[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 62 (Tuesday, May 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4399-S4400]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      PAUL CHARRON ON CHILD LABOR

 Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, on April 17, 1997, a momentous 
occasion took place at the White House when a group of apparel 
manufacturers, importers, labor officials, and President Clinton 
announced their actions to reduce the incidence of abusive child labor 
in the manufacturing of imported articles into the United States. As 
one who has been working on this issue for many years, I am pleased 
with the progress that is being made, although I recognize we have a 
long way to go. Most importantly, we need leaders in the apparel 
industry who are willing to take that step forward and work to include 
all manufacturers and importers in this effort to ban abusive and 
exploitative child labor. In the recent past, many apparel 
manufacturers have resisted this effort, supposedly in the name of 
``free trade,'' but I suspect there was probably another reason. On the 
other hand, there have been manufacturers and importers, who have 
stepped forward to courageously take the different course and that is 
to do everything they can to ensure that their products are not made 
with exploitative child labor.
  One such person is Mr. Paul Charron, the chief executive officer of 
the Liz Claiborne Corp. He has been in the forefront of the fight to 
ban the use of exploitative child labor in the manufacturing of wearing 
apparel. Mr. Charron gave remarks at the White House that day, which I 
found to be most encouraging. His comments, indeed, echo my feelings, 
and I know the feelings of President Clinton when he said that ensuring 
human rights is the right thing to do, and it is the smart thing to do. 
Good working conditions are productive working conditions. He is 
absolutely right, and I want to applaud Mr. Charron and thank him for 
his courageous stance and leadership on this issue. I would also like 
to encourage the participants of the White House Apparel Industry 
Partnership to take the next step and adopt a labeling system giving 
consumers the information they need and companies the recognition they 
deserve.
  At this point, I submit Mr. Charron's remarks into the Record, and I 
urge my colleagues and their staffs to review his remarks.
  The remarks follow:

   Remarks for the White House Apparel Industry Partnership: Paul R. 
                        Charron, April 14, 1997

       Thank you, Linda.
       And thank you, Mr. President, for having the foresight to 
     recognize that companies could work together with labor, 
     human rights and consumer organizations towards the common 
     goal of improving labor conditions around the world.
       But let's not forget the contributions of this 
     administration, particularly the Department of Labor and 
     former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. I also want to 
     acknowledge the tireless efforts of Maria Echaveste and Gene 
     Sperling.
       Furthermore, I would like to express my deep appreciation 
     to all those from the industry, labor, human rights, consumer 
     groups who contributed to this effort. And, of course, I 
     would like to thank Roberta Karp, Liz Claiborne's general 
     counsel, who co-chaired the task force.
       The standards and processes developed by the Apparel 
     Industry Partnership are groundbreaking. Together we have 
     built a framework to more credibly address a serious and 
     complex problem.
       But the success of the Partnership's framework for 
     improving working conditions depends upon the industry's 
     ability to recruit its peers.
       We must be realists. We must be problem solvers. And our 
     first challenge is this: persuading our colleagues in the 
     apparel and footwear industries--colleagues who are not 
     represented here today--to join the fight.
       In short, we have come here not to announce victory, but to 
     proclaim a new challenge. And that is to make this a truly 
     industry-wide effort. There is no other way.
       The skeptics may ask--why do this? The answer is simple: 
     it's good business. Some in the industry may think the 
     companies standing here are taking an unnecessary risk; they 
     may wonder how we can afford to make this commitment.
       I would ask them in return--how can we afford not to?
       Ensuring human rights is the right thing to do, and it is 
     the smart thing to do. Good working conditions are productive 
     working conditions.
       Let me emphasize that we are faced with a unique 
     opportunity to make further progress, and, again, our goal is 
     to make this into an unprecedented industry-wide effort. This 
     is only the start--the truly great accomplishments are yet to 
     come.
       Please join us to help this Partnership fulfill its 
     potential.
       And now, it is my great honor to introduce the President of 
     the United States. Mr. President. . . .

                 THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRANSISTOR

   Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise today to mark one of 
those rare discoveries which not only make history, but actually change 
history. On

[[Page S4400]]

December 16, 1947, three Bell Laboratories scientists, Nobel Prize 
winners John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley, working in 
Murray Hill, NJ, successfully operated the world's first transistor. 
The transistor allows the flow of electrons through solid materials to 
be controlled without requiring any moving parts.
  Mr. President, I'm not a scientist, so I don't completely understand 
the technology that makes this tiny device work. But I do understand 
that, without it, an amazing array of products which have 
revolutionized our lives could simply not work. In fact, the 
transistor's impact on microelectronics, computers, telecommunications, 
and so much more reminds me of the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, ``The 
creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.'' And the forests of 
products which have sprung from the transistor is indeed dazzling.
  Mr. President, not only is the transistor practically ubiquitous in 
our society, there is neither an individual nor an industry that has 
not benefited from this device. It has helped us advance the study of 
biology and medicine, permitting us to understand and heal the human 
body in ways that our ancestors could never even have imagined. It has 
altered our sense of community by permitting us to negate the effects 
of both time and distance through the development of worldwide 
communication networks. By doing so, the transistor changed the way we 
learn by instantly placing knowledge at our fingertips. And it has 
allowed us to explore the depths of the ocean, walk on the moon, and 
chart the solar system and the invisible domains of the universe. 
Obviously, the transistor not only revolutionized our lives, it has 
helped to lengthen our lives, enrich our lives, and provide our lives 
with greater meaning.
  Mr. President, the tradition and tenacity of Bell Laboratories lives 
on in its linear descendent, Lucent Technologies. The men and women of 
Lucent continue to make innovative communications products using solid 
state technologies that are an outgrowth of the transistor's 
development. I salute their work, and as the direct heirs of Bell 
Laboratories, I congratulate them on the 50th anniversary of the 
transistor.

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