Child Labor Deterrence Act

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Child Labor Deterrence Act was created by Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, and was first proposed in the United States Congress in 1992, with subsequent propositions in 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999. According to Harkin's website, "This bill would prohibit the importation of products that have been produced by child labor, and included civil and criminal penalties for violators."^[1]

[edit] About

The final proposal for the bill, called "Child Labor Deterrence Act of 1999", was bill number S. 1551 in the U.S. Senate. Harkin was the lead sponsor calling for a bill that would prohibit the importation of manufactured and mined goods into the U.S. which are produced by children under the age of 15.^[2] The original wording of Senate Bill 706 in 1995 included the purpose of, "prohibit[ing] the importation of goods produced abroad with child labor and for other purposes." It included civil and criminal punishments for anyone or business that defies the act.

Harkin's original proposal in 1992 is attributed for inciting concrete responses to the global issue of child labor by the U.S. Congress.^[3] Harkin is involved in several other anti-child labor and sweatshop movements. According to Harken, "I was able to amend the Trade Act of 2000 to ensure that the statute also applied to goods made with forced or indentured child labor." While the original bill was not passed in Congress in 1999, in 2006 Harkin reported that he would reintroduce the bill.^[4]

[edit] See also

• Children's rights movement
• Child labor laws

[edit] References