II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 373

To prohibit the acquisition of products produced by forced or indentured

child labor.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 4, 1999

Mr. HARKIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To prohibit the acquisition of products produced by forced

or indentured child labor.

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 ‘‘Forced and Indentured

5 Child Labor Prevention Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF ACQUISITION OF PRODUCTS PRO7 DUCED BY FORCED OR INDENTURED CHILD

8 LABOR.

9 (a) PROHIBITION.—The head of an executive agency

10 (as defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code)
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1 may not acquire an item that appears on a list published

2 under subsection (b) unless the source of the item certifies

3 to the head of the executive agency that forced or inden4 tured child labor was not used to mine, produce, or manu5 facture the item.

6 (b) PUBLICATION OF LIST OF PROHIBITED ITEMS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor, in

8 consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and

9 the Secretary of State, shall publish in the Federal

10 Register every other year a list of items that such

11 officials have identified that might have been mined,

12 produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured

13 child labor.

14 (2) DATE OF PUBLICATION.—The first list shall

15 be published under paragraph (1) not later than 120

16 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

17 (c) REQUIRED CONTRACT CLAUSES.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of an executive

19 agency shall include in each solicitation of offers for

20 a contract for the procurement of an item included

21 on a list published under subsection (b) the following

22 clauses:

23 (A) A clause that requires the contractor

24 to certify to the contracting officer that the

25 contractor or, in the case of an incorporated
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1 contractor, a responsible official of the contrac2 tor has made a good faith effort to determine

3 whether forced or indentured child labor was

4 used to mine, produce, or manufacture any item

5 furnished under the contract and that, on the

6 basis of those efforts, the contractor is unaware

7 of any such use of child labor.

8 (B) A clause that obligates the contractor

9 to cooperate fully to provide access for the head

10 of the executive agency or the inspector general

11 of the executive agency to the contractor’s

12 records, documents, persons, or premises if re13 quested by the official for the purpose of deter14 mining whether forced or indentured child labor

15 was used to mine, produce, or manufacture any

16 item furnished under the contract.

17 (2) APPLICATION OF SUBSECTION.—This sub18 section shall apply with respect to acquisitions for a

19 total amount in excess of the micro-purchase thresh20 old (as defined in section 32(f) of the Office of Fed21 eral Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 428(f)), in22 cluding acquisitions of commercial items for such an

23 amount notwithstanding section 34 of the Office of

24 Federal Procurement Act (41 U.S.C. 430).
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1 (d) INVESTIGATIONS.—Whenever a contracting offi2 cer of an executive agency has reason to believe that a

3 contractor has submitted a false certification under sub4 section (a) or (c)(1)(A) or has failed to provide coopera5 tion in accordance with the obligation imposed pursuant

6 to subsection (c)(1)(B), the head of the executive agency

7 shall refer the matter, for investigation, to the Inspector

8 General of the executive agency and, as the head of the

9 executive agency determines appropriate, to the Attorney

10 General and the Secretary of the Treasury.

11 (e) REMEDIES.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of an executive

13 agency may impose remedies as provided in this sub14 section in the case of a contractor under a contract

15 of the executive agency if the head of the executive

16 agency finds that the contractor—

17 (A) has furnished under the contract items

18 that have been mined, produced, or manufac19 tured by forced or indentured child labor or

20 uses forced or indentured child labor in mining,

21 production, or manufacturing operations of the

22 contractor;

23 (B) has submitted a false certification

24 under subparagraph (A) of subsection (c)(1); or
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1 (C) has failed to provide cooperation in ac2 cordance with the obligation imposed pursuant

3 to subparagraph (B) of such subsection.

4 (2) TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS.—The head

5 of the executive agency, in the sole discretion of the

6 head of the executive agency, may terminate a con7 tract on the basis of any finding described in para8 graph (1).

9 (3) DEBARMENT OR SUSPENSION.—The head of

10 an executive agency may debar or suspend a con11 tractor from eligibility for Federal contracts on the

12 basis of a finding that the contractor has engaged

13 in an act described in paragraph (1)(A). The period

14 of the debarment or suspension may not exceed 3

15 years.

16 (4) INCLUSION ON LIST.—The Administrator of

17 General Services shall include on the List of Parties

18 Excluded from Federal Procurement and Non19 procurement Programs (maintained by the Adminis20 trator as described in the Federal Acquisition Regu21 lation) each person that is debarred, suspended, pro22 posed for debarment or suspension, or declared ineli23 gible by the head of an executive agency or the

24 Comptroller General on the basis that the person
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1 uses forced or indentured child labor to mine,

2 produce, or manufacture any item.

3 (5) OTHER REMEDIES.—This subsection shall

4 not be construed to limit the use of other remedies

5 available to the head of an executive agency or any

6 other official of the Federal Government on the

7 basis of a finding described in paragraph (1).

8 (f) REPORT.—Each year, the Administrator of Gen9 eral Services, with the assistance of the heads of other

10 executive agencies, shall review the actions taken under

11 this section and submit to Congress a report on those ac12 tions.

13 (g) IMPLEMENTATION IN THE FEDERAL ACQUISI14 TION REGULATION.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Acquisition

16 Regulation shall be revised within 180 days after the

17 date of enactment of this Act—

18 (A) to provide for the implementation of

19 this section; and

20 (B) to include the use of forced or inden21 tured child labor in mining, production, or man22 ufacturing as a cause on the lists of causes for

23 debarment and suspension from contracting

24 with executive agencies that are set forth in the

25 regulation.
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1 (2) PUBLICATION.—The revisions of the Fed2 eral Acquisition Regulation shall be published in the

3 Federal Register promptly after the final revisions

4 are issued.

5 (h) EXCEPTION.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall not apply

7 to a contract that is for the procurement of any

8 product, or any article, material, or supply contained

9 in a product, that is mined, produced, or manufac10 tured in any foreign country or instrumentality, if—

11 (A) the foreign country or instrumentality

12 is—

13 (i) a party to the Agreement on Gov14 ernment Procurement annexed to the

15 WTO Agreement; or

16 (ii) a party to the North American

17 Free Trade Agreement; and

18 (B) the contract is of a value that is equal

19 to or greater than the United States threshold

20 specified in the Agreement on Government Pro21 curement annexed to the WTO Agreement or

22 the North American Free Trade Agreement,

23 whichever is applicable.

24 (2) WTO AGREEMENT.—For purposes of this

25 subsection, the term ‘‘WTO Agreement’’ means the
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1 Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organiza2 tion, entered into on April 15, 1994.

3 (i) APPLICABILITY.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub5 section (c)(2), the requirements of this section apply

6 on and after the date determined under paragraph

7 (2) to any solicitation that is issued, any unsolicited

8 proposal that is received, and any contract that is

9 entered into by an executive agency pursuant to

10 such a solicitation or proposal on or after such date.

11 (2) DATE.—The date referred to in paragraph

12 (1) is the date that is 30 days after the date of the

13 publication of the revisions of the Federal Acquisi14 tion Regulation under subsection (g)(2).

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