II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3139 

To ensure that Federal contractors comply with child labor laws, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 26, 2023 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Mr. HAWLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To ensure that Federal contractors comply with child labor 

laws, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Child 

5 Labor Exploitation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROMOTION OF WORKPLACE ACCOUNTABILITY. 

7 (a) REQUIRED DISCLOSURES.—Not later than 180 

8 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Fed9 eral Acquisition Regulatory Council shall amend the Fed10 eral Acquisition Regulation to require any entity that enVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:44 Oct 28, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3139.IS S3139
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1 ters into a contract with an executive agency to disclose 

2 to the Secretary of Labor, on an annual basis and to the 

3 best of the knowledge of the entity, whether, within the 

4 preceding 3-year period, any administrative merits deter5 mination, arbitral award or decision, or civil judgment, as 

6 defined in regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor, 

7 has been issued against the entity, or any subcontractor 

8 of the entity, for violations of section 12 of the Fair Labor 

9 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 212). 

10 (b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of Labor shall 

11 be available, as appropriate, for consultation with an enti12 ty described in subsection (a) to assist the entity in evalu13 ating the information on compliance with section 12 of the 

14 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 submitted to the entity 

15 by a subcontractor pursuant to such subsection. 

16 (c) CORRECTIVE MEASURES.—On an annual basis, 

17 the Secretary of Labor— 

18 (1) shall provide an entity that makes a disclo19 sure pursuant to subsection (a) an opportunity to re20 port any steps taken by the entity, or any subcon21 tractor of the entity, to correct violations of or im22 prove compliance with section 12 of the Fair Labor 

23 Standards Act of 1938, including any agreements 

24 entered into with an enforcement agency; and 

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1 (2) may negotiate with such entity corrective 

2 measures that the entity or any subcontractor of the 

3 entity may take in order to avoid having the entity 

4 placed on the list under subsection (d). 

5 (d) LIST OF INELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each calendar year be7 ginning with the first calendar year that begins after 

8 the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall prepare, 

10 and submit to all executive agencies, a list of each 

11 entity that shall be ineligible for a contract with an 

12 executive agency for that year based on— 

13 (A) serious, repeated, or pervasive viola14 tions of section 12 of the Fair Labor Standards 

15 Act of 1938 committed by the entity or any 

16 subcontractor of the entity; or 

17 (B) the failure of such entity, or any sub18 contractor of such entity, to complete any cor19 rective measure negotiated under subsection (c). 

20 (2) INELIGIBILITY.—The head of an executive 

21 agency shall not solicit a contract from any entity on 

22 the list under paragraph (1) that is in effect for a 

23 year for that year or any of the subsequent 4 years. 

24 (e) CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO RE25 PORT.— 

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1 (1) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for an enti2 ty to knowingly fail to make a disclosure required 

3 under subsection (a). 

4 (2) PENALTY.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—A violation of para6 graph (1) shall be treated as a violation of sec7 tion 1031(a) of title 18, United States Code. 

8 (B) GROSS LOSS TO GOVERNMENT; GROSS

9 GAIN TO DEFENDANT.—For purposes of apply10 ing section 1031 of title 18, United States 

11 Code, to a violation of paragraph (1) of this 

12 subsection, the amount that an executive agen13 cy pays an entity that violates such paragraph 

14 (1) under a contract described in subsection (a) 

15 of this section shall be treated as the gross loss 

16 to the Government or the gross gain to the de17 fendant. 

18 (f) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—For each cal19 endar year beginning with the first calendar year that be20 gins after the date that is 2 years after the date of enact21 ment of this Act, each executive agency shall submit to 

22 Congress, and make publicly available on the website of 

23 the executive agency, a report that includes— 

24 (1) the number of entities on the list under sub25 section (d) for the year of the report; 

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1 (2) the number of entities that agreed to take 

2 corrective measures under subsection (c) for such 

3 year; 

4 (3) the amount of the applicable contracts for 

5 the entities described in paragraph (1) or (2); and 

6 (4) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 

7 implementation of this Act for such year. 

8 (g) DEFINITION OF EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—In this 

9 section, the term ‘‘executive agency’’ has the meaning 

10 given such term in section 133 of title 41, United States 

11 Code. 

12 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 

13 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

15 States shall conduct a study on the prevalence and nature 

16 of child labor among Federal contractors and submit to 

17 Congress a report with the findings of the study. 

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