[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 85 (Wednesday, June 16, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1272-E1274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     PRESIDENT CLINTON ADDRESSES INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION 
CONFERENCE--REAFFIRMS AMERICAN COMMITMENT TO INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 16, 1999

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, today at the Geneva Conference of the 
International Labor Organization, President Clinton became the first 
President of the United States to address the International Labor 
Organization (ILO) in Geneva. In this particularly excellent address, 
the President reaffirmed in the strongest terms the commitment of the 
United States to the ILO and to the protection of international labor 
rights.
  The ILO--an organization established in the aftermath of World War I 
and affiliated with the United Nations after its creation in 1945--is 
in the forefront of the fight to assure that workers have the right to 
organize, the right to bargain collectively, the right to a safe work 
place, and the rights to speak out and to assemble in the defense and 
protection of these rights.
  Mr. Speaker, President Clinton also called attention in particular to 
the fight of the United States against abusive child labor. In far too 
many places around, children are forced to work unconscionably long 
hours, which interferes with their education and limits their future 
opportunities. More serious is the exploitation of children in 
pornography and prostitution, which happens in many places around the 
globe. Children are recruited by some governments and by some political 
movements to serve in military conflicts, and we must work to end that 
pernicious practice. Children also work in hazardous and dangerous 
occupations where they risk their lives, their health, and their 
future.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the request of the 
President to the Congress to provide $25 million in funding to help 
create a new arm of the ILO to work with developing countries to put 
basic labor standards in place to assure workers in these countries 
basic health and safety protections as well as assuring them the right 
to organize. I also urge support of the President's request to the 
Congress for $10 million to strengthen U.S. bilateral support for 
governments seeking to raise their own fundamental labor standards. I 
also urge support for the President's requests for funding of programs 
to reduce child labor.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that President Clinton's outstanding address to 
the International Labor Organization be placed in the Record, and I 
urge my colleagues to give thoughtful attention to his excellent 
remarks.

   Remarks by the President to the International Labor Organization 
                               Conference

       The President. Thank you very much, Director General 
     Somavia, for your fine statement and your excellent work. 
     Conference President Mumuni, Director General Petrovsky, 
     ladies and gentlemen of the ILO: It is a great honor for me 
     to be here today with, as you have noticed, quite a large 
     American delegation. I hope you will take it as a commitment 
     of the United States to our shared vision, and not simply as 
     a burning desire for us to visit this beautiful city on every 
     possible opportunity.
       I am delighted to be here with Secretary Albright and 
     Secretary of Labor Herman; with my National Economic Advisor 
     Gene Sperling, and my National Security Advisor Sandy Berger. 
     We're delighted to be joined by the President of the American 
     Federation of Labor, the AFL-CIO, John Sweeney, and several 
     of the leaders of the U.S. labor movement; and with Senator 
     Tom Harkin from Iowa who is the foremost advocate in the 
     United States of the abolition of child labor. I am grateful 
     to all of them for coming with me, and to the First Lady and 
     our daughter for joining us on this trip. And I thank you for 
     your warm reception of her presence here.
       It is indeed an honor for me to be the first American 
     President to speak before the ILO in Geneva. It is long 
     overdue. There is no organization that has worked harder to 
     bring people together around fundamental human aspirations, 
     and no organization whose mission is more vital for today and 
     tomorrow.
       The ILO, as the Director General said, was created in the 
     wake of the devastation of

[[Page E1273]]

     World War I as part of a vision to provide stability to a 
     world recovering from war, a vision put forward by our 
     President, Woodrow Wilson. He said then, ``While we are 
     fighting for freedom we must see that labor is free.'' At a 
     time when dangerous doctrines of dictatorship were 
     increasingly appealing the ILO was founded on the realization 
     that injustice produces, and I quote, ``unrest so great that 
     the peace and harmony of the world are imperiled.''
       Over time the organization was strengthened, and the United 
     States played its role, starting with President Franklin 
     Roosevelt and following through his successors and many 
     others in the United States Congress, down to the strong 
     supporters today, including Senator Harkin  and the 
     distinguished senior Senator from New York, Patrick Moynihan.
       For half a century, the ILO has waged a struggle of rising 
     prosperity and widening freedom, from the shipyards of Poland 
     to the diamond mines of South Africa. Today, as the Director 
     General said, you remain the only organization to bring 
     together governments, labor unions and business, to try to 
     unite people in common cause--the dignity of work, the belief 
     that honest labor, fairly compensated, gives meaning and 
     structure to our lives; the ability of every family and all 
     children to rise as far as their talents will take them.
       In a world too often divided, this organization has been a 
     powerful force for unity, justice, equality and shared 
     prosperity. For all that, I thank you. Now, at the edge of a 
     new century, at the dawn of the Information Age, the ILO and 
     its vision are more vital than ever--for the world is 
     becoming a much smaller and much, much more interdependent 
     place. Most nations are linked to the new dynamic, idea-
     driven, technology-powered, highly competitive international 
     economy.
       The digital revolution is a profound, powerful and 
     potentially democratizing force. It can empower people and 
     nations, enabling the wise and far-sighted to develop more 
     quickly and with less damage to the environment. It can 
     enable us to work together across the world as easily as if 
     we were working just across the hall. Competition, 
     communications and more open markets spur stunning 
     innovations and make their fruits available to business and 
     workers worldwide.
       Consider this: Every single day, half a million air 
     passengers, 1.5 billion e-mail messages and $1.5 trillion 
     cross international borders. We also have new tools to 
     eradicate diseases that have long plagued humanity, to remove 
     the threat of global warming and environmental destruction, 
     to lift billions of people into the first truly global middle 
     class.
       Yet, as the financial crisis of the last two years has 
     shown, the global economy with its churning, hyperactivity, 
     poses new risks, as well, of disruption, dislocation and 
     division. A financial crisis in one country can be felt on 
     factory floors half a world away. The world has changed, much 
     of it for the better, but too often our response to its new 
     challenges has not changed.
       Globalization is not a proposal or a policy choice, it is a 
     fact. But how we respond to it will make all the difference. 
     We cannot dam up the tides of economic change anymore than 
     King Knute could still the waters. Nor can we tell our people 
     to sink or swim on their own. We must find a new way--a new 
     and democratic way--to maximize market potential and social 
     justice, competition and community. We must put a human face 
     on the global economy, giving working people everywhere a 
     stake in its success, equipping them all to reap its rewards, 
     providing for their families the basic conditions of a just 
     society. All nations must embrace this vision, and all the 
     great economic institutions of the world must devote their 
     creativity and energy to this end.
       Last May, I had the opportunity to come and speak to the 
     World Trade Organization and stress that as we fight for open 
     markets, it must open its doors to the concerns of working 
     people and the environment. Last November, I spoke to the 
     International Monetary Fund and World Bank and stressed that 
     we must build a new financial architecture as modern as 
     today's markets, to tame the cycles of boom and bust in the 
     global economy as we can now do in national economies; to 
     ensure the integrity of international financial transactions; 
     and to expand social safety nets for the most vulnerable.
       Today, I say to you that the ILO, too, must be ready for 
     the 21st century, along the lines that Director General 
     Somavia has outlined.
       Let me begin by stating my firm belief that open trade is 
     not contrary to the interest of working people. Competition 
     and integration lead to stronger growth, more and better 
     jobs, more widely shared gains. Renewed protectionism in any 
     of our nations would lead to a spiral of retaliation that 
     would diminish the standard of living for working people 
     everywhere. Moreover, a failure to expand trade further could 
     choke off innovation and diminish the very possibilities of 
     the information economy. No, we need more trade, not less.
       Unfortunately, working people the world over do not believe 
     this. Even in the United States, with the lowest unemployment 
     rate in a generation, where exports accounted for 30 percent 
     of our growth until the financial crisis hit Asia, working 
     people strongly resist new market-opening measures. There are 
     many reasons. In advanced countries the benefits of open 
     trade outweigh the burdens. But they are widely spread, while 
     the dislocations of open trade are painfully concentrated.
       In all countries, the premium the modern economy places on 
     skills leaves too many hard-working people behind. In poor 
     countries, the gains seem too often to go to the already 
     wealthy and powerful, with little or no rise in the general 
     standard of living. And the international organizations 
     charged with monitoring and providing for rules of fair 
     trade, and enforcement of them, seem to take a very long time 
     to work their way to the right decision, often too late to 
     affect the people who have been disadvantaged.
       So as we press for more open trade, we must do more to 
     ensure that all our people are lifted by the global economy. 
     As we prepare to launch a new global round of trade talks in 
     Seattle in November, it is vital that the WTO and the ILO 
     work together to advance that common goal.
       We clearly see that a thriving global economy will grow out 
     of the skills, the idea, the education of millions of 
     individuals. In each of our nations and as a community of 
     nations, we must invest in our people and lift them to their 
     full potential. If we allow the ups and downs of financial 
     crises to divert us from investing in our people, it is not 
     only those citizens or nations that will suffer--the entire 
     world will suffer from their lost potential.
       It is clear that when nations face financial crisis, they 
     need the commitment and the expertise not only of the 
     international financial institutions, they need the ILO as 
     well. The IMF, the World Bank and WTO, themselves, should 
     work more closely with the ILO, and this organization must be 
     willing and able to assume more responsibility.
       The lesson of the past two years is plain: Those nations 
     with strong social safety nets are better able to weather the 
     storms. Those strong safety nets do not just include 
     financial assistance and emergency aid for poorest people, 
     they also call for the empowerment of the poorest people.
       This weekend in Cologne, I will join my partners in the G-8 
     in calling for a new focus on stronger safety nets within 
     nations and within the international community. We will also 
     urge improved cooperation between the ILO and the 
     international financial institutions in promoting social 
     protections and core labor standards. And we should press 
     forward to lift the debt burden that is crushing many of the 
     poorest nations.
       We are working to forge a bold agreement to more than 
     triple debt relief for the world's poorest nations and to 
     target those savings to education, health care, child 
     survival and fighting poverty. I pledge to work to find the 
     resources so we can do our part and contribute our share 
     toward an expanded trust fund for debt relief.
       Yet, as important as our efforts to strengthen safety nets 
     and relieve debt burdens are, for citizens throughout the 
     world to feel that they truly have a hand in shaping their 
     future they must know the dignity and respect of basic rights 
     in the workplace.
       You have taken a vital step toward lifting the lives of 
     working people by adopting the Declaration on Fundamental 
     Principles and Rights at Work last year. The document is a 
     blueprint for the global economy that honors our values--the 
     dignity of work, an end to discrimination, an end to forced 
     labor, freedom of association, the right of people to 
     organize and bargain in a civil and peaceful way. These are 
     not just labor rights, they're human rights. They are a 
     charter for a truly modern economy. We must make them an 
     everyday reality all across the world.
       We advance these rights first by standing up to those who 
     abuse them. Today, one member nation, Burma stands in 
     defiance of the ILO's most fundamental values and most 
     serious findings. The Director General has just reported to 
     us that the flagrant violation of human rights persists, and 
     I urge the ILO governing body to take definite steps. For 
     Burma is out of step with the standards of the world 
     community and the aspirations of its people. Until people 
     have the right to shape their destiny we must stand by them 
     and keep up the pressure for change.
       We also advance core labor rights by standing with those 
     who seek to make them a reality in the workplace. Many 
     countries need extra assistance to meet these standards. 
     Whether it's rewriting inadequate labor laws, or helping 
     fight discrimination against women and minorities in the 
     workplace, the ILO must be able to help.
       That is why in the balanced budget I submitted to our 
     Congress this year I've asked for $25 million to help create 
     a new arm of the ILO, to work with developing countries to 
     put in place basic labor standards--protections, safe work 
     places, the right to organize. I ask other governments to 
     join us. I've also asked for $10 million from our Congress to 
     strengthen U.S. bilateral support for governments seeking to 
     raise such core labor standards.
       We have asked for millions of dollars also to build on our 
     voluntary anti-sweat shop initiative to encourage the many 
     innovative programs that are being developed to eliminate 
     sweat shops and raise consumer awareness of the conditions in 
     which the clothes they wear and the toys they buy for their 
     children are made.
       But we must go further, to give life to our dream of an 
     economy that lifts all our people. To do that, we must wipe 
     from the Earth the most vicious forms of abusive child labor. 
     Every single day tens of millions of children work in 
     conditions that shock the conscience. There are children 
     chained to

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     often risky machines; children handling dangerous chemicals; 
     children forced to work when they should be in school, 
     preparing themselves and their countries for a better 
     tomorrow. Each of our nations must take responsibility.
       Last week, at the inspiration of Senator Tom Harkin, who is 
     here with me today, I directed all agencies of the United 
     States government to make absolutely sure they are not buying 
     any products made with abusive child labor.
       But we must also act together. Today, the time has come to 
     build on the growing world consensus to ban the most abusive 
     forms of child labor--to join together and to say there are 
     some things we cannot and will not tolerate.
       We will not tolerate children being used in pornography and 
     prostitution. We will not tolerate children in slavery or 
     bondage. We will not tolerate children being forcibly 
     recruited to serve in armed conflicts. We will not tolerate 
     young children risking their health and breaking their bodies 
     in hazardous and dangerous working conditions for hours 
     unconscionably long--regardless of country, regardless of 
     circumstance. These are not some archaic practices out of a 
     Charles Dickens novel. These are things that happen in too 
     many places today.
       I am proud of what is being done at your meeting. In 
     January, I said to our Congress and the American people in 
     the State of the Union address, that we would work with the 
     ILO on a new initiative to raise labor standards and to 
     conclude a treaty to ban abusive child labor everywhere in 
     the world. I am proud to say that the United States will 
     support your convention. After I return home I will send it 
     to the U.S. Senate for ratification, and I ask all other 
     countries to ratify it, as well.
       We thank you for achieving a true breakthrough for the 
     children of the world. We thank the nations here represented 
     who have made genuine progress in dealing with this issue in 
     their own nations. You have written an important new chapter 
     in our effort to honor our values and protect our children.
       Passing this convention alone, however, will not solve the 
     problem. We must also work aggressively to enforce it. And we 
     must address root causes, the tangled pathology of poverty 
     and hopelessness that leads to abusive child labor. Where 
     that still exists it is simply not enough to close the 
     factories where the worst child labor practices occur. We 
     must also ensure that children then have access to schools 
     and their parents have jobs. Otherwise, we may find children 
     in even more abusive circumstances.
       That is why the work of the International Program for the 
     Elimination of Child Labor is so important. With the support 
     of the United States, it is working in places around the 
     world to get children out of business of making fireworks, to 
     help children move from their jobs as domestic servants, to 
     take children from factories to schools.
       Let me cite just one example of the success being achieved, 
     the work being done to eliminate child labor from the soccer 
     ball industry in Pakistan. Two years ago, thousands of 
     children under the age of 14 worked for 50 companies 
     stitching soccer balls full-time. The industry, the ILO and 
     UNICEF joined together to remove children from the production 
     of soccer balls and give them a chance to go to school, and 
     to monitor the results.
       Today, the work has been taken up by women in 80 poor 
     villages in Pakistan, giving them new employment and their 
     families new stabilities. Meanwhile, the children have 
     started to go to school, so that when they come of age, they 
     will be able to do better jobs raising the standard of living 
     of their families, their villages and their nation. I thank 
     all who were involved in this endeavor and ask others to 
     follow their lead.
       I am pleased that our administration has increased our 
     support for IPEC by tenfold. I ask you to think what could be 
     achieved by a full and focused international effort to 
     eliminate the worst forms of child labor. Think of the 
     children who would go to school, whose lives would open up, 
     whose very health would flower, freed of the crushing burden 
     of dangerous and demeaning work, given back those 
     irreplaceable hours of childhood for learning and playing and 
     living.
       By giving life to core labor standards, by acting 
     effectively to lift the burden of debt, by putting a more 
     human face on the world trading system and the global 
     economy, by ending the worst forms of child labor, we will be 
     giving our children the 21st century they deserve.
       These are hopeful times. Previous generations sought to 
     redeem the rights of labor in a time of world war and 
     organized tyranny. We have a chance to build a world more 
     prosperous, more united, more humane than ever before. In so 
     doing, we can fulfill the dreams of the ILO's founders, and 
     redeem the struggles of those who fought and organized, who 
     sacrificed and, yes, died--for freedom, equality, and justice 
     in the workplace.
       It is our great good fortune that in our time we have been 
     given the golden opportunity to make the 21st century a 
     period of abundance and achievement for all. Because we can 
     do that, we must. It is a gift to our children worthy of the 
     millennium.
       Thank you very much.

       

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