[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15370]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  ISSUES FACING OUR YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 1, 1999

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit for the Record these 
statements by high school students from my home State of Vermont, who 
were speaking at my recent town meeting on issues facing young people 
today.

                         Child Care in Vermont

    (On behalf of Jody Foster, David Verge, Alicia Norris and Bobby 
                                Collone)

       David Verge: Our issue is about child care in Vermont, and 
     with the young people because a lot of the younger people are 
     having kids now. According to child care funds in Vermont, a 
     family could not afford care in 75 percent of the homes or 
     any center. Vermont child care subsidy is at too low of a 
     rate, only $83.70 for field time centers, and $67.45 for 
     full-time care and home care. People of low income levels 
     cannot afford even $50 to make up the difference that the 
     state does not pay.
       If they want to come and encourage people to work or go to 
     school, then they need to make it worthwhile. If you are 
     working and your whole paycheck is going to the cost of day 
     care, then what is the point of working? Youth Build needs a 
     day care, because 11 people out of, I'd say, about 33, 30 
     people have kids already, and we would like if we could try 
     to open child care round Vermont so people can get their 
     educations, and for the people that drop out of high school, 
     because they don't have the money to pay for child care. We 
     would like to see more people graduate than drop out, because 
     we have the lowest dropout rate, from what I understand, and 
     we are just trying to fix it, because a lot of us want to 
     become something so our kids will not look down on us and can 
     think something of us. You know, a lot of us are just not 
     willing to work with it, because we have no money to pay for 
     all the child care, plus other things that we need for 
     essential needs for babies, us, and it is really hard.
       Congressman Sanders: You are doing great, Dave.
       Alicia Norris: I think a lot of it is, we are all students 
     and we all either have children or are having children. Two 
     of us have kids already, and our whole paycheck from Youth 
     Build goes straight to day care. I mean, we have no money for 
     expenses, for diapers or anything else like that. And it is 
     hard to find good day care when it is $150 a week, and that 
     is really expensive. That makes it really hard, because we 
     want to go to school. And I think a lot of it is, students 
     don't get the help they need so they can go back to school, 
     because they are trying to better their lives and make their 
     lives better for them and their children.
       Jody Foster: Some of our changes would include maybe a 
     special subsidy for parents that are going back to school or 
     working, and base it better on income levels, on a higher 
     income level for state help for child care.
       Alicia Norris: And just employers helping out their 
     employees, to give them day care, or to either provide day 
     care, like the hospital does, or to help with the funds for 
     it.
       Congressman Sanders: Well, you guys have touched on an 
     enormously important subject, and you have done a great job 
     making that presentation.


     
                                  ____
                       Democracy and Child Labor

             (On behalf of Matt Sheldon and Emily Webster)

       Matt Sheldon: My presentation is on democracy in the United 
     States.
       The U.S. system of government is not as fair as it could 
     be. There is an elite ruling class who have too much control 
     in the way things are run. People in the lower classes have 
     no power. They remain in the lower class because of a 
     concentration of power and wealth within a small area of the 
     population.
       The type of political system that the U.S. has is a 
     representative democracy. The people elect officials to 
     ``represent'' them in decision-making. These elected 
     officials are very often corrupt and become politicians only 
     because they have a hunger for authority.
       The election process doesn't allow everyone to be 
     represented. It costs a great deal of money for a politician 
     to campaign. Therefore, most people in government come from 
     the upper classes. Many of them raise funds illegally. An 
     honest person with good ideas for change may not be able to 
     get their voice heard because of a lack of campaign funds.
       The mass media also makes it difficult for many people, 
     because it suppresses anything that seems too radical. When a 
     news organization decides whose campaign to cover, they may 
     essentially be helping to decide the electee. The public only 
     has access to certain orthodox views, so naturally, they vote 
     for those certain people.
       Many people on the left figure that a liberal leader is 
     better than a conservative, so they vote for the liberal, But 
     the liberals are often just as bad. They're hypocritical in 
     many ways. Their opinions and actions are determined by the 
     status quo. Our current president, Bill Clinton, is becoming 
     more conservative, in that he wants to increase military 
     spending. People like him do not really want to make the 
     country a good place, they just crave power and fame.
       Liberals are often too afraid of offending people. They are 
     slightly critical of capitalism and make some attempts to 
     make it better by tax reform or supporting higher wages and 
     improved working conditions in general, but the fact remains, 
     capitalism is a system that rests on the exploitation of 
     humans by other humans. And the same can be said about 
     government: As long as there is an elitist state, there will 
     be division of classes and limited opportunity. 
     Nonhierarchical collectivism is the only way for true 
     liberty.
       Emily Webster: I will be presenting on child labor.
       Child labor is alive and well today, despite efforts by the 
     government and the people to control and regulate it. The 
     efforts made show that the issue of exploitative child labor 
     has been recognized in the United States and steps have been 
     taken to eliminate it, for progress is not being made fast 
     enough and it is not effective enough.
       Exploitative child labor has been in existence for far too 
     long. Even though it occurs less often in this country, it is 
     mainly the United States-based companies that commit this 
     abusive act. Nike is a multibillion dollar U.S.-based 
     company. If this is so, why aren't the majority of Nike 
     factories in this country? In order for Nike to bring in the 
     profit that it does, the goods need to be manufactured at a 
     very low cost. By setting up companies in other countries, 
     mainly Third World countries, the company brings in more 
     profits than it would if manufacturing was done in the United 
     States.
       Disney is another huge U.S.-based company. The products 
     made by Disney are aimed for young children, and in most 
     cases are made by young children overseas. These countries 
     don't enforce labor laws or don't have a minimum wage, so 
     workers don't have enough money to live even on a poverty 
     level. In addition, the workers are abused in the factories. 
     Oftentimes, the abuse is even sexual. If the workers try to 
     help themselves and report their abuse, they can be fired and 
     even blacklisted.
       The U.S. is aware that Nike and Disney commit illegal acts 
     outside this country, so why don't we act upon it? These 
     children are not only abused, but they are denied schooling, 
     something American children take for granted.
       The most brutal of child labor is called bonded child 
     labor. In a lot of places, the need for money is so great, 
     the parents literally sell their children, or their children 
     are kidnapped by companies who put them to work. They receive 
     extremely low wages.
       Though child labor is still going on, there has been a lot 
     of progress in reducing these terrible condition. Global 
     Fashions, a clothing company, took its first step in 
     improving conditions when it was discovered that exploitative 
     child labor was being used. Global Fashions then agreed to 
     voluntary codes of conduct to improve working conditions.
       Another example of success is the Bonded Child Labor 
     Elimination Act, sponsored by Bernie Sanders. It amends the 
     Tariff Act, which says the products made by prisoners or 
     adult bonded labor cannot be imported into the United States, 
     by including products made by forced or indentured child 
     labor.
       Exploitative child labor is not only an issue about wages. 
     It goes deeper, to the point where it turns into a life-
     threatening situation for many children around the world. 
     Many people are in such desperate need for whatever money 
     they can get that any conditions are tolerable, as long as 
     they are getting paid. That needs to change. People 
     everywhere deserve to be rewarded for the work they do. 
     Children should be able to go to school and have the 
     opportunities that most American children have. Major 
     corporations must stop treating people as machines, but as 
     people who have needs. Until this country can put the welfare 
     of people all over the world before money, exploitation of 
     children in other countries will prevail.

     

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