[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 17, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H3494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     WORKING CHILDREN'S RIGHTS ACT

  (Mr. MORAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, a year ago, a 12-year-old boy by the name of 
Iqbal Masih was murdered in Pakistan because he had dared to speak out 
against child slave labor.
  Iqbal had been sold by his father for $16 when he was 4 years old. He 
was chained to a loom. When he made a mistake, he was savagely beaten.
  With the help of an American firm, he escaped and spoke out against 
this practice, which is actually on the rise in Asia and Africa and 
Latin America, because there is so much profit to be made by exploiting 
children that poor governments are very easily corrupted.
  He tried to make a difference. He was murdered. But it is up to us to 
follow his lead, to show his courage.
  Today in honor of Iqbal and the millions of children who work as 
forced laborers, I am proud to introduce the Working Children's Rights 
Act. It will deny U.S. foreign aid to countries that refuse to enforce 
their own labor laws, it will deny aid to governments that continue to 
violate the most basic human rights of children, and it will require 
the State Department to investigate corruption and provide for yearly 
hearings, so that we will never forget the terrible plight faced by 
millions of children like Iqbal Masih.

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