[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 46 (Thursday, April 17, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1692-H1696]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CHILD LABOR AND THE CRUSADE OF IQBAL MASIH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 1997, the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran] is recognized 
for the

[[Page H1693]]

balance of the time as the designee of the minority leader.


                               Earth Day

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New 
Jersey for raising these very important issues to recognize the 
importance of Earth Day.
  It behooves the Congress to look back at history before there was an 
environmental sensitivity. We had a lake in Ohio that actually caught 
on fire. We had air that was not fit to breathe. We have created 
greenhouse gas emissions that have led to a global warming that one day 
will inundate several very populous islands. The Seychelles, for 
example, inevitably will go below sea level because of the greenhouse 
gas emissions that have resulted in the warming of our entire planet.
  The ozone layer has been depleted because of chlorofluorocarbons 
carbons. We have an area the size of North America in the Antarctic, 
and while it may not concern people that penguins are not able to 
reproduce like they were, the fact is that it is a warning to all of us 
the effects of ignoring our environment.
  In this country, we find that children's cancer is the second leading 
cause of death among children, and we know that 80 percent of the cause 
is environmentally related, 90 percent worldwide. It is because of 
pesticides in foods that children eat. It is because of the toxic 
chemicals that we put in our ground and on our grass that children play 
on and touch and get into their skin. It is because of the particles 
that they breathe. It is because of some of the water that they drink.
  And so, as a result, we have despoiled this planet in many ways. And 
it certainly behooves us not to look back at what we have accomplished, 
but to look even more forward.
  There are a lot of things that need to be done. For one thing, we 
ought to be measuring the toxicity level of environmental risks as they 
would effect children, not fully grown adults.
  And so we have a lot to do, and I know that the gentleman from New 
Jersey will be in the lead in accomplishing those objectives. 
Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later. Hopefully, not too 
late.
  But Mr. Speaker, I would like to raise another equally compelling 
issue. It is an international issue, but it is one that has immediate 
effects upon our own population and our responsible role in the world. 
And so I would like to go down to the podium and address the House from 
there.
  Mr. Speaker, what I would like to speak about is child labor, the 
exploitation of children for profit. This week is the 2-year 
anniversary of the death of a real leader in the crusade against child 
labor. He was murdered because of that crusade. His name is Iqbal 
Masih.
  Let me begin by telling you a little bit about the life of Iqbal 
Masih and how he became a crusader against child labor. Iqbal grew up 
Muritke, Pakistan. Iqbal's family lived in poverty, as do millions of 
other families in Pakistan.
  Clearly it was very difficult for Iqbal's parents to scrape together 
enough to feed their children. By the time Iqbal was 4, his older 
brother was ready to marry. It should have been a time of great 
celebration.
  Perhaps if by accident of birth Iqbal were born into a different 
family, one in the United States or a country as prosperous as ours, 
with the kind of employment opportunities that we afford, perhaps your 
family or mine, then Iqbal would have taken part in the ceremony and 
celebrated the marriage of his brother.
  But Iqbal was not born into such a family. Iqbal did not get to take 
part in his brother's wedding. His family could not afford the wedding. 
They needed $12 to properly wed their son, and they did not have it.
  So how did Iqbal's family pay for the wedding? Did Iqbal's father 
look for more work? Did they try to find a cheaper way to finance the 
wedding? No. Instead they took out a loan for the $12. But they did not 
have a house to put a second mortgage on. They did not have a pension 
plan to borrow against.
  So they used their son Iqbal. They traded Iqbal to the moneylender as 
collateral on a $12 loan. The moneylender was not a banker merely 
looking for insurance on his loan. In fact, Iqbal's parents were never 
expected to pay the loan. Iqbal was expected to pay off the loan.
  But how does a 4-year-old pay off his parents' debts? Well, he is 
forced to work. Iqbal had become a bonded laborer. Bonded labor is one 
step removed from child slavery.
  The moneylender, now Iqbal's master, could trade or sell Iqbal to 
others. He exercised complete control over Iqbal. Because Iqbal's small 
fingers were nimble, he was forced to tie knots in handmade carpets.
  Carpet manufacturers prefer to get children when they are young. As 
one manufacturer said, their hands are nimbler and their eyes are 
better, too. They are faster when they are small. They are also easier 
to control.
  Because the carpet manufacturer controls what or even if these 
children eat, he can easily control them. Some manufacturers are not so 
subtle. Many of them chain the children to their looms. They must eat, 
work, and sleep tied to their loom.
  At 4 years old, all these children know of the world is their 
village. They probably do not even know the name of their village. They 
are often taken hundreds of miles away. Even if they were lucky enough 
to escape, they would not know where to go. And even if they knew where 
to go, corrupt government officials merely return them to their 
masters.
  So how do you escape from bonded labor? Iqbal was told he could 
escape if he raised enough money to pay off his parents' $12 loan. The 
carpet manufacturer said he would deduct Iqbal's salary from the amount 
Iqbal's parents owed.
  The carpet manufacturer also added any of Iqbal's expenses to the 
amount his parents owed. These expenses included room and board. Iqbal 
had to pay for the privilege of sleeping chained to a loom and fines 
for any mistakes that 4-year-old boy made. The carpet manufacturer also 
charged interest on the loan.

  Within a few years, Iqbal's $12 debt had increased 2,100 percent. 
Iqbal tied tiny knots for as much as 20 hours a day. He usually worked 
6 days a week, and frequently all 7 days of the week he would work. He 
was beaten when he made any mistakes.
  Iqbal worked for 6 years as a bonded laborer until he was freed with 
the help of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front, a human rights group. 
Iqbal was only 10 when he escaped. He then traveled around the world 
speaking out about the horrors that he and millions of other children 
experienced. His efforts focused international attention on the problem 
of child labor.
  Because of his efforts on behalf of other child laborers, Iqbal won 
the Reebok Human Rights Award in 1994. Although a hero to other 
children, Iqbal made many enemies. Carpet manufacturers had to pay 
bigger bribes to continue business as usual. They were losing money.
  Iqbal returned to his home village of Muritke, Pakistan in April 
1995. On Easter Sunday, 2 years ago yesterday, Iqbal was riding his 
bicycle with two friends when he was shot and killed. Iqbal was 12 
years old, 12 years old.
  Mr. Speaker, the International Labor Organization estimates that 
worldwide there is as many as 200 million children working in Africa, 
one quarter of all the children are working; in Asia, 18 percent; Latin 
America, 7 percent. Child labor takes many forms. The worst is bonded 
labor and indentured servitude like Iqbal Masih endured.
  Children also work in more traditional manufacturing centers, such as 
factories. Some children are minors. Some work on fishing rigs in the 
ocean. Some work on the streets shining shoes or selling their bodies. 
They work as glassblowers and as carpenters. They sort hazardous 
recyclables, like broken batteries soaked in acid and used hospital 
syringes dirty with blood.
  Children have little resistance to adults that seek to exploit them. 
Unfortunately, almost invariably, children wind up at the bottom of all 
national agendas for political and social action.
  I want people to focus on this picture. It is of a little girl at a 
shoe shine stand in Ecuador. She is less than 4 years old. She 
represents the millions of children who work on the streets of the 
world cities.
  The cycle begins when a farm family moves to the city in search of 
work.

[[Page H1694]]

They soon find that the city is not what they expected. They lack the 
skills necessary for a good job and find city life far more expensive 
than they had planned on.
  The family's mother may find work as a maid, but typically the father 
turns to alcohol or leaves the family. If children are surrounded by 
models of chronic inactivity and frustration at home, they may even be 
attracted to the excitement of the street.
  Children are sent onto streets to work or beg. While seeking work, 
they are easy prey. They are given a job like this girl shining shoes. 
They must turn over all the money they receive to an older child who 
then gives them a small portion as salary.
  The older child is equivalent to a pimp raking in profits by 
exploiting a small army of children. Frequently, though, the older 
child is in a similar relationship with even older children who may 
control large groups of these child pimps. Those that are beggars may 
be maimed to make them look more miserable and helpless than other 
beggars.
  As the children grow older, they may realize they can make more money 
by theft or by exploiting children younger than themselves.
  Street life cannot be easy for anyone, especially a 4-year-old girl. 
Tragically, when these children need to be thrown a life preserver, 
they often turn to drugs. The common drug for them today is glue. When 
they are hungry or very cold, they sniff glue to kill the pain. After 
sniffing glue the children stagger. They slur their speech, and their 
eyes swell and turn red. Soon they have irreversible brain damage.
  While these tragic lives may sound parallel to life on our own city 
streets, there is an important distinction: The role of corrupt 
government officials.
  In Brazil, one counselor said if a boy does not have enough money to 
give a cop, he may beat him. With the proper payoff a kid can keep out 
of the reform inventory or he can keep his place on the park bench for 
another night.
  I would like to show the next picture, which is of a boy in Aligarth, 
India. It is a town in the Providence of Uttar Pradesh on the border of 
Nepal. This picture was presented to the Committee on International 
Relations last year by a constituent of mine Ms. Francoise Remington, 
director of a nonprofit group called Forgotten Children.
  Uttar Pradesh is known for its production of brass and other metal 
products. This boy is making tiny padlocks. The average pay for 
children in the metal industry is $6 a month. The children work 60-hour 
work weeks. The children are recruited by middle men called dalals, who 
are paid by the thekedar, or contractor, who prefers children because 
they are so easy to control.
  Although most metal factories claim to be family businesses to skirt 
India's scant child labor regulations, there are virtually no 
incidences of actual family metal shops in this part of India.
  These children remove molten metal from molds near furnaces. These 
children work with furnaces at temperatures of 2,000 degrees. Burns are 
a constant danger. Children also work at electroplating, polishing, and 
applying chemicals to metal. This child is polishing padlocks on a 
small grindstone. Fumes and metal dust are constantly inhaled by these 
children, causing tuberculosis and respiratory illnesses.
  Child labor in India is still the norm rather than the exception. 
There are about 250 million children in India. Estimates of the amount 
of children working in India ranges from 44 to 100 million. The Indian 
Government admits to at least 17 million.

                              {time}  1930

  The next picture is of Silgi. She is sewing soccer balls.
  Nearby Pakistan, nearby to India, has similar problems with child 
labor.
  Mr. Speaker, you may remember this picture from Life magazine last 
June. This is a picture of 3-year-old Silgi. She sits on a mud floor, 
in a filthy dress, stitching soccer balls bound for Los Angeles--Los 
Angeles, this country for which we pay large sums of money of which she 
gets a pittance. With needles longer than her fingers her stitching is 
adequate, but her hands are so small that she cannot handle scissors. 
She must get assistance from a fellow employee, her sister. Silgi lives 
in Sialkot, a city of 300,000 that produces 35 million soccer balls per 
year, 80 percent of the world's supply.
  Mr. Speaker, children like Silgi can sew up to 80 hours each week, 80 
hours a week in silence and near total darkness. Their foreman says 
darkness discourages photographers who may wish to expose their trade. 
They are punished if they fall asleep or if they waste materials or 
miscut patterns. They are also punished if they complain to their 
parents or speak to any strangers outside the factory. These children 
may be punished in a small room in the back of the factory. They may be 
hung upside-down by their knees or they may be contained. Frequently 
they are starved.
  Let me show the last picture. This is of a girl bashing rocks. You 
could find pictures like any of these, scenes like any of these 
children that are pictured here today in any of these countries that we 
refer to.
  Sometimes the entire family is working in bondage, perhaps to pay the 
debt of a diseased relative. Children are required to work alongside 
their parents to maximize production. They work up to 14 hours a day 
carrying rocks or breaking them into pieces. This young girl is doing 
just that. She lives in an area where gravel is scarce. In order to 
make cement, rocks must be broken down to small stones, and many rural 
areas' traditional class or caste systems perpetuate bonded labor.
  Pledging one's labor and that of his children may be the only 
resource a family has and may be all they can pledge as security for a 
loan. Unfortunately, the same family may be uneducated and illiterate. 
It is easy prey to the money lender who may charge outrageous interest 
rates, and in those cases in which the labor of the family is pledged, 
debts are passed from parent to child often for generations upon 
generations.
  Mr. Speaker, a surprising number of children are minors. The hazards 
they face are enormous. In the jungles of southeastern Peru, children 
work mining gold. In 1991, common graves of child workers--these are 
mass graves of child workers--were uncovered. The corpses reveal that 
these children died from disease and from work-related injuries.
  Mr. Speaker, let me just speak briefly as to what the United States 
can do about this. First thing we need to know is that it exists, to 
spread the word so that we can become mobilized. There are many Members 
of Congress who have introduced legislation to combat these horrors, 
and just this week the Clinton administration announced a new voluntary 
code of conduct and labeling program. We need to gather it, this 
information, because in developing a solution to the problem of child 
labor we need to know the scope of the problem, the sources of the 
problem and what it is that we can do in the most cost-effective and 
efficient manner to change this situation.
  Because many governments are in denial over the scope of child 
exploitation in their country, the international labor organization has 
made progress working with specific countries in human rights groups in 
conducting surveys. For example, until recently Pakistan had never 
conducted a survey to determine the scope of its problem. Pakistan and 
the International Labor Organization should be commended for 
undertaking this project. The study indicated that at least 8 percent 
of Pakistan's 40 million children were actively working and being 
exploited. More than half of the child laborers were located in the 
province of Punjab. So while the release of hard data and the scope of 
the child labor problem may hurt Pakistan in the short term, it now 
knows where resources are most urgently needed.
  The United States compiles two sources of government information on 
child labor and human rights. The State Department's Annual Country 
Reports on Human Rights contains an overview of the human rights issues 
in every country. Unfortunately each report only contains a paragraph 
or two on child labor issues. Today I introduced legislation to add an 
additional section to the human rights reports that would detail the 
scope of child labor in every country. It would include an overview of 
the country's child labor laws and whether they are effectively 
enforced. It would include a

[[Page H1695]]

discussion of government corruption and bribery and their relation to 
the effectiveness of child labor laws. It would greatly enhance the 
information available to us today.
  The other major source of government information are the reports 
published by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs under the 
direction of Under Secretary Andrew Samet. These reports are dedicated 
to specific aspects of the child labor problem. The first dealt with 
manufactured and mined imports, the second with forced and bonded child 
labor, and the third with goods imported into the United States. They 
have just undertaken their fourth report which I am sure will be as 
excellent as the last three.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, we are a contributing factor to the 
propagation of child labor. Few U.S. investors and even fewer U.S. 
consumers would knowingly buy products made from the sweat and toil of 
children. As consumers, we should ensure that when we spend $30 to $50 
to buy a soccer ball for our children that the money does not go to 
companies that deny other children their childhoods by working them for 
pennies a day under inhumane conditions. As investors we should be sure 
our businesses are doing more than giving lip service to avoiding child 
labor.
  On Monday the Clinton administration took the first step in 
addressing these concerns. They brought several members of the 
manufacturing sector together with labor leaders and public interest 
groups to craft a voluntary labeling program.
  The first part of the President's program develops a ``Workplace Code 
of Conduct'' for apparel manufacturers. A code of conduct embodies a 
company's policy on a host of issues typically including ethical 
conduct which may differ from culture to culture. By firmly stating the 
company's policy on discrimination, forced labor, wages, benefits and 
other terms of employment, an American business can put its licensees 
and subcontractors on notice about the types of conditions it finds 
acceptable. By incorporating codes of conduct into contracts with 
licensees and subcontractors, a business can have greater control over 
how its goods are produced worldwide.
  Many American firms have taken upon themselves to adopt strong codes 
of conduct prohibiting child labor, yet problems persist. One clear 
example was Nike's recent experience in Pakistan. Nike has a strong 
code of conduct prohibiting child labor among its subcontractors and 
anyone they do business with. Yet numerous reports documented children 
stitching soccer balls for Nike.
  So why did they not know there was a problem producing soccer balls? 
Largely it was because when Nike's subcontractor in Pakistan became 
overworked, it subcontracted out some of its work, and in doing so did 
not impose the same code of conduct. This second level of 
subcontractors were unscrupulous profiteers who farmed out the work to 
whoever they could get to do it cheaply, the most cheaply, primarily 
children like Silgi.
  Multiple levels of subcontracting are common in global manufacturing. 
Unfortunately they add levels of complexity to enforcing labor codes.
  To ensure that the various levels of subcontractors and licensees are 
adhering to codes of conduct, businesses need to have reputable firms 
inspect their subcontractors periodically. Many small firms have been 
doing this successfully for years, and we are finally seeing the major 
accounting firms break into this market.
  To a certain extent, adopting codes of conduct makes economic sense. 
The more a code of conduct is enforced, the less likely the controlling 
firm is subject to claims of worker exploitation and perhaps 
litigation.
  President Clinton's recent initiative includes a code of conduct 
requiring no more than a 60-hour work week, a minimum age for 
employment of children, and compliance with local minimum wage laws. 
Even though an undeveloped country may not see enforcing its minimum 
wage laws as a priority, our codes of conduct will require that goods 
bound for the United States be made in compliance with these local 
laws.
  Mr. Speaker, may I inquire at this point how much time is remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). The gentleman has 8 minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, today, short of spending many, many hours in 
a library, consumers have no way of knowing if the products they buy 
are produced by children, and in exchange for complying with the 
suggested codes of conduct manufacturers will be permitted to use a new 
``No Sweat'' label on their goods. Consumers will find it easy to look 
for the No Sweat label. Quick and easy access to such information will 
empower consumers to show the manufacturing industry the importance of 
staying child-labor free. I would hope that every parent would look for 
this label and would understand but for the grace of God their child 
could be in a similar exploited condition.
  Labeling programs do have critics. Some fear that labels will be 
easily forged. Some fear that labeling requirement will be increased 
over time and used as protectionist measures. These are valid concerns 
and only serve to underscore the importance of fighting the battle 
against child labor on many fronts.
  One is trade sanctions. We could ban imports made by children. This 
is the approach taken by Senator Harkin and Congressman Frank and their 
legislation. This approach would keep track of specific products that 
were routinely made with child labor from certain countries. These 
products would be banned unless the importer could demonstrate that 
child labor was not used in the manufacture of the product.
  Another approach is through utilization of the generalized system of 
preferences program. The GSP, which is the acronym for this program, is 
designed to provide preferential trade treatment to developing 
countries. If a country qualifies, certain products are given reduced 
tariff rates.
  A condition of receiving these generalized system of preferences 
benefits for any particular product is that the export country ensure 
that basic worker rights are protected. If not, the United States can 
revoke GSP benefits to all products from the country, or the United 
States can revoke generalized system of preference benefits for 
specific products. Last year, Commerce Secretary Kantor suspended GSP 
benefits to Pakistan on surgical equipment, sporting goods and hand-
knotted carpets for failing to effectively fight child labor in these 
industries.
  Because the export country usually wants to restore GSP benefits 
quickly, it has an incentive active to cooperate with the United 
States. The executive branch has the authority to reinstate GSP 
benefits if it is satisfied that the export country is making a good 
faith effort to rectify the problem.
  Unfortunately, all of these approaches only help solve the child 
labor problem to the extent it is connected with U.S. trade. But about 
95 percent of all child labor does not involve products bound for the 
United States. Most involves domestic products or services and cannot 
be effected by U.S. trade policy.
  For this reason I introduced the Working Children's Human Rights Act 
which would deny non-humanitarian U.S. assistance to countries that 
have not enacted or refuse to enforce their own child labor laws. U.S. 
taxpayers should not be forced to support rogue regimes that turn a 
blind eye to government corruption and inaction that perpetuates the 
exploitation of children. Withholding foreign aid has a limited effect, 
though, because only a small handful of countries receive any U.S. 
assistance today.
  The United States does, however, have leverage through lending 
institutions such as the World Bank. The World Bank provides loans, 
technical assistance and policy guidelines to help its developing 
country members reduce poverty and improve living standards through 
sustainable economic growth. The bank does a tremendous job at 
financing necessary projects such as infrastructure improvement which 
is necessary to attract private sector investment. Because of the 
importance of assistance such as World Bank loans to developing 
countries, it is appropriate for the United States to condition its 
vote in favor of loans to a particular country on that country's 
compliance with major U.S. foreign policy goals.

                              {time}  1945

  Today, the United States votes against loans to countries which the 
President has certified as major illicit

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drug-producing countries. The eradication of child exploitation ought 
to be as important to United States foreign policy as combating 
narcotics, which is terribly important. That is why my legislation 
would require the United States to vote against loans to countries who 
have not adopted or refused to enforce their own child labor laws.
  There is a more immediate step the World Bank could take. Last year 
we heard testimony before the Subcommittee on International Relations 
and Human Rights, on which I sat, that hundreds of children worked on 
infrastructure improvements on one particular project in India. Who 
knows how many thousands of children like them work on such projects?
  The World Bank and other such institutions should take a more active 
role in eradicating child labor by requiring that no children work on 
projects for which World Bank funds are used. Surely U.S. taxpayers do 
not want their contributions to the World Bank used for development 
projects that exploit children.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to share with my colleagues some success stories 
in our battle to end exploitation of the children. The first is a 
project in Bangladesh that would not have been possible without the 
dedication of U.S. Ambassador David Merrill.
  Bangladesh's garment sector began thriving in 1977 and currently 
exports over $750 million per year into the United States. The 
industry's main products include shirts, trousers, jackets, T-shirts, 
shorts, briefs, and sweatsuits.
  By 1990, estimates of the number of working 10- to 14-year-old 
children in Bangladesh were between 5 and 15 million children. The vast 
majority of these children worked in the garment sector. Typically, 
garment factories in Bangladesh were dimly lit with poor ventilation. 
Hours were very long. Workers usually were forced to work without 
break; the doors are locked during the shift. Only occasionally is a 
guard with a key near the door. During time of high demand, workers are 
locked in until their work is finished, often overnight. They work 24 
hours a day.
  In 1990, the Bangladesh garment manufacturers insisted that children 
were only in factories to accompany their working mothers who could not 
afford child care. Not true. Yet the Asian-American Free Labor 
Institute study showed children walking to factories with their time 
cards in hand. When that institute probed further, they learned that 
children really worked at the same factories with their relatives.

  In the fall of 1993, Senator Tom Harkin and Representative George 
Brown introduced legislation to ban imports made by child labor from 
entry into the United States. Fearing passage of this bill, the 
Bangladesh garment manufacturers abruptly fired 50,000 child workers.
  Unfortunately, firing the children from the manufacturing centers 
meant they were forced to look for other work. Many went to work as 
brick-makers or fish processors, using more dangerous equipment that 
exposed them to even more risks. Through the hard work of Ambassador 
Merrill and human rights groups, an historical memorandum of 
understanding was signed by the Bangladesh garment manufacturers, the 
International Labor Organization and UNICEF on July 4, 1995.
  As a result of this agreement, children are moving from factories to 
schools while they receive a monthly stipend. The Bangladesh garment 
manufacturers, UNICEF and the ILO, the International Labor 
Organization, all contribute to a fund to build schools and educate 
these children, and that is the solution. That is what we have to be 
doing. They pay the children one-half of what they would have made in 
the garment factories.
  It is working. We can make progress. We need to be making that kind 
of progress in other countries. It is wrong to continue exploiting over 
100 million children per year.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time. I appreciate my colleague, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Cunningham] having the patience to wait 
through this. I would urge my colleagues not only to cosponsor the 
legislation on human rights for children, but to get involved in this 
issue seeking a long-term solution.

                          ____________________