[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 50 (Thursday, April 24, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E748-E749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF ``THE INSULAR FAIR WAGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 1997''

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 24, 1997

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing 
legislation to address the systematic, persistent, and inexcusable 
exploitation of men and women in sweatshops in the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, a territory of the United States of America.
  Despite criticisms from the Congress and Federal agencies, and 
despite promises by CNMI leaders of sweeping change of aggressive 
action against abusive employers, these conditions continue today, 
confirmed by CNMI observers, human rights and religious organizations, 
and Federal enforcement and oversight agencies. These workers are not 
free, and are not given the same opportunities and protections every 
other worker in the United States or its territories is provided. To 
these workers, the American dream has become a nightmare.
  Consumers in the United States and around the world expect that the 
label ``Made in USA'' stands for something. American manufacturers

[[Page E749]]

know that label signifies compliance with basic worker protection laws 
and human rights guarantees. But in the CNMI, that made in USA label is 
used to conceal systematic exploitation.
  Last week, President Clinton and garment industry leaders announced a 
U.S. apparel industry partnership dedicated to eliminating sweatshop 
working conditions around the world. Those efforts must also focus on 
our own soil, on the CNMI, where conditions that could not be tolerated 
anywhere elsewhere in America flourish with the blessings of the local 
government.
  In the CNMI, human rights and the basic rights all American workers 
are supposed to enjoy are routinely brushed aside in the pursuit of an 
economic miracle. The CNMI Government is currently spending in excess 
of $1 million in an unprecedented effort to paint a highly favorable 
picture of its economy.
  But the record indicates this is no economic miracle; it is an 
economic mirage, built on exploited foreign labor.
  Freed from U.S. immigration and minimum wage laws, the CNMI--
  Uses its immigration policy to open its borders to a flood of foreign 
workers--from the Philippines, China, and other Asian countries--that 
now outnumber the indigenous population.
  Maintains a minimum wage of as little as $2.90 an hour for garment 
workers--and far less for household workers and farmers--despite 
promises to bring wages to the Federal level.
  Ignores employer restrictions against U.S. laws--such as the right to 
unionize and to receive all wages earned, instead maintaining a 
bureaucracy that makes it all but impossible for workers to seek 
redress.
  Fails to prosecute aggressively those who mistreat and abuse foreign 
labor by forcing them into prostitution and other types of involuntary 
sexual activity, who restrict their expressions of political beliefs, 
and who deny them the wages they have earned. In fact, many workers 
have said that speaking out against battery and rape, against 
unsanitary living barracks, against illegal wage withholdings, long 
hours or violations of their work contract, can result in prompt 
deportation and the forfeiture of their wages.
  Congress in recent years, on a bipartisan basis, has called upon the 
CNMI to end these abuses, but with little effect. In fact, the CNMI 
Government has passed several laws that actually roll back worker 
protections, and broke a promise to the U.S. Congress to raise its 
minimum wage across the board, to the Federal level.
  This continuing pattern of abuse and indifference to human 
exploitation demands a rapid response from the Congress and from the 
Clinton administration. Today, along with several cosponsors, I am 
introducing legislation to protect the integrity of the ``Made in USA'' 
label by only permitting its use when all applicable labor laws are 
obeyed.
  This legislation will increase the minimum wage in the CNMI in stages 
until it matches the Federal level.
  Lastly, this legislation will also bring the CNMI under the 
Immigration and Naturalization Service which, unlike the CNMI's 
Government, has the skills and resources to establish credible and 
enforceable policies that do not sanction the exploitation of men and 
women.

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