all their credibility 
because they did not examine the cases of mass abuse of people, 
including rape committed by U.N. forces in DR Congo. The people 
themselves do not have any faith in the United Nations in 
Congo, though they do recognize they still need peacekeeping 
forces. But to rely on the United Nations to examine this case, 
investigate this case, is not something--not the card I'd like 
to play.
    The second one is about whether children are forced into 
working. How I like to compare it is with human trafficking 
cases. In human trafficking cases, we do not have to have 
initial force in order to influence a mind, a young mind, into 
compliance. And this is exactly the case of potential human 
trafficking. What we are witnessing is an effective state of 
survival where families are forced to send their own children 
into the mines just to live another day. Knowing that that day 
those kids will go or may go through sexual abuse, physical 
abuse, hazardous conditions, and maybe even lose their lives. 
So to say that we have proof of initial force bringing them 
into mines, we do not. But to say that there is no human 
trafficking and abuse and slavery-like situation, there is more 
than enough, because they are effectively, by circumstances, 
forced to be there. And they are abused while being there, 
while not being able to freely choose to leave.
    Last but not least, about the corruption situation. 
Unfortunately, most reports do not come from government 
officials or governmental bodies. The most recent one came from 
The Sentry. It is titled, ``The Backchannel: State Capture and 
Bribery in Congo's Deal of the Century.'' It goes into, in 
great depth, corruption in the mining industry and the 
connection between political leaders and corruption. And that 
is exactly the problem. Again, to my note, there is no criminal 
prosecution, there is no actual act against these stakeholders 
by means of sanctions or otherwise, and--it cannot be that the 
U.S. Government does not have information that The Sentry has.
    Chair Smith. Milos, thank you for that answer. You know, on 
the United Nations, when I heard that a number of children in 
and around Goma were being raped, 12-, 13-year-olds being given 
one meal, or a very small amount of money--again, these are 12- 
and 13-year-olds, I held four hearings on it, on the U.N. 
peacekeepers. I went to Goma. I met with the peacekeepers. I 
met with everyone involved. Kofi Annan put out a zero-tolerance 
policy. I think it was well meaning, but it wasn't all that 
well followed.
    And I'll never forget, I had a woman at the United Nations 
Jane Holl Lute, who was frustrated. She's an American and she 
worked in our military, the Pentagon, for a while, but she was 
deployed there--or, seconded there. She did a wonderful job 
pointing out that there was zero implementation for the zero-
tolerance policy. Maybe it's gotten better--or not. It's hard 
to say, but you're right about the lack of credibility when the 
peacekeepers themselves are, you know, there to mitigate harm, 
damage, and abuse, and they become part of the abuse: Houston, 
we've got a problem. Thank you for bringing that up. I hope 
that the U.N., particularly the Human Rights Council, would do 
more to address this, because the exploitation, as we've all 
seen, is just horrible.
    Now, I do have another question--are there mines that 
Glencore and some of the others run that are more ethical? They 
may have their own specific problems as well, but it seems to 
me the demand for cobalt is going to rise exponentially over 
the years, as the demand for EVs rises. I mean, these 
telephones don't take all that much, but a car does, and it's a 
huge amount of cobalt and other minerals. Your thoughts on some 
of these other mines as alternatives?
    Mr. Niarchos. I mean, yes. I mean, the Glencore mines are 
run closer to international standards. You know, I think there 
was a report by RAID, which is an NGO, last year that sort of 
looked more closely at Glencore's employment practices with 
subcontractors. So there are still issues there, but, yes, 
there's less of an issue.
    There is a big question about what battery technology has 
been used in electric vehicles. I will note that already half 
of China's EVs are lithium iron phosphate batteries, which 
actually have no cobalt. But they have another issue, which is 
the phosphate supply chain. So that's an important trend to 
watch.
    Just going back to--actually, to something that Milos said. 
I'd just like to also highlight the important work of Congolese 
NGOs, such as AfreWatch, PODEFIP, and the civil society in 
Congo in holding people to account and really publishing 
reports and doing investigations that are very, very dangerous, 
that are more dangerous even than Western journalists coming 
into the country.
    Mr. Ivkovic. Chairman, coming to Glencore mines, I do not 
have any information--any credible information that Glencore 
mines have ever been involved in child labor or any similar 
practices. What we need, however, to recognize is that we're 
talking about up to two mines. This is not a source of cobalt--
we do not have enough cobalt even if the entire production of 
Glencore were going into the United States. That is not enough. 
Out of the largest 14 mines, at least are Chinese controlled. I 
say ``at least'' because this is public information. Most 
likely, it is much higher than that. And this is the core of 
the issue, because even if Glencore is free of slavery or free 
of child labor in the mines, they still need to refine it 
somewhere. And that can be mixed with minerals coming from 
other facilities, which is a problem.
    Mr. Niarchos. Yes, I just want to add that, you know, it 
can be mixed in China, so it's not necessarily happening in the 
DRC. It can happen overseas.
    Chair Smith. Okay. Thank you. Is there anything else you'd 
like to add before we conclude the hearing? Thank you for 
giving us so much of your time and, above all, your expertise. 
Your leadership is extraordinary. Thank you. The hearing is 
adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 12:20 p.m., the hearing was concluded.]

                             [all]


















=======================================================================


                         A  P  P  E  N  D  I  X

=======================================================================


                          Prepared Statements

                              ----------                              


                     Statement of Hon. Eric Schultz

    A year ago, I was invited to talk to the Tom Lantos Human Rights 
Commission on a similar topic. My presentation then characterized our 
relationship with China and Russia in Africa as adversarial, tantamount 
to war. Moreover, I argued it was a war we were losing, and in fact had 
been losing for many years.
    U.S. policy toward Africa, through the administrations of both 
parties, has been characterized above all by neglect. We have taken 
interest in Africa episodically, usually prompted by a crisis of some 
sort, and that interest usually wanes quickly and moves on.
    The result is that we left Africa for others, especially China and 
Russia. They have expanded their economic and political influence on 
the continent for decades at our expense. Moreover, it would have been 
a struggle regardless. They had advantages that we lacked. China and 
Russia were on the right side of Africa's liberation struggles, and 
though that was two generations ago, it still matters to Africans. It 
will always matter.
    Also, their governments subsidize and support their commercial 
ventures in a way that we do not. And they don't play fair: they abet 
corruption, and they ignore violations of civil and political and human 
rights.
    As many others have argued, the world is at an inflection point, 
riven by rivalry and by violence. China and Russia pose a systemic 
threat. They are allied against us and they mean to change the world 
order that we helped build. Africa is one of the key battlegrounds in 
this conflict.
    To win in Africa there are several things that we should and must 
do. To start with, we need to acknowledge that it is a conflict. It is 
no longer acceptable to say that Chinese investment is simply filling 
in where the West was too timid or too biased to venture.
    The old adage of ``one man, one vote, one time'' also applies to 
China in Africa: one investment, one country, for all time. The Chinese 
mean to freeze us out from African resources as best they can and they 
have spent hundreds of billions of dollars in this effort. And Africa's 
resources, especially copper, rare earths, and cobalt, are essential to 
next-generation economic growth.
    The Belt and Road Initiative, at least in Africa, is a transparent 
effort to gain the upper hand and assert dominion in Africa. There are 
few African countries that have not taken money and that are not in 
China's orbit.
    Russia's role is smaller but no less malign. Whether or not Wagner 
still exists is beside the point. Russian mercenaries and Russian arms 
merchants are ubiquitous in Africa. Nor should it be acceptable to be 
on our opponent's payrolls. Neither China nor Russia has real private 
companies. Working for a Chinese or a Russian company means working for 
their governments.
    We are not immune in the U.S. from the ``Schroederization'' of our 
elite. Many American businessmen, consultants, retired government 
officials and the like have taken Chinese and Russian money and have 
aided their efforts.
    We also need to change the way our government and businesses work 
together abroad, especially in Africa. We are a private sector economy 
and are stronger for it. But in many places in Africa the investment 
risk is high enough that government support needs to be overt to 
convince American companies to invest. The argument that we can't pick 
winners among American companies should no longer be an excuse for 
inaction. Supporting American companies should be a task, if not the 
principal one, of American foreign policy.
    The Development Finance Corporation is a good start to making that 
support more tangible, but it needs to be more active, to have fewer 
constraints on what it can support, and above all it needs to have more 
money. Its job should be to expand the reach and the influence of the 
American Government by expanding the reach and influence of American 
commerce. It should not make the perfect the enemy of the good.
    The U.S. Government itself should be cautious about imposing its 
views on Africans. Supporting democracy and human rights has to be at 
the center of U.S. foreign policy but not at the expense of 
friendships, because friendship is the key to winning in Africa and 
everywhere else. Less finger-wagging and more listening. More 
recognition of the way the world is and less dreaming of the way we 
want it to be.
    The U.S. is and always has been a better friend and a better ally 
than our rivals. At the end of the day, this is how we win. When an 
Indian company, for instance, has its mine expropriated in Africa, our 
response should not be to ignore the situation or to blame the victim. 
It should be to help the company of a friendly country.
    And when African countries find themselves in trouble, deep in 
debt, often as not the result of the corruption of previous regimes, we 
need to be more active in helping.
    Chinese debt is still rising in Africa, even if investment itself 
is tailing off. The problem now and for decades to come is the vast 
sums owed and the interest rates that cause those sums to compound and 
continue rising with no real prospect that the debts can ever be 
repaid. And China doesn't forgive.
    The IMF is a useful institution but using it to help countries meet 
their debt payments to China seems counterproductive. Wouldn't it be 
better to help African countries organize to negotiate as a group to 
press China for better terms, especially the forgiveness of some loans, 
at least those that can demonstrably be shown to be odious and the 
consequence of corruption?
    The Global South, especially Africa, is rising in importance, its 
clout growing in a polarized world. A New York Times headline the other 
day said it all--by 2050 one in four people will be Africans. And their 
economies are also among the fastest growing. Africa's friendship 
matters.
    PEPFAR was a great initiative twenty years ago; it saved millions 
of African lives. However, Africans tend to take it for granted now and 
are more impressed by China's infrastructure projects, however poorly 
built and misconceived. We can do better. My favorite proverb, Chinese 
ironically but taught to me by Africans, says that the best time to 
plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second-best time is today. Today 
is a good time to start fighting for Africa.
                                 ______
                                 

                       Statement of Milos Ivkovic

    Congressman Smith, Senator Merkley, honorable members of the 
Commission, thank you for the invitation to appear before you today.
    Critical minerals remain at the core of further technological 
advancement from vehicles to the defense industry, raising the issue of 
control over their extraction and application to the highest levels of 
national and corporate interest. Despite this unique value, we are 
faced with the paradox of almost no meaningful U.S. or Western 
corporate presence in the supply chain. Indeed, while the final 
products containing these minerals may be assembled in the markets of 
the U.S. or its allies, the critical areas of mineral extraction and 
refining remain far out of reach. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, 
as the saying goes, giving those who wield it impunity and influence 
beyond the scope of mineral production. While U.S. and European 
manufacturers may insist on implementing measures to ensure that every 
stage of production is free from intolerable human rights abuses, the 
reality of the monopolized supply chain, and the power behind it, makes 
it very difficult to actually achieve such an objective, at least not 
without concrete and aggressive action.

Understanding the Problem

    The story of cobalt is an unfortunate example of de facto informed 
silence and continued inaction in response to the unfathomable 
devastation of the basic human rights of the most vulnerable. It has 
been fourteen years since the Department of Labor added cobalt mined in 
the DRC to its ``List of Commodities Produced by Child or Forced 
Labor.'' \1\ Since then, it is estimated that between 35,000 \2\ and 
40,000 \3\ children, some as young as 6 \4\ to 9 \5\ years old, have 
been continuously involved in diverse mining operations in the DRC. In 
addition to life-threatening hazardous conditions,\6\ children are 
subjected to inhumane working hours,\7\ exposure to potentially toxic 
materials,\8\ physical abuse, and sexual exploitation.\9\ And yet, 
instead of receiving protection over the years, the DRC National Army 
itself was recently declared ``complicit in the worst forms of child 
labor'' as forced mining expanded to include other minerals such as 
gold, tin ore, tantalum ore, and tungsten ore.\10\ Transparency 
International's Corruption Perceptions Index 2022 ranked the DRC among 
the 15 most corrupt nations worldwide,\11\ with significant reports 
connecting corruption to the country's mining sector.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ See e.g. U.S. Department of Labor, ``List of Goods Produced by 
Child Labor or Forced Labor'' (2009); see also U.S. Department of 
Labor, ``List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor'' 
(2022), at p. 50.
    \2\ See e.g. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International 
Labor Affairs, ``2022 Findings on The Worst Forms of Child Labor, 
Congo, Democratic Republic of the'' (2022), at p. 2; See also. 
Siddharth Kara, ``Is your phone tainted by the misery of the 35,000 
children in Congo's mines?'' (2018) in The Guardian: https://
www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/oct/12/
phone-misery-children-congo-cobalt-mines-drc.
    \3\ See e.g. U.S. Department of Labor, ``List of Goods Produced by 
Child Labor or Forced Labor'' (2022), at p. 50; see also UNICEF, 
``Factsheet: enfants dans les mines'' (2014) cited in Amnesty 
International, ``THIS IS WHAT WE DIE FOR: Human Rights Abuses in the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo Power the Global Trade in Cobalt'' 
(2016), at pp. 6, 28.
    \4\ See e.g. U.S. Department of Labor, ``List of Goods Produced by 
Child Labor or Forced Labor'' (2022), at p. 50.
    \5\ See e.g. Amnesty International, ``THIS IS WHAT WE DIE FOR: 
Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power the 
Global Trade in Cobalt'' (2016), at p. 29.
    \6\ See e.g. OECD, ``Interconnected supply chains: a comprehensive 
look at due diligence challenges and opportunities sourcing cobalt and 
copper from the Democratic Republic of the Congo'' (2019), at p. 36; 
Amnesty International, ``THIS IS WHAT WE DIE FOR: Human Rights Abuses 
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power the Global Trade in 
Cobalt'' (2016), at p. 29 et seq.;
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, ``2022 
Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, Congo, Democratic Republic 
of the'' (2022), at p. 2; U.S. Department of Labor, ``List of Goods 
Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor'' (2022), at p. 51.
    \7\ See e.g. Amnesty International, ``THIS IS WHAT WE DIE FOR: 
Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power the 
Global Trade in Cobalt'' (2016), at p. 29.
    \8\ See e.g. Amnesty International, ``THIS IS WHAT WE DIE FOR: 
Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power the 
Global Trade in Cobalt'' (2016), at p. 30; see also Federal Ministry of 
Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, ``Child labour in the 
extractive sector'' (2022).
    \9\ See e.g. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International 
Labor Affairs, ``2022 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, 
Congo, Democratic Republic of the'' (2022), at p. 6; OECD, 
``Interconnected supply chains: a comprehensive look at due diligence 
challenges and opportunities sourcing cobalt and copper from the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo'' (2019), at p. 37;
Amnesty International, ``THIS IS WHAT WE DIE FOR: Human Rights Abuses 
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power the Global Trade in 
Cobalt'' (2016), at p. 30 et seq.
    \10\ See U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor 
Affairs, ``2022 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, Congo, 
Democratic Republic of the'' (2022), at p. 1.
    \11\ Transparency International, 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, 
Democratic Republic of the Congo: https://www.transparency.org/en/
countries/democratic-republic-of-the-congo.
    \12\ See e.g. The Sentry, ``The Backchannel: State Capture and 
Bribery in Congo's Deal of the Century'' (2021).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Unfortunately, these truly horrific practices are unlikely to 
change until and unless the incentives and impunity for wrongdoing are 
removed. Recognizing that the assumption of a simple solution does not 
do justice to the actual complexity of the matter, the remainder of the 
testimony seeks to address the various underlying causes of the crisis 
at hand, coupled with the powers available to the U.S. to counteract in 
line with its current policies.
    The upstream segment of the cobalt supply chain generally includes 
mining, mineral trading, and subsequent processing in smelters or 
refineries. Two distinct sets of considerations can be observed in 
practice in the DRC:
    Absolute poverty affects over 60 million Congolese who have to live 
on less than US$2.15 a day.\13\ In addition, 33 million Congolese have 
limited or no access to drinking water, and 43% of children under the 
age of 5 across the country suffer from malnutrition.\14\ Free 
education remains largely unavailable.\15\ It is rather impossible to 
speak of free will in such a state of effective survival. Hence, the 
families become a target for exploitation or worse. Children who end up 
working in cobalt mines are paid as little as US$1-2 per day by the 
traders.\16\ They may additionally be subjected to extortion by local 
law enforcement or security guards.\17\ Danger and objective 
exploitation notwithstanding, having no meaningful alternative leaves 
less than a choice but to comply at any personal cost. Put differently, 
the only source of income is participation in this circle of abuse.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\ The World Bank in DRC, country overview: https://
www.worldbank.org/en/country/drc/
overview.
    \14\ UNICEF, ``Water, sanitation and hygiene: Every child has a 
right to water, sanitation and a safe and clean community'': https://
www.unicef.org/drcongo/en/what-we-do/water-sanitation-and-hygiene.
    \15\ See e.g. Amnesty International, ``THIS IS WHAT WE DIE FOR: 
Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power the 
Global Trade in Cobalt'' (2016), at p. 31.
    \16\ See e.g. Amnesty International, ``THIS IS WHAT WE DIE FOR: 
Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power the 
Global Trade in Cobalt'' (2016), at p. 31.
    \17\ See Bureau of International Labor Affairs, ``2022 Findings on 
The Worst Forms of Child Labor, Congo, Democratic Republic of the'' 
(2022), at p. 6; see also Amnesty International, ``THIS IS WHAT WE DIE 
FOR: Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power 
the Global Trade in Cobalt'' (2016), at p. 30.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The other side of the same upstream coin is the demand. Over 70% of 
the world's supply of cobalt comes from the DRC.\18\ Between 20% \19\ 
and 30% \20\ of those quantities may be traced back to artisan mines 
powered inter alia by child labor. Traders (commonly referred to as 
``buying houses'') purchase cobalt from children and then sell it to 
processing plants connected to collection ports. At these stages, it is 
often inevitable that illegally obtained cobalt will be mixed into the 
mass of exported minerals.\21\ In 2020, Chinese companies imported 
nearly 90% of their cobalt needs from the DRC.\22\ It is publicly known 
that at least eight of the fourteen largest cobalt mines in the DRC are 
controlled by Chinese companies, but the actual number is likely to be 
much higher. In addition, mainland China accounts for 80% of the 
world's cobalt refining capacity.\23\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \18\ See e.g. U.S. Department of Labor, ``List of Goods Produced by 
Child Labor or Forced Labor'' (2022), at p. 51.
    \19\ See e.g. Amnesty International, ``THIS IS WHAT WE DIE FOR: 
Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power the 
Global Trade in Cobalt'' (2016), at p. 46.
    \20\ See e.g. Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and 
Development of Germany, ``Child labour in the extractive sector'' 
(2022).
    \21\ See e.g. U.S. Department of Labor, ``List of Goods Produced by 
Child Labor or Forced Labor'' (2022), at p. 51.
    \22\ See e.g. U.S. Department of Labor, ``List of Goods Produced by 
Child Labor or Forced Labor'' (2022), at p. 51.
    \23\ OECD, ``Interconnected supply chains: a comprehensive look at 
due diligence challenges and opportunities sourcing cobalt and copper 
from the Democratic Republic of the Congo'' (2019), at p. 5.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The downstream segment of the cobalt supply chain generally 
includes manufacturing activities--from components to lithium-ion 
batteries. In 2020 alone, 41% of all batteries containing cobalt were 
imported from China.\24\ U.S. battery imports were even more 
significant, reaching 47% in the same calendar year.\25\ These figures 
suggest an absolute monopoly on what has become one of the most 
critical supply chains, and may help explain why years of reporting on 
the link between the worst forms of child labor and the cobalt supply 
chain have regularly fallen on deaf ears.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \24\ See e.g. U.S. Department of Labor, ``List of Goods Produced by 
Child Labor or Forced Labor'' (2022), at p. 51.
    \25\ See e.g. U.S. Department of Labor, ``List of Goods Produced by 
Child Labor or Forced Labor'' (2022), at p. 51.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Path Forward

    Despite the challenges, progress has been made to address at least 
some of the supply chain issues, reducing the overall state of 
potential dependence. Since 2020, battery manufacturing activity has 
been aggressively attracted to the U.S. This is indeed a big step in 
the right direction. However, despite its obvious potential, it does 
not address the rest of the upstream issues, which necessarily remain 
tied to the DRC and wrongful practices in its mining sector.
    From the corporate perspective, there have been public signals of 
willingness to act and remedy the situation for more than five years. 
However, the promises of change may have fallen desperately short of 
expectations. In 2017, Amnesty International concluded that the 
majority of downstream companies had taken minimal action to improve 
their due diligence on the issue of child labor involvement in their 
supply chains.\26\ Just two years later, a report subsequently cited by 
the OECD found ``low levels of due diligence disclosure, with none of 
the 42 companies examined having described the steps taken to manage 
risks or summarized their risk mitigation strategies related to child 
labor.'' \27\ Similarly, the German government reaffirmed in 2022 that 
up to 30% of cobalt in the DRC will continue to come from artisanal 
sources,\28\ while in the same year the Department of Labor announced 
minimal progress in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor 
in the DRC's extractive industries.\29\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \26\ Amnesty International ``Time to Recharge: Corporate Action and 
Inaction to Tackle Abuses in the Cobalt Supply Chain'' (2017), cited in 
OECD, ``Interconnected supply chains: a comprehensive look at due 
diligence challenges and opportunities sourcing cobalt and copper from 
the Democratic Republic of the Congo'' (2019), at p. 40.
    \27\ Bayer, C., and Cooper A., ``Worst Forms of Child Labour in the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Cobalt Refiner Due Diligence 
Reporting'' (2019) cited in OECD, ``Interconnected supply chains: a 
comprehensive look at due diligence challenges and opportunities 
sourcing cobalt and copper from the Democratic Republic of the Congo'' 
(2019), at p. 40.
    \28\ Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of 
Germany, ``Child labour in the extractive sector'' (2022).
    \29\ U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor 
Affairs, ``2022 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, Congo, 
Democratic Republic of the'' (2022), at p. 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    According to recent estimates, demand for cobalt is expected to 
quadruple by 2030 as compared to 2019.\30\ As demand for cobalt 
increases so does, unfortunately, the risk of child labor in mining. 
Considering this, it may be critical to examine what powers the U.S. 
and its companies have under these circumstances to further address 
practices that so flagrantly violate fundamental rights and freedoms.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \30\ World Economic Forum, ``A Vision for a Sustainable Battery 
Value Chain in 2030: Unlocking the Full Potential to Power Sustainable 
Development and Climate Change Mitigation'' (2019), at p. 16.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    While corporate pressure is theoretically possible, it requires a 
high degree of market dominance or importance, which can then be 
translated into pressure on upstream actors to aggressively address 
child labor in the cobalt supply chain. Intel's success in ensuring a 
conflict-free supply chain in the microprocessor industry \31\ is an 
example of a successful outcome. Nevertheless, the argument that 
Western companies themselves currently have the power or incentive to 
force Chinese-backed counterparts to comply with international 
standards is a difficult one to make.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \31\ See e.g. Intel's Efforts to Achieve a ``Conflict Free'' Supply 
Chain: https://www.sec.gov/
comments/s7-40-10/s74010-419.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As noted above, Chinese companies control almost all the mines and 
refineries needed to produce batteries. In addition, China is expected 
to remain the world's largest EV market in the short term, with a 
market share of up to 45%.\32\ Finally, current projections suggest 
that Chinese EV manufacturers will gain over 20% of global market share 
by 2030.\33\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \32\ See e.g. Sheila Chiang, ``Automakers promote advanced tech to 
compete in China--the world's top EV market'' (2023), CNBC: https://
www.cnbc.com/2023/08/04/ev-makers-promote-
advanced-tech-to-compete-in-china.html#.
    \33\ See e.g. Simon Evans, ``Carmakers to lose 20pc of share to 
Chinese electric vehicles'' (2023), The Australian Financial Review: 
https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/carmakers-to-lose-20pc-of-
share-to-chinese-electric-vehicles-20230904-p5e1v2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Another commercial reality is that the current supply chain is 
affordable, and any readjustment could well lead to higher costs and 
negatively affect the prices of final products. Therefore, in the 
absence of positive incentives such as non-market interventions and 
direct governmental support, Western companies may have little motive 
to enter additional segments, such as refining or mining, themselves. 
An example of a legislative initiative that recognizes some objective 
commercial barriers to change may be the ``Cobalt Optimizes Batteries 
and Leading Technologies Act of 2022,'' which provides for the 
development of cobalt refining capacity in the U.S., with potential 
funding from the Defense Production Act. However, further cooperation 
with industry leaders from the U.S. and allied countries is likely 
required, since without their participation the risk of negative 
dependency is unlikely to be resolved.
    Notwithstanding potentially supportive U.S. actions, as long as 
crimes go unpunished and actors responsible for the worst forms of 
child labor enjoy effective impunity, it is difficult to expect rapid 
and meaningful change in practices on the ground in the DRC. Careful 
consideration of tangible consequences for unlawful actions may 
therefore be required. Three types of measures are arguably available 
to the U.S. authorities assuming the facts as stated:
    A potential action affecting all market participants, without legal 
effect on their individual ability to operate generally as commercial 
entities and without regard to their actual involvement in any proven 
illegal practices, is a temporary suspension of international trade in 
or imports of cobalt into the U.S.--to the extent that there is a risk 
of importation of cobalt or cobalt-containing products sourced through 
child labor. The positive potential effects of such an approach are 
that the U.S., by virtue of its market position, can exert far more 
dominant pressure than commercial actors acting independently, and thus 
influence the triggering of remedial market practices. It should be 
noted, however, that an absolute ban on imports may have negative 
short-term effects on the U.S. market--an issue that can perhaps be 
addressed through licensing and due diligence requirements overseen by 
the authorities. In this regard, the draft legislation ``Countering 
China's Exploitation of Strategic Minerals and Child Labor in the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo Act'' may be of interest for further 
discussion. Similarly, it may be possible to consider amending the 
conflict minerals list in Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 
Reform and Consumer Protection Act to include cobalt and child labor.
    Secondly, the sheer scale of uninterrupted violations of 
fundamental human rights for more than a decade, and potentially lethal 
nature of the worst forms of child labor in the DRC, continue to 
provide sufficient basis under both domestic and international law for 
the U.S. and its allies to impose sanctions on states, companies, and 
individuals found to be engaged in these activities. The U.S. has 
already taken significant steps in this regard. However, it is 
important to understand the nature of sanctions in order to appreciate 
their limited power: sanctions are neither permanent nor punitive 
measures under international law; their sole purpose is to correct and 
halt an unlawful act pending a future resolution. Once the wrongful 
conduct ceases, the legal basis for sanctions disappears, leaving many 
directly responsible free of any responsibility.
    Therefore, criminal investigations may be initiated, at least with 
respect to the organizers and those directly responsible for promoting 
the worst forms of child labor in the extractive industries of the DRC. 
In this regard, like many of my colleagues, I believe that child labor 
in hazardous conditions constitutes a violation of peremptory norms of 
international law prohibiting slavery. Peremptory norms (lat. jus 
cogens) are those norms of international law from which no country may 
derogate to any degree. In addition, ``inhumane acts [ . . . ] 
intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to 
mental or physical health'' can rise to the level of crimes against 
humanity if they are ``widespread'' or ``systematic'', and ``directed 
against a civilian population.'' \34\ In the present case, the Bureau 
of International Labor Affairs explicitly declared the armed forces of 
the DRC to be ``complicit in the worst forms of child labor.'' \35\ 
Thus, the U.S. and the international community in general would 
arguably have a legal obligation to act to protect against acts 
analogous to slavery and potential crimes against humanity. In any 
event, international law permits the initiation of national 
proceedings, especially when there is a nexus between the violations 
mentioned and another territory that receives the proceeds of such 
violations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \34\ Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 7.
    \35\ See U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor 
Affairs, ``2022 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, Congo, 
Democratic Republic of the'' (2022), at p. 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Finally, the local Congolese population should be given 
alternatives to forced mining. Let there be no doubt: Artisanal mining 
cannot be made safer or more humane. Without tangible investment, 
whether through meaningful social initiative projects by companies 
present in the country or USAID initiatives, they may be left with a 
bitter end without any source of income.

Concluding Remarks

    As someone who has personally seen this suffering, as a father 
whose young children, if born in the DRC, could have ended up in the 
same cycle of abuse, and as a true believer in the rule of law, I ask 
you to consider a series of actions that can put an end to the worst 
forms of child labor in the DRC's extractive industries. I also take a 
moment to note that the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Administration are 
truly the last human hope for millions of people in this region.

    This testimony is an independent expert opinion provided at the 
request of the U.S. Congress and does not necessarily represent the 
views or opinions of Washington University School of Law or any other 
third party, court, or institution.

                   Statement of Joseph Mulala Nguramo

    Thank you, Chairman Smith and Co-chairman Senator Merkley, and 
thank you to all the distinguished members of the Congressional-
Executive Commission on China for what you are doing, and especially 
for holding this hearing at a time when a lot is going on around the 
world, leaving many people worried about tomorrow and the future. From 
the ongoing illegal and unjustified Russian war of aggression against 
Ukraine, which has affected the entire world by exporting global 
inflation and exacerbating food insecurity throughout Africa, to the 
crisis in the Middle East and rising tension in the African Great Lakes 
region which has displaced millions of people and left them in grave 
and urgent need of humanitarian assistance--I appreciate your 
leadership and attention to these issues. Thank you very much.
    Before I move to the main points of my remarks, I would like to 
quickly mention that almost 8 years ago, I graduated from the United 
States Military Academy at West Point. I was in the class of 2014. The 
Forever One Team was the motto of my class. Appointment to the Academy 
was the greatest honor of my life. I would like to take this 
opportunity to express the depths of my profound gratitude to this 
great country, to Members of Congress, and to the American people for 
having given me such an opportunity. Thank you!
    While at the Academy, I had the opportunity to meet and get to know 
some of the finest young men and women this country has to offer. Some 
of them have become dear friends and like family to me. I do my best to 
keep up with them--hearing about their daily lives and the progress 
they are making in achieving the American dream--no matter where they 
are serving around the world. And I am always inspired by their 
selfless service and commitment to Duty, Honor and Country. Like all 
men and women in uniform, I am always inspired by their sacrifice to 
serve a noble cause greater than themselves--defending our collective 
freedom and the preservation of democracy around the world. I have no 
doubt that, regardless of current challenges and turbulence, whether at 
home or abroad, the future of this great nation will be in good hands. 
I am very proud to call them my classmates and dear friends. Thank you.
    I am truly honored and humbled to be here and happy to share with 
you my modest understanding of the issues we are discussing today; and 
hopefully, together we can find sustainable solutions on how to 
effectively address these problems and try to leave this world a bit 
better place for all. I am optimistic that, working together, 
everything is possible and we can do it.
    These are just my independent views--observing a situation that is 
becoming more and more alarming and concerning. As a member of the 
African diaspora and working with the Atlantic Council on the future of 
U.S.-China and -Africa relations in this new area of great-power 
competition, I follow these issues closely. The situation is close to 
my heart--I have reached out and assisted in some special cases, where 
we try to find ways to send kids to school so that they don't find 
themselves abused and in these inhumane conditions.
    I rarely speak in public. However, at some point, the voices and 
messages describing horrific human conditions in which kids and women 
are working in DRC mining, will not let anyone in good conscience 
remain indifferent. As a society and humanity, we have a moral and 
ethical obligation to denounce and act. All actors involved who can do 
something positive about this, especially public and private 
partnerships, should pay attention. History will hold us accountable.
    I don't know everything. As a matter of fact, I am still learning 
every day and getting educated about these issues. My testimony will 
primarily focus on the humanitarian and political problems of the PRC's 
mining practices from a Congolese perspective, including corruption and 
forced and child labor and how we can address it.

Historical Perspective

    Almost 180 years ago, in the mid-19th century, the rubber tire was 
invented. Sadly, this apparent progress for humanity and our 
civilization came at a heavy cost of human exploitation--because to 
support the boom and demand created by the bicycle and automobile 
industry at the turn of the 20th century, the world had to increase the 
production of rubber that was only coming from the Belgian Congo at the 
time. It was called Congo Free State then. Our ancestors in Congo 
carried the scars of this burden and the consequences can still be felt 
today. However, with public campaigns, especially from independent 
journalists/writers, such as Joseph Conrad, missionaries, and others--
writing the true stories of what was happening--eventually this tragedy 
ended and led to Congo independence in 1960. I will not have time to 
get further into detail, but if interested and you have time, I 
recommend the book, ``King Leopold's Ghost'' by Adam Hochschild to 
grasp the magnitude of this tragedy.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Adam Hochschild King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, 
and Heroism in Colonial Africa, October 1, 1999.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The progress of civilization shouldn't come at the expense of human 
exploitation. It is possible to ensure our prosperity while 
concurrently defending and protecting human dignity and freedom. Today, 
with the green power revolution, to meet the demand of battery 
production to save the planet from climate change, the similarities are 
striking. History should not be repeating itself here. We have 
sufficient data, information, and policy tools to change the course of 
history by acting and avoiding past mistakes. It will take leadership. 
I am optimistic that with these kinds of public hearings, we will raise 
global awareness on these issues and put an end to these shameful 
practices that don't honor our society. And I believe education is a 
key part of the solution. I will talk more about that in my conclusion.

The Problem

    What is happening in the DRC, in this 21st century, as relates to 
child labor and humanitarian catastrophe, is dehumanizing and 
unacceptable. No one's child, mother, brother, sister, or father should 
ever work, or be, in such conditions. It offends human dignity, honor, 
and conscience.
    Reports and images of children under 10 years old carrying 20kg to 
60kg bags full of sand--containing cobalt and copper, shipped to China 
for refining; and then fed into the critical minerals supply chain to 
power the global energy transition from fossil fuel to clean energy, 
are unacceptable, morally offensive, and shocking. Despite reforms, a 
well-documented Washington Post article provides details of 
shortcomings in addressing these issues of child labor and human rights 
violations at a severe human cost.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ Despite reforms, mining for EV metals in Congo exacts steep 
cost on workers. After revelations of child labor and treacherous 
conditions in many cobalt mines, automakers and mineral companies said 
they would adhere to international safety standards: https://
www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/ev-cobalt-mines-congo/. 
August 4, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Over 40,000 children are reported to work in these mines, mostly 
owned by Chinese companies (15 out of 19 companies operating in 
Katanga, for example). Seventy percent of the cobalt supplied to the 
world comes from the DRC, 30% of which is from artisanal mining, where 
the most egregious human rights violations occur because of a lack of 
transparency, accountability, and rampant corruption. Picking up rocks 
with bare hands, without shoes, without medical insurance and adequate 
protective gear leaves miners exposed to contamination. Tunnels and 
mines collapse, often leading to death. And these children are not even 
paid. They are basically being exploited and abused. A typical person 
working in these mines is barely making $250 a month, despite all the 
hard work, according to an authoritative Amnesty International 2016 
report.\3\ Various U.S. Government agencies/departments such as the 
Departments of State and Labor, and EU and UN reports, have 
substantiated these allegations.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Democratic Republic of Congo: `` `This is what we die for': 
Human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo power the 
global trade in cobalt,'' https://www.amnesty.org/en/
documents/afr62/3183/2016/en/, January 2016.
    \4\ Minimal Advancement--Efforts Made but Regression in Practice 
that Delayed Advancement, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/
reports/child-labor/congo-democratic-republic-drc, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Next to the humanitarian cost is the environmental degradation that 
is affecting the health of the population living in the vicinity. Cases 
of people suffering from cancer, lung disease and DNA modification 
because of exposure to toxic chemicals and waste dumped by mining 
operations are poignant. Credible scientific reports have shown that 
this waste has severe consequences for the local population and the 
environment and yet no one is held accountable. A recent book, ``Cobalt 
Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives'' by Siddharth Kara, 
provides the most coherent and comprehensive understanding and 
analysis, both in scale and scope, of this humanitarian tragedy.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Siddharth Kara, Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers 
Our Lives, 2023.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why is this problem persisting?

    Extreme poverty, rampant corruption, the lack of quality 
governance, lack of the rule of law, the lack of access to credible 
information and the lack of access to quality education of the local 
population are the underlying causes of this humanitarian tragedy.\6\ 
And China simply took advantage of the situation. The complicity 
between DRC government officials and private sector companies is, 
unfortunately, fueling and perpetuating this problem. Sadly, the 
current DRC regime has miserably failed to address these issues, 
especially fighting corruption. Its promises to revise the 2008 Chinese 
mining contracts have barely brought concrete results.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ Minimal Advancement--Efforts Made but Regression in Practice 
that Delayed Advancement, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/
reports/child-labor/congo-democratic-republic-drc, 2022.
    \7\ DRC demands $17bn for infrastructure from China, https://
www.globalconstructionreview.com/drc-demands-17bn-for-infrastructure-
from-china/, February 17, 2023.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
What can be done?

    We should work on reducing Chinese dominance in the DRC mining 
sector, while mitigating the global reliance on the Belt & Road 
Initiative by de-risking and diversifying our supply chain. 
Particularly, we must address the issues of child labor and corruption, 
as proposed by Congressman Smith in the bill to ban certain goods made 
with child labor or forced labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo--
to NOT allow them to enter the United States, Mexico, and Canada 
markets.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ Smith introduces bill to bar all imports that contain cobalt 
mined by child exploitation and forced labor trafficking in the 
Democratic Republic of Congo, https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/
documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=411555, June 30, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The primary goal should aim at a nation-building approach by 
enabling the DRC to power the global green revolution to fight climate 
change. Look for inspiration to South Korea (electronics), Finland 
(mobile phones), and Latvia (cyber security).

    Secondary goals should aim at:

      Establishing the DRC as a global hub for electronics 
manufacturing by maximizing the country's abundant natural and human 
workforce resources (including low wages), access to global trade 
routes, a geographic location at the center of Africa, and so forth. 
For example, the U.S.-DRC-Zambia MOU to build the EV battery chain is a 
good initiative. The Lobito Corridor project that will connect Zambia, 
DRC, and Angola all the way to the Atlantic coast will further 
reinforce the policy of de-risking and diversification.

      Providing the Western and U.S. markets with an 
alternative to China through the advancement and aggressive 
implementation and expansion of the African Growth Opportunity Act 
(AGOA), U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC), 
and Prosper Africa programs. Additionally, we should support the 
ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) 
so that the African Continental Free Trade Area is free and independent 
from China influence.

      Furthering brand awareness of Congo cobalt and the life-
saving impact it can have on local communities when properly managed, 
coupled with an aggressive campaign to illustrate the wastefulness of 
shipping earth to China for processing and the polluting effects of 
said trade on the world environment.

      Providing DRC/Artisanal Small-Scale Mining with the tools 
(both electronic and physical) to ensure fair and adequate compensation 
for their product in line with international market conditions.

      Ensuring the continued use of cobalt in electronics 
through rapid enforcement of existing laws to discourage further 
funding of alternative stabilizing materials for use in battery 
manufacturing.

    What should Made in Congo stand for?

      Leader in conflict-free, certifiably traceable 
``ingredients'' on the box.

      Highest quality standards ensured--this needs to be 
enforced from the start. The popular perception of Made in Congo 
products must be reversed.

      Products that power the green revolution worldwide.

      Secure because traceable--marketing to national grids and 
others. MUST cultivate a reputation for not cutting corners or forging 
documents/ingredient lists.

Conclusion and Recommendations

    Concurrent with the enforcement of due diligence and compliance 
with laws and regulations, from the source of extraction of natural 
resources, to refineries to ensure a clean supply chain, there are 
already plenty of good ideas, as mentioned above, on how we could 
address these issues of child labor and corruption. It will just take 
the political will and leadership. But here are a few concrete 
solutions I would like to share with you:

    1. Continue raising awareness. We must stay engaged and keep 
shining a spotlight on these issues. We shouldn't shy away from them 
because of the complexity of the situation. It is a human tragedy and 
as a society we have a moral obligation to intervene and stop this. 
Let's not be naive. Talking about this will not solve the problem. But 
the fact that the world can talk about this, and the more people are 
well informed and become aware of this tragedy--let's be optimistic 
that solutions will be found, and these children will go back to 
school, where they belong in the first place, and get an education to 
have a better future. And hopefully, China will pay appropriate 
attention and play a positive role to alter these conditions.

    2. Strengthening, reinforcing, and improving the Public-Private 
Partnership. Governments across the board, working with Big Tech 
companies and even development/financial institutions with direct 
impact and influence in the market, should use all the leverage, 
incentives, and tools possible to ensure a clean supply chain not 
tainted with child labor, corruption, and human rights abuse. For 
example, the EU Global Gateway, the Minerals Security Partnership and 
the Partnership on Global Infrastructure and Initiative are ways to 
start. The more the U.S.A. and allies are less dependent on Chinese 
supply chains by applying the policy of de-risking and diversification, 
the more likely that global consumers, mainly the U.S. market, will not 
import semiconductors, phones, computers, etc., from China. The lack of 
access to EU and U.S.A. markets will significantly impact the 
profitability of these businesses. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention 
Act and the DHS/Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force are good examples 
of this approach. The U.S.A. and its allies should do the same as 
relates to child labor in DRC mining. And apply targeted sanctions 
accordingly.

    3. Engaging China. In our strategic engagement with China about 
global issues of mutual interest--mainly China here, because Chinese 
companies are the main buyers of DRC minerals (over 70%) and have the 
great majority of refineries in the world (about 60 to 90%) \9\--we 
should be talking to Chinese officials and their private sector 
companies to, frankly, investigate these issues and do everything they 
can to help address them. I would like to think that China will 
understand, especially if it wants to be perceived as a responsible 
global power. Failure to do that, continuing this exploitation, while 
robbing these children of their futures, will tarnish China's 
reputation and will not be good in the long term. China should see this 
as its own problem and pressure the DRC government and its private 
companies to comply with due diligence in making sure that its supply 
chain is clean of child labor and human rights abuses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\ How to Break China's Hold on Batteries and Critical Minerals: 
The Security of Clean Energy Is Easier to Manage than the Security of 
Oil, https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/10/04/ev-electric-
china-us-batteries-critical-minerals-energy-oil-renewable/
#::text=Today%20%20China%20
performs%20around%2060%20percent%20to%2090%20percent%20of%20the%20thepro
cessing %20of%20most%20minerals. October 4, 2023.

    4. Emphasizing the responsibility of the DRCG itself. This is not 
often invoked; however, the DRC government must take responsibility by 
making sure laws are fully enforced and that those trespassing those 
laws are punished and sanctioned. The DRCG should carry out the heavy 
lifting by taking ownership and leadership to fix this problem. The 
U.S.A. and private sector companies' involvement can act in a 
supportive capacity to help the DRCG in this endeavor; however, this 
issue is fundamentally the responsibility of the DRCG. The DRCG must 
make sure that the rule of law and quality governance are enforced and 
prevail, without which it will be difficult for external actors to try 
to assist. DRCG officials implicated in collusion with these practices 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
of corruption must be prosecuted and held accountable.

    5. Supporting and protecting independent and credible reports, 
research, and 
whistleblowers. We should keep working and supporting independent and 
credible civil society movements that can report on these issues with 
credibility. In this era of disinformation and fake news, we need 
access to factual, credible, and reliable data, information, and 
intelligence to make the right decisions while at the same time 
providing the necessary resources to appropriate organizations doing 
this kind of work.

    6. Defending, reinforcing, and promoting democracy, the rule of law 
and quality governance. Upcoming DRC elections are an opportunity to 
ensure the legitimacy of institutions without which instability, poor 
governance, and lack of rule of law persist and perpetuate these 
problems. Let's make sure that upcoming Congo elections are credible 
and transparent. May the best of all win the election and let's let the 
will of the people prevail (Vox Populi, Vox Dei). A strong, dynamic, 
resilient, and thriving democracy in the DRC is in our national 
security interests. It will be a boost for the entire region for 
decades to come and have ripple effects across Africa. In that regard, 
I sincerely hope that the BRIDGE to DRC Act bill will become law and 
become official U.S. policy and strategy toward the DRC and the 
region.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ Representative John James (MI-10) introduced the Building 
Relationships and Increasing Democratic Governance through Engagement 
(BRIDGE) to DRC Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill aims 
to create a U.S. National Strategy to secure United States supply 
chains involving critical minerals sourced from the Democratic Republic 
of Congo (DRC): https://james.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-james-
introduces-bridge-drc-act. July 2023.

    7. Lastly, investing heavily in education. As Nelson Mandela once 
remarked, ``Education is the most powerful tool to change the world.'' 
At the end of the day, education, education, and education is key, if 
we are to help these children escape these conditions (against their 
will) and escape poverty, the main cause of why they are there. We 
should make sure that they have access to quality education and not be 
caught between the global race to energy transition and global power 
competition. No parent wants to see their kids in these conditions. 
Every parent's hope is that their children have access to a good 
education and have a better future. When looking in the eyes of these 
children--and by the way, seeing myself not far or different from them, 
I feel they deserve better, and we should help them. We should build 
more schools and libraries for these children so they can grow up and 
be well-informed and educated citizens that the world can count on and 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
rely on to solve its 21st century challenges.

    Thank you for having me and I'm looking forward to your questions.
                                 ______
                                 

                     Statement of Nicolas Niarchos

    Chairman Smith, Chairman Merkley, and all other members of the 
Commission, thank you for inviting me to speak. I am here to testify 
about the environmental impact of copper-cobalt mining in the southern 
Democratic Republic of Congo. I visited the DRC six times between 2019 
and 2022 reporting for the New Yorker, the Nation and Interlope 
magazines. On each of these trips, and on trips I have made for an 
upcoming book, I have seen the intense environmental degradation and 
deleterious effects of the practice on the health of the local 
population.
    Copper and cobalt are two key materials for the creation of 
lithium-ion batteries, electric devices and especially for the 
electrification of transport, which is an important factor in the 
reduction of fossil fuel emissions and the slowing of climate change. 
It is also an important economic factor--strategic firms like Tesla use 
lithium-ion batteries in their products. Around 70% of the global 
cobalt supply comes from the DRC. A 2021 report by the World Bank 
estimated that we will need three billion tons or more of metals to 
achieve a ``below 2 degrees future.''
    But the question we must ask ourselves is whether the harm done by 
the extraction of these metals--and indeed the fossil fuels expended in 
their mining, transport, processing and so on--does not outweigh the 
benefit. Is the juice worth the squeeze?
    Too often have natural environments been destroyed in the name of 
progress, and too often have the lives of people far from the cities in 
which minerals are consumed been destroyed. The local population does 
not benefit and are left with little more than holes in the ground. 
There is even a term for these places, often unspoiled habitats that 
are carved up when a mineral is found under their soil. They are known 
as ``sacrifice zones.''
    In reporting for the New Yorker and the Nation, I have seen how 
landscapes have been destroyed, water polluted, and air filled with 
dust and carbon as mining companies rush to extract minerals like 
copper, cobalt, lithium, and phosphates. Oftentimes, human rights 
abuses go hand-in-glove with these environmental catastrophes. In 
Congo, the miombo forests of the southern savanna have been cut back 
and the land looks as if it has been bombed; in Indonesia, the lust for 
battery nickel is responsible for seas pumped with chemicals and air 
clogged with coal; in the Western Sahara, where Morocco extracts 
phosphate, activists are regularly attacked by the security services--
there, the Korean company LG and the Chinese company Huayou have formed 
a joint venture to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries. I could go 
on and on.
    But I have also seen that there are ways to mine responsibly, ways 
in which mining can be done in what is known as a ``closed loop.'' I 
have seen how this is possible in the U.S., in Idaho. Even in Congo, 
some of the mines, and especially the giant Kamoto Copper Company mine 
near the town of Kolwezi, which I toured last year, have implemented 
environmental protocols aimed at ameliorating and moderating the 
environmental impact of mining.
    Sadly, these examples are exceptions to the rule, and an 
environmental catastrophe is underway in southern DRC. The rush to 
produce devices, batteries, and electric products more cheaply has 
created a demand for metals that has led to more and more unscrupulous 
behavior. Chinese firms and traders are at the forefront of these 
practices. There is a saying in Congo: ``If they don't give their 
workers shoes in their own country, why would they give us shoes 
here?''
    In Congo, there are two types of mine, although there are 
gradations between these two. There are industrial mines, which use 
modern and mechanized methods. They are responsible for the majority of 
the cobalt that comes out of Congo. The industrial mines I have been 
allowed to visit have emphasized their environmental mitigation 
efforts.
    However, I was not permitted to visit the giant Tenke-Fungurume 
mine, located between the towns of Likasi and Kolwezi and operated by 
the giant Chinese firm CMOC. Other journalists have been subject to 
harassment visiting the Tenke-Fungurume site. I visited an adjacent 
site where small-scale miners showed me polluted rivers in which women 
washed clothes and minerals.
    The second type of mine in Congo is the artisanal mine. The world 
is home to some 45 million ``artisanal miners''--people who mine for 
themselves or small cooperatives. Congo's copper-and-cobalt belt is 
home to some 200,000 of these miners who sell the ore they collect to 
``depots,'' or ``maisons'' as they are known.
    Before sale at these depots but in some cases after, the ore is 
crudely processed by washing it in local water supplies. Studies show 
that fish in rivers in the mining provinces have been contaminated with 
heavy metals and uranium. At the village of Samukinda, I saw how cobalt 
washing, as well as effluent from a factory processing cobalt and 
copper, had destroyed fields. The chief of the village, Rikomeno 
Samukinda, explained that they could no longer grow food there and more 
and more of the villagers had to take risky mining jobs in order to 
provide for their families. His associates showed me water coming from 
a pipe from the facility that had a mild greenish color, and also said 
they had seen the dumping of residue from pressure acid leaching of 
cobalt, a process to convert heterogenite ore to cobalt hydroxide that 
uses chemicals like sulfuric acid.
    In southern Congo, women wash raw mining material, which is often 
full of toxic metals and, in some cases, mildly radioactive. Stories 
abound of artisanal miners in the town of Likasi dying from radiation 
poisoning. Congo's government has sealed off the Tshinkolobwe mine, 
where the uranium for the Hiroshima bomb came from, but miners are 
working nearby in barely protected conditions. If a pregnant woman 
works with such heavy metals as cobalt, it can increase her chances of 
having a stillbirth or a child with birth defects.
    According to a recent study in The Lancet, women in southern Congo 
``had metal concentrations that are among the highest ever reported for 
pregnant women.'' The study also found a strong link between fathers 
who worked with mining chemicals and fetal abnormalities in their 
children, noting that ``paternal occupational mining exposure was the 
factor most strongly associated with birth defects.''
    Furthermore, children as young as 3 mine and handle the toxic ore. 
They are sometimes drugged and deprived of food. These factors all 
contribute to developmental disorders and reduce life expectancy in the 
mining regions of Congo.
    In March 2022, I spent a day with Dr. Billy Mukong, a local 
physician in the mining town of Kolwezi. As Dr. Mukong did his rounds, 
he introduced me to women whose children were born with defects. Some 
had swollen heads. Some were developmentally disabled. The defects, he 
said, were thanks to exposure to dust that is blown off the back of 
trucks carrying raw and processed ore around Kolwezi. (It is worth 
noting here that some of the women we met said they ate soil during 
pregnancy as a part of a traditional remedy, which Mukong said would 
also increase their likelihood of exposure to heavy metals poisoning.) 
Over and again, I saw women and men with blistered arms from exposure 
to toxic chemicals.
    The depots where the ore is collected are often run by foreign 
traders. Many are Chinese, Lebanese, and Indian nationals who have 
settled in the region. Some of the depots are owned by or supply larger 
depots owned by international companies. The most prominent of these is 
Congo Dongfang Mining, or CDM.
    CDM is a subsidiary of Huayou, a China-based company that has 
supplied cobalt to firms like Apple and Samsung. CDM has said they have 
made efforts to clean up their supply chain and to ensure that 
children, for example, are not mining cobalt. But last year I travelled 
from an illegal artisanal site outside the town of Fungurume with a 
local dealer in copper and cobalt ore who pointed out to me where he 
sold his product. The site was owned by CDM, who could not possibly 
have controlled how the ore was mined or who mined it.
    When cobalt is collected, it is processed into hydroxide. This is 
often done inside the DRC, but sometimes the unprocessed product is 
shipped out on flatbed trucks. At the Kasumbalesa border post, trucks 
idle for days until they are allowed out of the country. People in the 
towns around complain of asthma caused by the fumes.
    At processing facilities in China and Korea, this material can be 
mixed with industrial product before it becomes the battery cathodes 
that we use in electric vehicles and also in everyday appliances like 
laptops and cellphones. More needs to be done to trace this supply 
chain and ensure the rights of the people at the very bottom of it.
    We must also not forget the very real human rights abuses that 
attend the extraction of battery metals in the DRC. Children are 
brutalized, women are violated, and men are subjected to wage slavery. 
Abuses of human rights happen at the bottom of the supply chain, but 
also to people who are trying to clarify what is happening in the 
supply chain.
    In my own work, I was disappeared and detained for six days by the 
Democratic Republic of Congo's government as I tried to shed light on 
some of the abuses I document above, as well as clarify the links 
between armed groups and the mines. I would like to take this 
opportunity to thank the members of this commission and others in the 
U.S. Government who helped secure my release. Some Congolese 
journalists are not so lucky: the journalist Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala 
languishes in jail for a report that he reportedly did not even write. 
More must be done to promote transparency and thorough reporting on the 
supply chain, which firms and governments would rather keep secret. (I 
have been detained twice reporting on issues around these minerals, and 
I was not issued a visa to report on a lithium-ion battery conference 
in China this summer.)
    I would like to close with a thought or two about solutions. The 
simple inter-
diction of Congolese cobalt is not enough. Such a ban would have a very 
damaging effect on the poorest people in that nation. It also wouldn't 
stop artisanal mining: copper is prevalent in most of the ore in Congo, 
and miners will sell the ore for copper just as soon as they would for 
cobalt. In the east of the DRC, we have seen how bans on tantalum and 
tin ore have contributed to criminality instead of curbing it, so new 
solutions must be envisaged there. They have also empowered 
unscrupulous traders who deal in falsified tags. Let's not make the 
same mistake again.
    The consuming countries need to provide real solutions to address 
the lack of work in places like the DRC, to provide alternatives to 
artisanal mining, or at least to make it safer and cleaner. Countries 
like the U.S. need to insist on environmental protection, and on 
recycling to recover critical metals from used devices.
    We also need to ensure that democracy and the rule of law are 
upheld. As Congo moves toward its elections this December, I believe 
the United States should insist on a free and a fair voting process as 
the bedrock of any state of law. This will be key in regulating this 
industry and making sure that value can be shared with some of the 
poorest people in the world.
                                 ______
                                 

                     Statement of Hon. Chris Smith

    This Commission knows all too well about the Chinese government's 
egregious human rights abuses, blatant disregard for international law, 
and its ever-expanding authoritarian influence beyond its own borders.
    This influence is pervasive--felt in board rooms and C-suites, in 
supply chains and on assembly lines, in classrooms and textbooks, in 
cities in our own country, and in other countries as well.
    Today's hearing will highlight China's malign influence in Africa, 
specifically in the cobalt mining industry of the Democratic Republic 
of Congo (DRC).
    China's repressive long arm is ubiquitous in the DRC. Located in 
central Africa, the DRC is massive and blessed with natural resources, 
including metals and minerals. It is a country that has been brutally 
pillaged throughout history--fueled by corrupt men's unquenchable 
thirst for power, riches, land, rubber, copper, palm oil, and now, 
cobalt--all at the expense of innocent men, women, and children.
    The DRC is home to more than 70% of the world's cobalt, an 
essential metal for lithium-ion batteries, powering our smartphones, 
laptops, computers, and electric vehicles \1\--lest we forget our 
complicity through the use of cobalt in our everyday lives.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ John Campbell, ``Why Cobalt Mining in the DRC Needs Urgent 
Attention,'' Council on Foreign Relations, Oct. 29, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Siddharth Kara's book, ``Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo 
Powers Our Lives,'' vividly describes the tragic realities of this 
industry that has all too willingly turned a blind eye to human 
dignity. ``There is no such thing as a clean supply chain of cobalt 
from the Congo,'' \2\ says Kara.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ Siddharth Kara, Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers 
Our Lives, (New York, NY; St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2023), 17.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Kara writes in the book: ``. . . stakeholders have formulated 
international coalitions to help ensure that their supply chains are 
clean. The two leading coalitions are the Responsible Minerals 
Initiative (RMI) and the Global Battery Alliance (GBA). . . . The GBA 
has developed a Cobalt Action Partnership to `immediately and urgently 
eliminate child and forced labor from the cobalt value chain.' '' \3\ 
Kara, however, goes on to write: ``In all my time in the Congo, I never 
saw or heard of any activities linked to either of these coalitions.'' 
\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Siddharth Kara, Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers 
Our Lives, (New York, NY; St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2023), 4-5.
    \4\ Siddharth Kara, Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers 
Our Lives, (New York, NY; St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2023), 5.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To this day, child and forced Congolese laborers toil in hazardous 
conditions to extract cobalt from unsafe mines, including artisanal 
mines in the DRC. Hastily dug artisanal mines are always subject to 
collapsing--and many have indeed collapsed, crushing, amputating limbs, 
and killing miners, including children.
    It's impossible to escape the disastrous environmental impact of 
cobalt mining in these communities--as the very air they breathe and 
the water they drink are contaminated by toxic chemicals, dirt, and 
sediment. The biggest beneficiaries of this cobalt continue to remain 
silent and refuse to face this uncomfortable truth: From dirt to 
battery, from cobalt to cars, the entire system is fueled by violence, 
cruelty, and corruption.
    ``Therein lies the great tragedy of the Congo's mining provinces;'' 
says Kara, ``no one up the chain considers themselves responsible for 
the artisanal miners, even though they all profit from them.'' \5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Siddharth Kara, Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers 
Our Lives, (New York, NY; St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2023), 65.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    China has gained almost full dominance of every single step of the 
cobalt supply chain. Money talks and human rights go right out the 
window. Corrupt government officials in the DRC sign billion-dollar 
deals with China and pocket the money for themselves. Major companies--
both Chinese and Western--close their eyes.
    Over a year ago--on July 14, 2022--I chaired a hearing of the Tom 
Lantos Human Rights Commission entitled ``Child Labor and Human Rights 
Violations in the Mining Industry of the Democratic Republic of 
Congo.'' One of our expert witnesses, attorney Herve Diakiese Kyungu, 
testified:

        ``Child labour is one of the worst forms of abuse. It is 
        forbidden by both Congolese legislation as well as 
        international rules and norms.

        ``In the mining industry in my country, the Democratic Republic 
        of Congo, children are often exposed to radioactive minerals, 
        injuries, deadly and painful diseases.

        ``For example, with respect to the extraction of cobalt in 
        artisanal mines within Lualaba province, children are routinely 
        used as part of the workforce. They are unremunerated and 
        exploited and the work is often fatal as these children are 
        required to crawl into small holes dug in the earth to recover 
        sacks of ore containing rich grades of heterogenite which is 
        almost 60% cobalt.

        ``These children are not going to school; their health is 
        exposed as they are living in precarious conditions.''

    Another witness at that hearing--also from the DRC, was Father 
Rigobert Minani Bihuzo, a Congolese Jesuit priest and head of the 
Research, Peace, Human Rights, Democracy and Good Governance Department 
at the Research Center for Social Action for the DRC.
    He pointed out that their report noted that ``artisanal miners are 
not provided with any protective equipment. They work 7 days a week and 
more than 12 hours a day. In reality, their working hours are not 
defined. It includes weekends and holidays. They are exposed to 
radiation from the products they use and to the danger of the 
explosives they use.''
    The United States has been asleep at the wheel for far too long and 
China has taken advantage of that. We need to provide alternative 
options--options that champion transparency, human rights, peace, and 
prosperity for all.
    This week I will be introducing legislation to ensure that goods 
containing, or made using, cobalt refined in the People's Republic of 
China do not enter the United States market, under the presumption that 
the cobalt is extracted or processed with the use of child and forced 
labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
    Among its provisions, the bill, called the ``China's Odious and 
Brutally Atrocious Labor Trafficking Supply Chain Act'' or ``COBALT 
Supply Chain Act,'' will--as does the Uyghur Forced Labor Act--require 
the Customs Commissioner to apply that presumption unless the 
Commissioner determines that the importer of record of the covered 
goods being imported has ``demonstrated by clear and convincing 
evidence that the covered goods were not made or manufactured in the 
PRC using or containing cobalt.''
    The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes ``the right of 
the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from 
performing any work that is likely hazardous.''
    By ignoring these rights and by treating people, including 
children, as expendable, China is committing a gross violation of human 
rights and is seeking to rewrite the international order--all while 
controlling the supply chains of this critical metal, cobalt.
                                 ______
                                 

                     Statement of Hon. Jeff Merkley

    Thank you very much, Chairman Smith, for convening this hearing, 
which builds on several hearings that this Commission has held on the 
issue of forced labor and other abuses, including child labor, in 
supply chains dominated by Chinese companies, and the importance of 
holding them accountable when they are complicit in human rights 
violations.
    This Commission regularly spotlights repression by the Chinese 
government, whether within their own borders, such as in Xinjiang or 
Hong Kong, or through efforts to reach across borders into other 
countries, including right here in the United States.
    Today we will hear about how those two forms of repression are 
entwined in the cobalt supply chain originating in the Democratic 
Republic of Congo.
    Cobalt is a critical component in lithium-ion batteries, which are 
used in everything from cell phones to electric cars, as well as other 
industrial and defense applications. Almost half of the world's known 
reserves of cobalt--3.4 metric tons--is in southern DRC, and the 
country accounts for roughly 70 percent of global production.
    A whopping 80 percent of the DRC's cobalt output is owned by 
Chinese companies, refined in China, and sold to companies in the 
United States, Europe, and elsewhere for use in batteries and other 
equipment. So-called artisanal cobalt mines, which remain largely 
unregulated despite some efforts by the DRC government to formalize the 
sector, operate alongside larger industrial operations.
    Artisanal miners are often women and children, who work for the 
equivalent of a dollar or two a day, carrying heavy loads out of 
dangerous mines, while children as young as 3 learn to sift through the 
stones to wash and sort ore.
    The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that at least 25,000 
children are working in cobalt mines in the DRC, and they do it without 
basic protective equipment, like gloves or face masks.
    A study in The Lancet found that women living in areas where cobalt 
mines are concentrated ``had metal concentrations that are among the 
highest ever reported for pregnant women,'' with heavy metals linked to 
stillbirths and birth defects.
    Cobalt mining also causes enormous environmental degradation from 
large-scale open-pit mines as ordinary people tear up the ground 
looking for cobalt, then follow the veins wherever they lead, including 
under homes and churches.
    It isn't just cobalt--the DRC is also a top producer of other 
minerals, like copper and ``rare earth'' metals, that are vital 
components in batteries and other advanced technologies.
    Facilitated by widespread corruption in the DRC's mining sector, 
Chinese companies and the Chinese government directly profit from 
forced and child labor used to mine these minerals, extending their 
abusive practices across continents. And they supply American companies 
that produce products we use every day. American consumers deserve to 
be protected from becoming unwitting and unwilling accomplices in these 
abuses.
    All of these issues have enormous implications for our supply 
chains, at every step, as we seek to accelerate the transition to a 
clean, sustainable energy future.
    American companies, and those in likeminded countries, have 
leverage over these tainted supply chains, which they can and must 
exert to improve transparency and implement responsible sourcing. And 
both the executive branch and Congress have important roles to play to 
reduce and ultimately eliminate labor and other human rights abuses in 
DRC mining operations.
    Addressing these issues is an opportunity for the United States to 
lead the world in both clean, sustainable energy and in human rights. I 
look forward to learning more about this set of problems and what we 
can do to address them from our witnesses.
                                 ______
                                 

                  Statement of Hon. James P. McGovern

    Good morning. I join my colleagues in welcoming those present to 
today's hearing on the use of child and forced labor by Chinese firms 
that mine and refine cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the 
DRC. I regret that I am not able to attend in person.
    The existence of exploitative labor relations in the DRC's mining 
sector is a long- standing, well-known problem that has previously been 
addressed by Congress, including in a Tom Lantos Human Rights 
Commission hearing I co-chaired in July 2022.
    To summarize the situation, the DRC is rich in cobalt, copper, and 
other minerals that have both military and industrial applications; 
industrial mining of cobalt and copper is the mainstay of the formal 
economy; and labor conditions in both industrial and artisanal mines 
are dire. Thousands of children reportedly work in the mines; some 
workers are subjected to debt-based coercion which amounts to forced 
labor; and working conditions are hazardous.
    Today's hearing is concerned specifically with China's role in the 
DRC's mining sector. Firms based in the People's Republic of China have 
a dominant position in the DRC's cobalt sector. This creates a supply 
chain problem for the U.S. as we transition from fossil fuels to green 
energy, as the Biden Administration has recognized.
    Any successful strategy to address the problem requires the active 
involvement of the government of the DRC, which has ratified several 
relevant international treaties,\1\ and must include support for 
families, children, and their local communities so that there are 
alternatives that replace the income generated from a child's labor. 
U.S. foreign assistance to the DRC supports programs that address 
working conditions in the mining sector, and the Department of Labor's 
Bureau of International Labor Affairs, ILAB, is implementing projects 
such as Combating Child Labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo's 
Cobalt Industry (COTECCO). I support continuing and scaling up this 
work.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural 
Rights (1976); the Minimum Age Convention (2001); and the Worst Forms 
of Child Labour Convention (2001).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To address the PRC's role in the problem, responsible sourcing 
requirements must play a major role. As we have seen in the effort to 
end the use of Uyghur forced labor, moral appeals to the private sector 
are not sufficient; the incentives businesses face must change. 
Importers have a responsibility to demonstrate that the products they 
bring in comply with U.S. child and forced labor laws. Enforcing U.S. 
law will cause producers to change their practices or to diversify or 
relocate their supply chains. The emerging green economy must not be 
built on the backs of exploited workers.

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                          Witness Biographies

    Eric Schultz, former U.S. Ambassador to Zambia

    Ambassador Schultz is a former senior American diplomat with 
decades of experience in the CIS and southern Africa. He has worked 
extensively with Ukraine, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Georgia, and has 
experience in emerging markets around the world. Mr. Schultz served as 
U.S. Ambassador to Zambia (2014-2017); the Deputy U.S. Ambassador to 
Ukraine (2010-2013); the Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs at the 
U.S. Embassy in Moscow (2007-2009); Deputy U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe 
(2004-2007). Prior to these leadership assignments he also worked in 
Georgia, Martinique, France, and Madagascar as well as serving in a 
number of assignments in Washington, including Deputy Director of the 
NATO desk and Deputy Director of the Ukraine desk. Eric Schultz 
graduated from Macalester College (St. Paul, Minnesota) and holds an 
M.A. degree in International Studies from Denver University. Eric 
Schultz speaks English, French, Ukrainian, and Russian.

    Milos Ivkovic, international arbitrator; Adjunct Professor, 
Washington University School of Law; human rights advocate

    Milos Ivkovic is a law professor at Washington University, teaching 
Introduction to Human Rights and International Criminal Law. He is an 
international arbitrator and human rights advocate. Over the course of 
the last decade, Prof. Ivkovic has been raising awareness of the 
deteriorating state of democracies worldwide, including the ongoing 
illicit weaponization of trade and supply chains to target and 
disempower free societies. He is recognized for his extraordinary 
efforts and actions to eradicate the worst forms of child slavery, 
human rights abuses, torture, and human trafficking in Africa and 
throughout the world. Prof. Ivkovic was also involved in achieving the 
release of journalists wrongfully imprisoned in Africa and serves on 
the board of the Interparliamentary Taskforce on Human Trafficking.

    Joseph Mulala Nguramo, Non-Resident Fellow, Atlantic Council's 
Freedom and Prosperity Center and Scowcroft Center for Strategy and 
Security

    Joseph Mulala Nguramo is a nonresident fellow in the Freedom and 
Prosperity Center and the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at 
the Atlantic Council. He was born and spent his formative years in the 
Democratic Republic of Congo. He was the first, and thus far only, 
Congolese to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West 
Point, where he majored in Defense and Strategic Studies. He holds a 
master's degree in Global Theory and History from the School of 
Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where he 
has been co-teaching a class on Modern Supply Chain Diplomacy. 
Additionally, Joseph has worked as a research assistant at the 
Brookings Institution, where he focused on education; at the Taubman 
Center for State and Local Government within Harvard University's 
Kennedy School of Government, where he focused on African public 
policy; and at the International Economic Alliance, where he led the 
student internship program and organized meetings between governments 
and private sector participants to promote trade, economic growth, and 
development. At the Atlantic Council, he is working with the Freedom 
and Prosperity Center which focuses on advancing democracy, quality 
governance and the rule of law; and the implications of the return of 
great power competition and how it will shape the new world order in 
the 21st century.

    Nicolas Niarchos, freelance journalist

    Nicolas Niarchos is a journalist based in New York. His work 
focuses on minerals, migration, and conflicts. He is a regular 
contributor to the New Yorker and the Nation. His work from Ukraine won 
a 2023 Edward R. Murrow award from the Radio Television Digital News 
Association. He has written stories from Congo, Ukraine, Indonesia, 
Yemen, Burkina Faso, Niger, Morocco, Western Sahara, Djibouti, Iran, 
Uzbekistan, Bhutan, the United Kingdom and Greece. He is writing a book 
for Penguin Books about the battery metal supply chain that includes 
reporting from the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. Between 
January 2014 and December 2018, he worked as a fact checker and deputy 
head of fact checking at the New Yorker magazine. Prior to the New 
Yorker, he worked as a blog editor at the Independent in London. He 
holds an M.S. from Columbia University's School of Journalism and a 
B.A. from Yale University.
  

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