[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 36 (Monday, March 8, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2388-S2389]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE INTERNATIONAL CHILD WELFARE PROTECTION ACT

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, last Friday, on behalf of Senator Bob 
Kerrey and myself, I introduced legislation that will chart a new 
United States approach to the terrible problem of child exploitation in 
overseas labor markets.
  This legislation, S. 553, the International Child Welfare Protection 
Act, will target new, additional trade benefits to countries that 
comply with the provisions of the International Labor Organization's 
Convention No. 138 concerning the minimum age for admission to 
employment, also known as the Minimum Age Convention.
  The aim of the Minimum Age Convention is to abolish child labor 
throughout the world by establishing a minimum age at which children 
may be employed.
  Our legislation will do two things:
  It will give the President the authority to grant a country that 
complies with the Minimum Age Convention up to a 50-percent tariff rate 
cut on items produced in that country that would not otherwise be 
eligible for preferential tariff rates.
  It will also permit the President to waive current limitations on the 
amounts of additional goods that countries complying with the Minimum 
Age Convention may export to the United States.
  In the unlikely event the President finds that domestic industries 
are hurt because of these special, targeted trade benefits, the 
President also has the authority to suspend, limit, or withdraw the 
benefits.
  This legislation is important for three reasons.
  First, it is a tragic fact that child labor is rampant in many places 
in the world, despite more laws aimed at stopping this inhumane 
practice. International Labor Organization statistics show that between 
100 and 200 million children worldwide are engaged in providing goods 
and services. Ninety-five percent of these children, according to the 
ILO, work in developing countries. Why are children pressed into 
service as low-paid or unpaid workers? Because, according to the ILO, 
children are ``generally less demanding, more obedient, and less likely 
to object to their treatment or conditions of work.'' It is very 
obvious that we must all do what we can to stop this unconscionable 
practice.
  The second reason we need this legislation is because it is clear 
that regulation and enforcement alone will not work. Incentives are 
needed as well. The reason that it is so tough to enforce child labor 
standards is that it is often very difficult to trace specific products 
to specific plants in specific countries. The Department of Labor's 
Bureau of International Labor Affairs says that quantifying the extent 
of child labor in a particular country's export industry ``can seldom 
be done with specificity.'' If you can't even trace the goods or 
services with certainty, you can't expect enforcement alone to be the 
answer. Hence the incentives that are in our legislation.
  Finally, we need this legislation because even though the ILO Minimum 
Age Convention was adopted in 1973, only 21 developing country member 
states out of 173 ILO member states have ratified the Convention to 
stop child labor. Out of the 21 developing country member states that 
have ratified the Convention, none is from Asia, where over half of all 
working children are to be found. If even one additional ILO member 
state ratifies the Convention because of the trade incentives this 
legislation offers, we will have achieved a great deal.
  I am on the floor today stating again what is obvious but also to 
remind my colleagues, with the introduction of this bill by Senator 
Kerrey of Nebraska and myself on Friday, you have an opportunity to 
cosponsor this bill, and I hope you will do so. I hope then that we 
have results from legislation which we have already on the books to 
enforce regulation, but we also have results from these efforts that 
are presented in our legislation for a more market-oriented approach to 
helping solve this bad economic situation of very young child labor.
  I ask unanimous consent that S. 553 be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 553

       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 ``International Child Welfare 
     Protection Act''.

     SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN BENEFICIARY 
                   COUNTRIES.

       (a) In General.--Section 503(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 
     (19 U.S.C. 2463(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new subparagraph:
       ``(D) Additional benefits for ilo eligible beneficiary 
     countries.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
     title, the President may proclaim a rate of duty that is 
     equal to 50 percent of the rate of duty that would otherwise 
     apply under this title with respect to any article referred 
     to in subsection (b)(1) (A), (C), (E), (F), or (G), if the 
     article is an article originating in an ILO eligible 
     beneficiary country.
       (b) Waiver of Competitive Need Limitation.--Section 
     503(c)(2)(D) of such Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(c)(2)(D)) is amended 
     to read as follows:
       ``(D) Least-developed beneficiary developing country; ilo 
     eligible beneficiary country.--Subparagraph (A) shall not 
     apply to any least-developed beneficiary developing country 
     or any beneficiary developing country that is an ILO eligible 
     beneficiary country.''.

[[Page S2389]]

       (c) Withdrawal, Suspension, or Limitation of Additional 
     Benefits.--Section 503 of such Act (19 U.S.C. 2463) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(g) Withdrawal, Suspension, or Limitation of Additional 
     Benefits.--
       ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, the President may withdraw, suspend, or limit the 
     designation of any country as an ILO eligible beneficiary 
     country for purposes of the benefits described in subsection 
     (a)(1)(D) if the President determines that--
       ``(A) the country no longer meets the criteria set forth in 
     section 507(6); or
       ``(B) imports of the article to which such additional 
     benefits have been granted have increased in such amounts as 
     to cause, or threaten to cause, injury to a domestic industry 
     producing an article like or directly competitive with the 
     article.
       ``(2) Effective date of withdrawal, etc.; advice to 
     congress.--
       ``(A) Effective date.--A country shall cease to be an ILO 
     eligible beneficiary country on the day on which the 
     President issues an Executive order or Presidential 
     proclamation revoking the designation of such country under 
     this title.
       ``(B) Advice to congress.--The President shall, as 
     necessary, advise Congress on the application of subsection 
     (a)(1)(D) and the actions the President has taken to 
     withdraw, to suspend, or to limit the application of 
     preferential treatment with respect to any country which has 
     failed to adequately meet the criteria described in section 
     507(6).''.
       (d) Definitions.--Section 507 of such Act (19 U.S.C. 2467) 
     is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(6) ILO eligible beneficiary country.--The term `ILO 
     eligible beneficiary country' means a least-developed 
     beneficiary developing country or a beneficiary developing 
     country that--
       ``(A) the President determines, after consultation with the 
     Secretary of Labor, is implementing and enforcing the 
     provisions of Convention No. 138 of the General Conference of 
     the International Labor Organization; and
       ``(B) has requested the additional benefits described in 
     section 503(a)(1)(D).
       ``(7) Article originating in an ilo eligible beneficiary 
     country.--An article is an article originating in an ILO 
     eligible beneficiary country if the article meets the rules 
     of origin for an article set forth in section 503(a)(2), 
     except that in applying section 503(a)(2), any reference to a 
     beneficiary developing country shall be deemed to refer to an 
     ILO eligible beneficiary country.''.

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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