[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 20 (Thursday, February 4, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1270-S1271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN:
  S. 373. A bill to prohibit the acquisition of products produced by 
forced or indentured child labor; to the Committee on Governmental 
Affairs.


               the indentured child labor prevention act

 Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy 
of S. 373, the Forced and Indentured Child Labor Prevention Act, be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 373

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Forced and Indentured Child 
     Labor Prevention Act''.

     SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF ACQUISITION OF PRODUCTS PRODUCED BY 
                   FORCED OR INDENTURED CHILD LABOR.

       (a) Prohibition.--The head of an executive agency (as 
     defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code) may 
     not acquire an item that appears on a list published under 
     subsection (b) unless the source of the item certifies to the 
     head of the executive agency that forced or indentured child 
     labor was not used to mine, produce, or manufacture the item.
       (b) Publication of List of Prohibited Items.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of Labor, in consultation 
     with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of 
     State, shall publish in the Federal Register every other year 
     a list of items that such officials have identified that 
     might have been mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or 
     indentured child labor.
       (2) Date of publication.--The first list shall be published 
     under paragraph (1) not later than 120 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act.
       (c) Required Contract Clauses.--
       (1) In general.--The head of an executive agency shall 
     include in each solicitation of offers for a contract for the 
     procurement of an item included on a list published under 
     subsection (b) the following clauses:
       (A) A clause that requires the contractor to certify to the 
     contracting officer that the contractor or, in the case of an 
     incorporated contractor, a responsible official of the 
     contractor has made a good faith effort to determine whether 
     forced or indentured child labor was used to mine, produce, 
     or manufacture any item furnished under the contract and 
     that, on the basis of those efforts, the contractor is 
     unaware of any such use of child labor.
       (B) A clause that obligates the contractor to cooperate 
     fully to provide access for the head of the executive agency 
     or the inspector general of the executive agency to the 
     contractor's records, documents, persons, or premises if 
     requested by the official for the purpose of determining 
     whether forced or indentured child labor was used to mine, 
     produce, or manufacture any item furnished under the 
     contract.
       (2) Application of subsection.--This subsection shall apply 
     with respect to acquisitions for a total amount in excess of 
     the micro-purchase threshold (as defined in section 32(f) of 
     the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 
     428(f)), including acquisitions of commercial items for such 
     an amount notwithstanding section 34 of the Office of Federal 
     Procurement Act (41 U.S.C. 430).
       (d) Investigations.--Whenever a contracting officer of an 
     executive agency has reason to believe that a contractor has 
     submitted a false certification under subsection (a) or 
     (c)(1)(A) or has failed to provide cooperation in accordance 
     with the obligation imposed pursuant to subsection (c)(1)(B), 
     the head of the executive agency shall refer the matter, for 
     investigation, to the Inspector General of the executive 
     agency and, as the head of the executive agency determines 
     appropriate, to the Attorney General and the Secretary of the 
     Treasury.
       (e) Remedies.--
       (1) In general.--The head of an executive agency may impose 
     remedies as provided in this subsection in the case of a 
     contractor under a contract of the executive agency if the 
     head of the executive agency finds that the contractor--
       (A) has furnished under the contract items that have been 
     mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured 
     child labor or uses forced or indentured child labor in 
     mining, production, or manufacturing operations of the 
     contractor;
       (B) has submitted a false certification under subparagraph 
     (A) of subsection (c)(1); or

[[Page S1271]]

       (C) has failed to provide cooperation in accordance with 
     the obligation imposed pursuant to subparagraph (B) of such 
     subsection.
       (2) Termination of contracts.--The head of the executive 
     agency, in the sole discretion of the head of the executive 
     agency, may terminate a contract on the basis of any finding 
     described in paragraph (1).
       (3) Debarment or suspension.--The head of an executive 
     agency may debar or suspend a contractor from eligibility for 
     Federal contracts on the basis of a finding that the 
     contractor has engaged in an act described in paragraph 
     (1)(A). The period of the debarment or suspension may not 
     exceed 3 years.
       (4) Inclusion on list.--The Administrator of General 
     Services shall include on the List of Parties Excluded from 
     Federal Procurement and Nonprocurement Programs (maintained 
     by the Administrator as described in the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation) each person that is debarred, suspended, proposed 
     for debarment or suspension, or declared ineligible by the 
     head of an executive agency or the Comptroller General on the 
     basis that the person uses forced or indentured child labor 
     to mine, produce, or manufacture any item.
       (5) Other remedies.--This subsection shall not be construed 
     to limit the use of other remedies available to the head of 
     an executive agency or any other official of the Federal 
     Government on the basis of a finding described in paragraph 
     (1).
       (f) Report.--Each year, the Administrator of General 
     Services, with the assistance of the heads of other executive 
     agencies, shall review the actions taken under this section 
     and submit to Congress a report on those actions.
       (g) Implementation in the Federal Acquisition Regulation.--
       (1) In general.--The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall 
     be revised within 180 days after the date of enactment of 
     this Act--
       (A) to provide for the implementation of this section; and
       (B) to include the use of forced or indentured child labor 
     in mining, production, or manufacturing as a cause on the 
     lists of causes for debarment and suspension from contracting 
     with executive agencies that are set forth in the regulation.
       (2) Publication.--The revisions of the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation shall be published in the Federal Register 
     promptly after the final revisions are issued.
       (h) Exception.--
       (1) In general.--This section shall not apply to a contract 
     that is for the procurement of any product, or any article, 
     material, or supply contained in a product, that is mined, 
     produced, or manufactured in any foreign country or 
     instrumentality, if--
       (A) the foreign country or instrumentality is--
       (i) a party to the Agreement on Government Procurement 
     annexed to the WTO Agreement; or
       (ii) a party to the North American Free Trade Agreement; 
     and
       (B) the contract is of a value that is equal to or greater 
     than the United States threshold specified in the Agreement 
     on Government Procurement annexed to the WTO Agreement or the 
     North American Free Trade Agreement, whichever is applicable.
       (2) WTO agreement.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
     term ``WTO Agreement'' means the Agreement Establishing the 
     World Trade Organization, entered into on April 15, 1994.
       (i) Applicability.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (c)(2), 
     the requirements of this section apply on and after the date 
     determined under paragraph (2) to any solicitation that is 
     issued, any unsolicited proposal that is received, and any 
     contract that is entered into by an executive agency pursuant 
     to such a solicitation or proposal on or after such date.
       (2) Date.--The date referred to is paragraph (1) is the 
     date that is 30 days after the date of the publication of the 
     revisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation under 
     subsection (g)(2).
                                 ______