[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 132 (Monday, September 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H9121-H9124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 AMENDING FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT TO PERMIT CERTAIN YOUTH TO PERFORM 
                    CERTAIN WORK WITH WOOD PRODUCTS

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4257) to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to 
permit certain youth to perform certain work with wood products, as 
amended.

[[Page H9122]]

  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4257

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. EXEMPTION.

       Section 13(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
     U.S.C. 213(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(6)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), in the administration 
     and enforcement of the child labor provisions of this Act, it 
     shall not be considered oppressive child labor for an 
     individual who--
       ``(i) is at least 14 but under the age of 18, and
       ``(ii) is a member of a religious sect or division thereof 
     whose established teachings do not permit formal education 
     beyond the eighth grade,

     to be employed inside or outside places of business where 
     machinery is used to process wood products.
       ``(B) The employment of an individual under subparagraph 
     (A) shall be permitted--
       ``(i) if the individual is supervised by an adult relative 
     of the individual or is supervised by an adult member of the 
     same religious sect or division as the individual;
       ``(ii) if the individual does not operate or assist in the 
     operation of power-driven woodworking machines;
       ``(iii) if the individual is protected from wood particles 
     or other flying debris within the workplace by a barrier 
     appropriate to the potential hazard of such wood particles or 
     flying debris or by maintaining a sufficient distance from 
     machinery in operation; and
       ``(iv) if the individual is required to use personal 
     protective equipment to prevent exposure to excessive levels 
     of noise and saw dust.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling).
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4257 addresses a unique problem resulting from the 
application of the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act.
  Children in the Amish community complete their formal classroom 
education at age 14 or 15. In fact, the Amish faith teaches that their 
children's formal classroom education should end after the 8th grade, 
after which they learn by doing, through work under the supervision of 
their parents or another community member.
  For many years, most Amish youth worked in agriculture on their 
family farm. However, as every other farmer is suffering and struggling 
today, most Amish youth no longer have that opportunity. For a variety 
of reasons, the Amish have, in recent years, been forced to rely more 
and more on other occupations. Many have gone into operating sawmills 
and other types of woodworking.

                              {time}  1500

  So increasingly, the opportunities to learn by doing for Amish young 
people are in these types of workplaces.
  The problem is that the Department of Labor's Regulations prohibit 
14- and 15-year-olds from working in any sawmill or woodworking shop 
and severely limit the work of 16- or 17-year-olds in these workplaces.
  In recent years the Department of Labor has undertaken a number of 
enforcement actions against Amish employers. As a result, Amish youth 
no longer have the opportunity to learn skills and work habits through 
the community's traditional means. As the Amish struggle to raise their 
children and preserve their way of life, the Department of Labor's 
actions are, in effect, undermining the Amish culture.
  H.R. 4257 is a narrow bill which addresses this specific problem. It 
would allow persons between the age 14 and 18 to work in sawmills and 
woodworking shops so long as they do so under the supervision of an 
adult relative or a member of the same faith. The young person would 
not be permitted under any circumstances to operate or assist in the 
operation of any power-driven woodworking machine. Again, I repeat they 
would not be permitted to operate or assist in the operation of any 
machinery.
  A young person must be protected from wood particles or other wood 
flying debris within the workplace by a barrier or by maintaining an 
appropriate physical distance from operating the machinery. In 
addition, the young person must be protected from excessive levels of 
noise and sawdust by the use of personal protective equipment.
  An amendment accepted during the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce markup made several changes to the bill to address safety 
concerns raised by some members of the committee. Subsequent to the 
committee's markup, the sponsors of the bill, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts) and the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Martinez), had further discussions with other Democrats regarding 
strengthening the protection for Amish teens under the bill. These 
discussions have resulted in development of the substitute amendment 
which further defines the term ``barrier.''
  While I would remind my colleagues that the Amish young people 
addressed by this bill must be working for relatives and other members 
within the Amish community, the additional protections provided by this 
substitute amendment will further assure the safety of these young 
people.
  I want to particularly commend other Members who have been working 
over the past months to address this problem, particularly the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts), the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson), the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Martinez), and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder).
  Members have made repeated attempts to work out an administrative 
solution with the department, but the department has been unwilling or 
unable to alleviate the conflict between the current regulation and the 
Amish community's way of life. That is why we are fixing the problem 
through legislation.
  This bill allows the Amish to continue in their traditional way of 
training their children in a craft or occupation while ensuring the 
safety of those who work in woodworking occupations. I would urge my 
colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts).
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to commend and thank the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling), the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Martinez), the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Fattah), the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder), and the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson) for their work on this issue in a 
bipartisan manner.
  Mr. Speaker, today we are addressing an issue important to the Amish 
communities of more than 20 States in this country. In my district 
alone, approximately 30,000 Amish reside. People around the world know 
the old-order Amish to be a people who till the land and who live a 
disciplined, simple life.
  Traditionally, Amish communities are centered around the family farm. 
Amish parents show their children how to make a living by caring for 
crops and animals. However, combine the high growth rate and the 
soaring price of farm land and many Amish have been forced to look for 
alternatives to farming.
  Amish have now developed numerous small businesses in such things as 
carriages, lumber, clocks, wagons, cabinetry, and quilts. And it is in 
these businesses, just like on the farm, that the Amish train their 
youth to work and to learn the trade of their parents.
  As my colleagues may know, in the Amish culture idleness is 
forbidden. Therefore, because Amish school is only up to the 8th grade, 
and that is by the approval of the courts and the State governments, 
and this is according to their religious beliefs, younger kids must 
immediately begin to learn a vocation after they finish the 8th grade.
  And this is a vital extension of Amish schooling. It is sort of like 
an apprenticeship program. They do not have the benefit of shop class 
or vo-tech like many of the other youngsters have. It is not uncommon 
for Amish teens to accompany a parent to the workplace. The Amish call 
this learning by doing.
  Mr. Speaker, the reason we are here to discuss this issue today is 
because this hard-working community and its apprenticeship tradition is 
being threatened. Unfortunately, small Amish-owned businesses have 
received costly fines from the Department of Labor for having their 
young adults work alongside their fathers and uncles, even in family 
businesses.

[[Page H9123]]

  Mr. Speaker, action of the Department of Labor have severely 
threatened the life-style and the religion of this respected and humble 
community. All the Amish folks want is to be left alone, to teach their 
youth the necessary skills and work ethic, and to bring up the next 
generation in a way that will allow them to be diligent and 
responsible.
  The Amish do not accept any assistance whatsoever from government 
programs, and our government should not interfere with this humble 
community. Several of my colleagues, along with our Amish constituents, 
have met with the Department of Labor officials several times over the 
past 2 years to find an administrative solution to this problem. 
Unfortunately, the Department of Labor has done nothing to recognize 
the unique situation of the Amish.
  This community, which does not have the benefit of shop class, as I 
said, or vo-tech schools like most youth of their age, instead have 
family learning situations. They have a responsibility to evaluate the 
Amish in this light. That is why the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Martinez) and I, along with numerous other Members, have introduced 
H.R. 4257.
  This narrow legislation will allow only young adults of the Amish 
faith to accompany a parent or a relative to work in places of 
business, including those where machinery is used to process wood 
products. They cannot use these machines or power tools, but they can 
be on the premises with certain safety precautions and they can do such 
things such as sweep sawdust, stack planks, glue lumber, and do 
paperwork.
  This legislation takes all the necessary health and safety 
requirements seriously. It requires that young adults be supervised. It 
prohibits them from operating machinery. It provides numerous safety 
protections.
  Mr. Speaker, many communities like Lancaster County, Pennsylvania 
greatly appreciate the heritage and work ethic of the Amish. We want to 
keep them as part of our communities. However, if the Amish continue to 
be attacked by the State and Federal governments, they will be driven 
out of our communities. Their strong heritage will be undermined by 
governmental interference.
  I urge my colleagues to protect the Amish heritage. Support H.R. 
4257.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I oppose H.R. 4257 because it creates a dangerous 
exception to our country's most critical child protection law. Current 
law prohibits all minors under 18 years of age from working in sawmill 
operations and the logging industry. It specifically prohibits such 
youth from operating power-driven woodworking machines.
  This bill would permit 14-year-old children to work in one of the 
most hazardous, dangerous industries in the country. The occupational 
fatality rate in the lumber and wood products industry is five times 
higher than the national average. Workers in the industry have been 
killed as a result of being crushed by forklifts. They have been killed 
when loads fell off the forklifts. They have been suffocated by 
sawdust.
  An Amish elder, William Burkholder, told our committee how he lost 
several fingers when, during a moment of inattention, he set his hand 
on a conveyor belt and he ran his hand into a saw. Inexperience and 
lack of maturity all serve to make the potential risk faced by minors 
even greater than they are for adults.
  It is unreasonable to expect a 14-year-old to maintain the kind of 
continuous safety concern we expect of adults. In this industry, that 
moment of inattention can be fatal.
  Injury data collected over several decades consistently showed that 
the lumber and wood products industry is particularly hazardous work 
for adults, and it will be even worse for children. The 1996 
occupational fatality rate of 25.6 work-related deaths per 100,000 
workers was more than 5 times the national average.
  One of the most important functions of the child labor laws is to 
ensure that children are not employed in circumstances that are unduly 
hazardous to their health. Fourteen-year-olds do not possess the full 
autonomy of choice and may not possess the full capacity for choice 
possessed by adults, and they should not be placed in harm's way.
  I do not, Mr. Speaker, mean to imply that the proponents of this 
legislation are indifferent to the health and safety of Amish children. 
I understand the concern that children be employed in occupations 
common to the Amish community. However, to permit children to be 
employed in an industry where the threat of serious injury or death is 
so high, I think should be unacceptable.
  Mr. Speaker, for all of these reasons, I oppose H.R. 4257.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson).
  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I would first like to 
compliment the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling) and the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts) and all of those that worked so 
hard on this legislation.
  But in response to what we just heard about a dangerous exception, I 
want to share that they will not be near conveyor belts or saws or 
chippers, and Amish mills do not own or use forklifts or have sawdust 
silos, so the concerns that we just heard are really not valid.
  H.R. 4257 provides a narrow and specific solution to an instance 
where the Federal Government has gone too far in ruining an historic 
culture. As many of us know, Amish children complete formal schooling 
in the 8th grade, which is around the age of 14. Typically, Amish youth 
then pursue either their parents' or close relatives' trade and 
business. While the Amish way of subsistence life tends them toward 
farming, several other trades are practiced, including blacksmithing, 
woodworking, and lumbering.
  I worked for a summer. I had two Amish men working for me remodeling 
a couple of buildings, and I was always amazed at how they would drive 
a large spike in about two swings. And the one young man said, ``If you 
started as young as I did with a hammer in your hand and were taught 
how to hit a nail directly, and then as you got older developed the 
strength, you could drive a nail that fast, too.''
  The time period between the ages of 14 and 18 is an importantly 
critical transition with the Amish culture. Unfortunately, the 
Department of Labor descended upon Amish mills in my district and the 
district of the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts) and other 
districts and particularly targeted them.
  While no one here would advocate that children operate saws and other 
equipment in the mill, they should be able to perform the simple and 
safe tasks of stacking lumber and sweeping the mill. The sad situation 
is that the hazardous orders invoked by the department forbid even this 
approach, a simple, common-sense strategy to preserving the Amish 
culture.
  H.R. 4257 encompasses a sensible solution in a fashion which has 
addressed many concerns regarding safety that include such items as 
hearing protection and barriers and the rare instance of flying debris.
  I would like to address the issue of safety briefly. In my dealings 
with the Amish, I have come to learn of a culture which strives to 
instill a sense of utmost respect for everything. This, coupled with a 
dedicate work ethic, ensures a complete understanding of equipment and 
work environment. As such, safety is first and foremost during this 
transition.
  In closing, this bill addresses an issue which the American people 
have been yearning for, reasonable solutions to a variety of problems 
that maintain the integrity of the law but allow for creativity and 
flexibility. We did not get that from the department.
  The Amish do not have their hand out. They are not even asking for a 
hand up. They want an ill-advised Federal bureaucracy to untie their 
hands so they can continue to be a hard-working and self-sustaining 
society and a very vital part of America.

                              {time}  1515

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Indiana (Mr. Souder), a member of the committee.
  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I too want to thank the chairman for his 
leadership on this, as well as the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Pitts),

[[Page H9124]]

the gentleman from California (Mr. Martinez) and the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson). As we have gone through our meetings with 
the Department of Labor, it has been a frustrating experience, and I 
certainly hope we will not only overwhelmingly pass this bill today, 
but be able to move it through the Senate and get it signed into law.
  I have a slightly different perspective than many here because my 
family once was Amish. My great-great-grandfather, great grandfather 
was one of the first Amish settlers in Northeastern Indiana. My family 
left the Amish faith around the turn of the century, but I still have 
many friends and many family members who are in the Amish faith around 
the small town that I grew up in and where our family business is 
located.
  They are not a people who are looking for trouble. They are looking 
for a place where they can be left alone, and they will go to the 
jungles of Brazil, if that is necessary.
  The question is, in the United States of America anymore, are we 
going to allow people to practice their religious freedom and to 
practice their faith the way they choose? We are not asking that we put 
safety at risk. The bill explicitly says that the individual cannot 
operate or assist in the operation of power-driven woodworking 
machines.
  As far as opening up a loophole that might broaden so that others 
might try to get this exemption, as long as they are willing to give up 
their TVs, their radios, their telephones, ride around in Amish 
buggies, perhaps they can change and get into this loophole.
  But this is a very narrow category for a group of people who have 
already been cleared by this government several decades ago to have a 
different form of school, where they can leave at junior high level and 
go into apprenticeships. They cannot make enough money in many areas 
anymore to do this with just farming. Most have gone into some form of 
woodworking, whether it is carpentry, pallets, home building, cabinets 
or whatever.
  If we in fact shut them down and shut their young people's 
opportunities down, they will be forced to move and to go somewhere 
else. That is the fundamental question here: Can we accommodate just 
slightly with the safety, and, by the way, what a joke. We are seeing 
kids dying in automobile wrecks, dying of drug abuse, and we are 
worried whether one, even with this blockage, might somehow have an 
accident while they are working? The amount of deaths and accidents in 
the Amish community compared to that in the English community, as they 
call the others around them, is minuscule.
  That is not what this is about. It is not about safety. It is a 
question of whether the humble powerless people like the Amish can be 
free to practice their worship yet here in America, or whether we are 
going to be so uniform and so inflexible in this government that we 
will drive them out.
  Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. Speaker, last spring the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce heard testimony from members of the Amish community who 
expressed concern over their inability to comply with certain aspects 
of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Since that time, I have been working 
with the gentleman from Pennsylvania, the author of this bill, to reach 
some sort of arrangement under which the Amish could take their 
children with them to work while at the same time provide them with the 
safest environment possible. I believe that H.R. 4257 creates such an 
arrangement.
  H.R. 4257 is necessary because, although the Amish are trying very 
hard to adapt in this increasing high-tech world while at the same time 
maintain a part of their tradition, this is becoming increasingly 
difficult given the fact that historically Amish farmland is 
disappearing rapidly.
  Take, for example, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which is home to 
nearly one-fifth of the nation's Amish population and is the fastest 
growing county in Pennsylvania. Land prices and property taxes, which 
can run as high as $8,000 to $10,000 an acre, have forced many Amish to 
abandon farming and caused Lancaster County to lose more than 100,000 
acres of farmland to development, which is significant when you 
consider that the average Amish farm is only 100 acres. As a result, 
townhouses and swimming pools now stand on the fertile land that the 
Amish have tended for over three centuries. In fact, last year, the 
world monument fund named Lancaster County one of the world's 100 most 
endangered historic sites, putting it in the company of the Taj Mahal 
and the ruins of Pompeii.
  However, the Amish are doing their best to adapt in the face of their 
rapidly changing environment. For instance, whereas 95 percent of Amish 
men previously made their living on the farm, now as many as 50 percent 
work in non-farm occupations, primarily in the lumber and woodworking 
industries, as saw mills are prevalent in Amish country and recent 
tourist interest in the Amish way of life has created a demand for 
Amish-made goods, particularly furniture and crafts. However, while 
these jobs suit the traditionally hardworking and industrious Amish 
men, they do come with complications.
  Amish children finish their formal education after the 8th grade, at 
approximately age 14. At this time, Amish boys go to work with their 
families, which used to be on the farm. However, Amish men have found 
that when they take their sons with them to work in the saw mills and 
woodshops, they risk the possibility of being fined by the Department 
of Labor for violating child labor laws, which prevent minors from 
performing hazardous duties.
  Obviously, none of us want to put young people in harm's way. But 
this situation is causing a dilemma in the Amish community and has 
forced hundreds of young men between the ages of 14 and 18 to be forced 
to remain home idle for lack of a job--a grave sin according to Amish 
doctrine and a potential social problem for the rest of America--a fact 
evidenced by several recent news reports regarding the Amish becoming 
involved in drugs.
  As I mentioned, Mr. Pitts and I have been working together for 
several months to find a satisfactory solution to this complicated 
problem. The result of our efforts is H.R. 4257. H.R. 4257 not only 
requires that the Amish children be protected from dangerous machinery, 
flying objects, excessive noise, and saw dust, it requires that the 
Amish children be supervised by an adult relative or member of the 
sect.
  Who better to ensure the safety of a young person than a father, 
uncle, brother, or close family friend, who cares about that young 
person? If your son, nephew, or brother were dangerously close to 
hazardous machinery, would you stand idly by? I know I would not, and I 
am confident that the Amish, who are so focused on family that they 
prohibit phones from the home for fear they will interfere with family 
time, would not either.
  We are a nation of immigrants, with different backgrounds and 
beliefs, founded on the premise that its citizens should be free to 
acknowledge their backgrounds and practice their beliefs. As 
responsible lawmakers it is our duty to develop policy that allows 
individuals to do this. As such, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 
4257.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Goodling) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4257, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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