[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 135 (Thursday, October 2, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1918-E1919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF OCTOBER 4, 1997--DAY OF CONSCIENCE TO END CHILD LABOR 
                          AND SWEATSHOP ABUSES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 1, 1997

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support and pay tribute to 
the thousands of

[[Page E1919]]

people who will be participating in the National Day of Conscience To 
End Child Labor and Sweatshop Abuses. On Saturday, October 4, 1997, 
people across our Nation and across the globe will join in a call to 
end child labor and sweatshops and to kick off the Holiday Shopping 
Season of Conscience.
  As part of a 3-month national and international mobilization 
beginning on Saturday, October 4, 1997, thousands of organizations 
across our country will participate in vigils, rallies, walks for 
conscience, signing petitions, distributing of leaflets, 
demonstrations, and services. The National Day of Conscience will 
inaugurate the Holiday Shopping Season of Conscience--a national 
movement to encourage consumers to reward companies which turn away 
from sweatshops and labor exploitation and penalize those which 
continue to violate human rights.
  Many people assume that the exploitation of children and the 
existence of sweatshops is a problem only in poorer countries or that 
it is a problem which does not exist in this country any longer. But 
many workers here in the United States still labor under exploitative 
conditions--long hours, subminimum wages, unsafe workplaces, and 
violations of child labor.
  It will surprise many to learn that the United States ranks first 
among affluent nations in the rate of injury and death to working 
minors. Annually there are over 200,000 injuries of children and young 
people in our Nation's workplaces and 100 deaths among our working 
youth. In agriculture, 23,500 children are injured each year and more 
than 300 children die each year working in the fields. We cannot 
continue to allow our children's lives to be risked in hazardous, 
dangerous, or illegal work.
  It will also surprise many to learn that sweatshops have returned in 
the United States in numbers and forms that are similar to the 
deplorable conditions that existed at the turn of the century. In 1995, 
American were shocked when investigators exposed the slave-like 
conditions of garment workers in El Monte, CA. Who can forget the young 
female immigrants from Thailand who were enslaved and forced to live in 
a compound encircled by razor wire? These women were forced to work 20-
hour days in deplorable slave-like conditions for as little as $1 per 
hour. The El Monte sweatshop, it was later revealed, made apparel for 
some of this country's top fashion labels.
  Mr. Speaker, the El Monte case unfortunately is not an isolated 
instance. The GAO recently reported that 2,000 of 6,000 garment shops 
in New York City and most of the 5,000 shops in Los Angeles operate in 
violation of minimum wage, overtime, or child labor laws. The National 
Day of Conscience and the Holiday Shopping Season of Conscience are an 
effort to make consumers aware of companies which are the worst 
sweatshop and child labor violators.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not think that Americans knowingly purchase 
products made by children or by a worker who is forced to work under 
harsh and degrading sweatshop conditions. The great value of the 
National Day of Conscience and the Holiday Season of Conscience is that 
through wide participation and education consumers can be encouraged to 
avoid purchasing goods produced in sweatshops and by illegal child 
labor, and we can bring about an end to sweatshops and exploitation of 
our children.
  Mr. Speaker, we can do much more to make our Nation's children's 
lives safer and more secure as they enter the work force. My good 
friend and colleague, Tom Campbell, along with another 38 of our 
colleagues, have joined together in supporting comprehensive domestic 
child labor law reform. This legislation, H.R. 1870, the Young American 
Workers' Bill of Rights Act, sets new minimum standards for protecting 
children in the workplace and assuring time for academic achievement 
during the school year, while still allowing for beneficial work 
experience.
  Mr. Speaker, this weekend will mark the beginning of a significant 
mobilization by consumers and grassroots organizations to end sweatshop 
abuses and child labor both here and abroad. It is my hope that we in 
the Congress will mobilize support here in the Congress to enact 
legislation which will ensure that the job opportunities for our youth 
are meaningful, safe, and healthy.

                          ____________________