•HRES 531 IH 
Province of Katanga, DRC, including in the cobalt sec-
tor; 
Whereas the DRC continues to be the world’s leading source 
of mined cobalt, supplying more than 64 percent of global 
cobalt production in 2018; 
Whereas for their economic survival, families often encourage 
children to work, including in the mining sector; 
Whereas cobalt is a strategic and critical mineral used in nu-
merous diverse commercial, industrial, and military appli-
cations, for which demand is growing; 
Whereas Amnesty International found major electronics and 
electric vehicle companies are still not doing enough to 
stop human rights abuses entering their cobalt supply 
chains; 
Whereas key stakeholders, especially industry groups, trade 
associations, and private companies, have an individual 
responsibility to identify, prevent, and take action to halt 
hazardous and working conditions in their cobalt supply 
chains, and to conduct due diligence with the aim of re-
ducing child labor and improving working conditions in 
artisanal mines and in the broader cobalt supply chain, 
thereby respecting human rights, avoiding contributions 
to conflict, and advancing sustainable development; 
Whereas, in August 2017, the Government of the DRC issued 
a strategy on child labor in which it pledged to end child 
mining by 2025; and 
Whereas countries and companies that utilize cobalt have a 
responsibility to work with the Government of the DRC 
and actors in their supply chains to support actions to 
raise awareness, build enforcement capacity, and improve 
monitoring and remediation at the national, provincial, 
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•HRES 531 IH 
and local levels with the aim of enhancing the capacity 
of private and public sector entities to eliminate the worst 
forms of child mining by 2025 and preventing the extrac-
tion, supply, and trade of minerals from exploiting chil-
dren or contributing to other human rights abuses: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) expresses concern over the prevalence of the 
hazardous, and especially the worst forms of, child 
labor in the mining of cobalt and other minerals in 
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); 
(2) urges the Secretary of State, the Adminis-
trator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, and the Secretary of Labor to identify, 
assess, and evaluate the United States commercial 
recipients of cobalt derived through child labor and 
for-profit or nonprofit entities that benefit indirectly 
or directly from the commercial use or trade of such 
cobalt; 
(3) calls on the Secretary of State, the Admin-
istrator of the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development, and the Secretary of Labor to 
coordinate with key stakeholders, particularly indus-
tries which utilize or trade in cobalt, and engage pri-
vate multinational corporations, multilateral organi-
zations, and the nongovernmental organization com-
munity to jointly establish an entity or other asso-
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•HRES 531 IH 
ciation with the Government of the DRC, such as 
the Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals 
Trade, to partner in developing and implementing 
plans to reduce child labor and improve working 
conditions in cobalt mining in the DRC; 
(4) calls on the Secretary of State, the Admin-
istrator of the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development, and the Secretary of Labor to 
develop a strategy and action plan, such as in the 
Harkin-Engel Protocol for the Growing and Proc-
essing of Cocoa Beans, in partnership with the Gov-
ernment of the DRC and the entity or other associa-
tion outlined above in paragraph (3) to take steps to 
end the worst forms of child labor in cobalt mining 
by 2025 by— 
(A) removing child labor in the extraction 
of cobalt, including in artisanal and small-scale 
mining, and replacing exploitive artisanal min-
ing with other forms of sustainable, productive 
economic activity to address local needs and 
support their reintegration into their commu-
nity; 
(B) ensuring that no minerals, including 
cobalt, that are produced with the use of the 
worst forms of child labor, in whole or in part, 
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are utilized in any aspect of any company’s 
business operations, products, or supply chain, 
and mitigating and eliminating the presence of 
any child-labor-linked minerals that companies 
detect in their supply chains or business oper-
ations; 
(C) conducting due diligence on the source 
and custody of such cobalt, in accordance with 
the 5-step due diligence process outlined in the 
Organization for Economic Co-operation and 
Development’s Due Diligence Guidance for Re-
sponsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Con-
flict-Affected and High-Risk Areas; 
(D) recommending actions to ensure that 
sources of cobalt are compliant with restrictions 
on the worst forms of child labor laws; 
(E) ensuring that efforts to end child par-
ticipation in cobalt mining are properly devel-
oped, robust, fully implemented, and monitored, 
and that training is provided to those respon-
sible for executing these activities and to those 
enforcing labor laws in mining areas for the 
Government of the DRC; 
(F) supporting the entity or other associa-
tion outlined above in paragraph (3) in 
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partnering with the Government of the DRC to 
create a public-private system for routine in-
spections of artisanal mines; 
(G) reporting to government regulatory or 
law enforcement authorities, as applicable, all 
cases, instances, or information indicating a 
reasonable risk of linkages between child labor 
and the production, sale, or use of minerals; 
and 
(H) making publicly available findings 
based on a joint assessment of the Government 
of the DRC and third-party organizations out-
lined in this paragraph; and 
(5) encourages the United States Trade Rep-
resentative to assess developments in the cobalt and 
other extractive sectors of the DRC when conducting 
annual reviews mandated under the Africa Growth 
and Opportunity Act and the Generalized System of 
Preferences (GSP) program. 
Æ 
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