II 

Calendar No. 695 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3139 

[Report No. 118–289] 

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 

DECEMBER 12, 2024 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROMOTION OF WORKPLACE ACCOUNTABILITY. 

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

3 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Fed4 eral Acquisition Regulatory Council shall amend the Fed5 eral Acquisition Regulation to require any entity that en6 ters into a contract with an executive agency to disclose 

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

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

9 preceding 3-year period, any administrative merits deter10 mination, arbitral award or decision, or civil judgment, as 

11 defined in regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor, 

12 has been issued against the entity, or any subcontractor 

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

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

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

16 be available, as appropriate, for consultation with an enti17 ty described in subsection (a) to assist the entity in evalu18 ating the information on compliance with section 12 of the 

19 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 submitted to the entity 

20 by a subcontractor pursuant to such subsection. 

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

22 the Secretary of Labor— 

23 (1) shall provide an entity that makes a disclo24 sure pursuant to subsection (a) an opportunity to re25 port any steps taken by the entity, or any subcon26 tractor of the entity, to correct violations of or imVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Dec 13, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S3139.RS S3139

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1 prove compliance with section 12 of the Fair Labor 

2 Standards Act of 1938, including any agreements 

3 entered into with an enforcement agency; and 

4 (2) may negotiate with such entity corrective 

5 measures that the entity or any subcontractor of the 

6 entity may take in order to avoid having the entity 

7 placed on the list under subsection (d). 

8 (d) LIST OF INELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each calendar year be10 ginning with the first calendar year that begins after 

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

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

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

14 entity that shall be ineligible for a contract with an 

15 executive agency for that year based on— 

16 (A) serious, repeated, or pervasive viola17 tions of section 12 of the Fair Labor Standards 

18 Act of 1938 committed by the entity or any 

19 subcontractor of the entity; or 

20 (B) the failure of such entity, or any sub21 contractor of such entity, to complete any cor22 rective measure negotiated under subsection (c). 

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

24 agency shall not solicit a contract from any entity on 


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

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

3 (e) CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO RE4 PORT.— 

5 (1) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for an enti6 ty to knowingly fail to make a disclosure required 

7 under subsection (a). 

8 (2) PENALTY.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—A violation of para10 graph (1) shall be treated as a violation of sec11 tion 1031(a) of title 18, United States Code. 

12 (B) GROSS LOSS TO GOVERNMENT; GROSS

13 GAIN TO DEFENDANT.—For purposes of apply14 ing section 1031 of title 18, United States 

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

16 subsection, the amount that an executive agen17 cy pays an entity that violates such paragraph 

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

19 of this section shall be treated as the gross loss 

20 to the Government or the gross gain to the de21 fendant. 

22 (f) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—For each cal23 endar year beginning with the first calendar year that be24 gins after the date that is 2 years after the date of enact25 ment of this Act, each executive agency shall submit to 


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1 Congress, and make publicly available on the website of 

2 the executive agency, a report that includes— 

3 (1) the number of entities on the list under sub4 section (d) for the year of the report; 

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

6 corrective measures under subsection (c) for such 

7 year; 

8 (3) the amount of the applicable contracts for 

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

10 (4) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 

11 implementation of this Act for such year. 

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

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

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

15 Code. 

16 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 

17 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

19 States shall conduct a study on the prevalence and nature 

20 of child labor among Federal contractors and submit to 

21 Congress a report with the findings of the study. 

22 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

23 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Child Labor 

24 Exploitation in Federal Contracting Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

4 The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’ 

5 means— 

6 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

7 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

8 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Ac9 countability of the House of Representatives. 

10 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

11 agency’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

12 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

13 SEC. 3. PROMOTION OF WORKPLACE ACCOUNTABILITY. 

14 (a) REQUIRED REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFI15 CATIONS.—Not later than 18 months after the date of enact16 ment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Coun17 cil shall amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to— 

18 (1) require any entity that enters into a contract 

19 with an executive agency to represent, on an annual 

20 basis and to the best of the knowledge of the entity, 

21 whether, within the preceding 3-year period, any 

22 final administrative merits determination, arbitral 

23 award or decision, or civil judgment, as defined in co24 ordination with the Secretary of Labor, has been 

25 issued against the entity for any violation of section 


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1 12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 

2 U.S.C. 212), relating to child labor; 

3 (2) provide (through a revision of the Certifi4 cation Regarding Knowledge of Child Labor for List5 ed End Products as described in section 52.222–18 of 

6 the Federal Acquisition Regulation or through, if nec7 essary, another certification) a requirement that an 

8 offeror— 

9 (A) certify, to the best of the knowledge of 

10 the entity, whether, within the preceding 3-year 

11 period, any final administrative merits deter12 mination, arbitral award or decision, or civil 

13 judgment, as defined in coordination with the 

14 Secretary of Labor, for a violation described in 

15 paragraph (1) has been issued against the entity; 

16 and 

17 (B) require such a certification from each of 

18 the subcontractors or service providers to be used 

19 in performing, or that were considered for the 

20 performance of, the contract for which the offeror 

21 is submitting an offer and provide such certifi22 cations with the certification by the offeror under 

23 subparagraph (A); 

24 (3) prohibit executive agencies from awarding a 

25 contract to— 


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1 (A) an entity that provides an affirmative 

2 response to a representation under paragraph 

3 (1) and has failed to implement any corrective 

4 measure negotiated under subsection (b); or 

5 (B) an offeror that— 

6 (i) provides an affirmative response to 

7 a certification under paragraph (2) and has 

8 failed to implement any corrective measure 

9 negotiated under subsection (b); or 

10 (ii) intends to use a subcontractor or 

11 service provider in the performance of the 

12 contract that was identified as having vio13 lations in such an affirmative response and 

14 has failed to implement any corrective 

15 measure negotiated under such subsection; 

16 (4) require the name and address of each entity 

17 that provides an affirmative response to a representa18 tion under paragraph (1), and the name and address 

19 of each offeror, subcontractor, or service provider 

20 identified as having violations in an affirmative re21 sponse to a certification under paragraph (2), to be 

22 referred to the Secretary of Labor for purposes of ne23 gotiating with that entity, offeror, subcontractor, or 

24 service provider on corrective measures under sub25 section (b) and preparing the list and conducting susVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Dec 13, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S3139.RS S3139

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1 pension and debarment proceedings under subsection 

2 (c); 

3 (5) provide procedures for consultation with the 

4 Secretary of Labor by an offeror described in para5 graph (2) to assist the offeror in evaluating the infor6 mation on compliance with section 12 of the Fair 

7 Labor Standards Act of 1938, relating to child labor, 

8 submitted to the offeror by a subcontractor or service 

9 provider pursuant to such paragraph; and 

10 (6) make any other changes necessary to imple11 ment the requirements of this Act. 

12 (b) CORRECTIVE MEASURES.—An entity that makes 

13 an affirmative response to a representation under sub14 section (a)(1) or offeror, subcontractor, or service provider 

15 that makes an affirmative response in a certification under 

16 subsection (a)(2)— 

17 (1) shall update the representation or certifi18 cation, respectively, based on any steps taken by the 

19 entity, offeror, subcontractor, or service provider to 

20 correct violations of or improve compliance with sec21 tion 12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, re22 lating to child labor, including any agreements en23 tered into with the Secretary of Labor; and 

24 (2) may negotiate with the Secretary of Labor 

25 regarding corrective measures that the entity, offeror, 


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1 subcontractor, or service provider may take in order 

2 to avoid being placed on the list under subsection (c) 

3 and referred for suspension and debarment pro4 ceedings under such subsection, in the case the entity, 

5 offeror, subcontractor, or service provider meets the 

6 criteria for such list and proceedings under such sub7 section. 

8 (c) LIST OF INELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each calendar year begin10 ning with the first calendar year that begins after the 

11 date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this 

12 Act, the Secretary of Labor, in coordination with 

13 other executive agencies as necessary, shall prepare a 

14 list and conduct suspension and debarment pro15 ceedings for— 

16 (A) each entity that provided an affirmative 

17 response to a representation under subsection 

18 (a)(1) and has failed to implement any correc19 tive measure negotiated under subsection (b) for 

20 the year of the list; and 

21 (B) each offeror, subcontractor, or service 

22 provider that was identified as having violations 

23 in an affirmative response to a certification 

24 under subsection (a)(2) and has failed to impleVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Dec 13, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S3139.RS S3139

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1 ment any corrective measure negotiated under 

2 subsection (b) for the year of the list. 

3 (2) INELIGIBILITY.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The head of an executive 

5 agency shall not, during the period of time de6 scribed in subparagraph (B), solicit offers from, 

7 award contracts to, or consent to subcontracts 

8 with any entity, offeror, subcontractor, or service 

9 provider that is listed— 

10 (i) under paragraph (1); and 

11 (ii) as an active exclusion in the Sys12 tem for Award Management. 

13 (B) PERIOD OF TIME.—The period of time 

14 described in this subparagraph is a period of 

15 time determined by the suspension and debar16 ment official that is not less than 4 years from 

17 the date on which the entity, offeror, subcon18 tractor, or service provider is listed as an exclu19 sion in the System for Award Management. 

20 (3) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In deter21 mining the entities to consider for suspension and de22 barment proceedings under paragraph (1), the Sec23 retary of Labor shall ensure procedures for such deter24 mination are consistent with the procedures set forth 

25 in subpart 9.4 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation 


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1 for the suspension and debarment of Federal contrac2 tors. 

3 (d) PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO REPORT.— 

4 (1) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for a person 

5 to knowingly fail to make a representation or certifi6 cation required under paragraph (1) or (2), respec7 tively, of subsection (a). 

8 (2) PENALTY.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—A violation of paragraph 

10 (1) shall be referred by any executive agency 

11 with knowledge of such violation for suspension 

12 and debarment proceedings, to be conducted by 

13 the suspension and debarment official of the De14 partment of Labor. 

15 (B) LOSS TO GOVERNMENT.—A violation of 

16 paragraph (1) shall be subject to the penalties 

17 under sections 3729 through 3733 of title 31, 

18 United States Code (commonly known as the 

19 ‘‘False Claims Act’’). 

20 (e) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—For each cal21 endar year beginning with the first calendar year that be22 gins after the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall submit to the appro24 priate committees of Congress, and make publicly available 

25 on a public website, a report that includes— 


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1 (1) the number of entities, offerors, subcontrac2 tors, or service providers on the list under subsection 

3 (c) for the year of the report; 

4 (2) the number of entities, offerors, subcontrac5 tors, or service providers that agreed to take corrective 

6 measures under subsection (b) for such year; 

7 (3) the amount of the applicable contracts for the 

8 entities, offerors, subcontractors, or service providers 

9 described in paragraph (1) or (2); and 

10 (4) an assessment of the effectiveness of the im11 plementation of this Act for such year. 

12 SEC. 4. GAO STUDY. 

13 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 

14 this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

15 conduct a study on the prevalence of violations of section 

16 12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

17 212), relating to child labor, among Federal contractors and 

18 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 

19 with the findings of the study. 

20 SEC. 5. USE OF CIVIL PENALTIES COLLECTED FOR CHILD 

21 LABOR LAW VIOLATIONS. 

22 Section 16(e)(5) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

23 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)(5)) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘Except’’ and all that follows 

25 through ‘‘sums’’ and inserting ‘‘Sums’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking the second sentence. 

2 SEC. 6. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS. 

3 No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated 

4 for the purpose of carrying out this Act. 


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Calendar No. 695 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3139 

[Report No. 118–289] 

A BILL 

To ensure that Federal contractors comply with 

child labor laws, and for other purposes. 

DECEMBER 12, 2024 

Reported with an amendment 


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