May 10, 2002 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E765 storms. In the past decade, light rail and The most prevalent type of child labor is We left with unbreakable ties and eager- freight expansion have worked. Also, pas- agricultural work. Children work in fields ness to continue to support the school. We senger trains are two to eight times more for long, hard hours, and are exposed to haz- have continued to fund-raise during the past fuel-efficient than planes, and much more ec- ardous chemicals. Children also work in school year. We held concerts, a benefit din- onomical. manufacturing, construction, mining, the ner, as well as many other successful activi- The Pacific Northwest Corridor, which is sex trade, and bonded labor. Bonded labor is ties. In total, we have given Pasac Segundo run by Amtrak and the state governments of when children are sold by their parents to over $6,000. In conjunction with many area Oregon and Washington, has seen a dramatic manufacturers, where they are sometimes elementary and high schools, we have col- increase over the past decade, after infusion chained to their machines or locked in work- lected school, health supplies, and shoes for of state money was allowed to build a high- rooms. Child labor is a global problem which children of Pasac Segundo. We are extremely speed rail corridor. Also, sleeping cars, which prevents educational opportunities and con- excited and proud to announce that the are often referred to as archaic, and for tinues the cycle of poverty and deprivation. school in Guatemala should be finished by train-bus alone, experienced an increase of 19 SARAH KUNZ. Child labor is one of the the end of this month. We also invite stu- percent over last year’s statistics. February most heinous human rights violations occur- dents to learn more about our building of 2002 was the sixth straight month that rail ring today. It can be thought of as a fire project in Guatemala and our organization ridership was up and air ridership went sparked by the oppressive cyclical nature of by visiting table in lobby or http:// down. capitalism and fueled by corporate greed and www.clea.sit.edu. Amtrak handles 40 percent of all traffic in corporate imperialism. American COLIN ROBINSON. And I’d like to thank the New York-Washington, DC, corridor. If megacorporations such as Nike, Disney and you, Congressman Sanders, for allowing us high-speed rail corridors were developed in Universityware exploit Third World econo- to be here. Florida, the southeast and Texas, per se, mies through promises of mass employment. they could garner up to 20 to 30 percent of all Instead, mass poverty ensues, due to subpov- f traffic in that area. Ridership from 1978 to erty wages. EXPRESSING SOLIDARITY WITH 2001 increased 24 percent, while funding was The frightening phenomenon that is drastically cut by almost 80 percent. globalization creates homogenous global ISRAEL IN ITS FIGHT AGAINST What should be done? I believe a one-cent markets driven by low wages and high profit TERRORISM tax should be instituted on all gasoline pur- margins. New global trade agreements and chases, as well as a one-and-a-half cent tax organizations such as NAFTA, WTO, the SPEECH OF on all domestic airplane tickets, which IMF, and pending free-trade areas of the would give Amtrak a sustained source of in- Americas in effect declare labor laws bar- HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA come coming out to about $3.1 billion a year. riers to trade. Union-busting in sweat shops, OF CALIFORNIA Also, Amtrak should be given $50 billion mines and fields all around the world destroy IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES grants spread over two years to replace anti- democratic principles at their roots. Thursday, May 2, 2002 quated signals, rails, equipment and tech- The oppressive nature of capitalism inher- nology. Congress shall reintroduce the $12 ently creates such conditions as poverty and Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I come to the billion high-speed rail initiative, and will inopportunity. The child population is easily floor of the House of Representatives today in follow the DOT’s report on high-speed rail manipulated and often exemplifies the most the name of democracy, in the name of hope, corridors, which indoctrinated eleven cor- desperate of the human condition. Due to the and in the name of peace. ridors in 33 states. A system of 80 percent plight of the economically distressed, many As long-standing supporters of Israel, we matching funds will be established to match children have no other choice than to work. recognize and respect Israel’s unquestioned funds invested by state and local govern- COLIN ROBINSON. The issue of a solution to child labor is one that is intimately inter- right to self-defense. ment; because, right now, states and local The United States has a long history of pro- governments get zero percent matching twined with the global economy. However, funds, while for highway they get almost a the exploitation and abuse of innocent chil- moting and supporting democracies. It has hundred percent. dren cannot be outrightly ignored. A solu- long considered Israel its closest ally in the An independent committee will be formed tion will come out of hard work and edu- Middle East, because Israel is a democracy. to find timesaving and performance-enhanc- cation. We must educate people about the It is because of our passion for democracy ing changes, such as customs agents will be human rights abuses, about the four-year- that we cast votes against the procedural put aboard international trains, and will olds carrying twenty pounds of bricks, about steps needed to bring House Resolution 392 the young boys and girls forced to work the check passenger IDs at each respective sta- to the floor. tion that the passenger gets on, instead of at streets, selling their bodies for sex. We need to create a conscious consumer, starting at a These procedural steps prevented any the border, which causes a backlog of about amendments or any substitute resolutions to three hours. young age, a consumer who will think twice Also, mail cars, which in the status quo are before buying goods made by children. be considered by the Congress. We were not put on after the train is boarded in the yard, Furthermore, we must appeal to law- permitted to consider or debate either Senator which costs another two hours for each makers, lobbyists and corporate officers to LIEBERMAN’s or Congressman DEFAZIO’s lan- train, will now be added to the train when it instate rules giving children their rights. guage. is put together in the yard, so there will be Through letters, we have a voice. The 1998 We were not given the opportunity to meet bonded labor act, written by you, Congress- a flow from the station to point B. with our constituents and hear their thoughts Thank you very much. man Sanders, was the first step in this branch of change. Finally, the fortunate and concerns on this divisive and complicated REGARDING CHILD LABOR youth of the industrialized world can unite matter. Nor were there any hearings on this (By Colin Robinson, Marcia Lo Monoco, to help their distant peers. Through student resolution. This is wrong and does not speak Sarah Kunz, and Delia Kipp) organizations like ours, CLEA, Child Labor to debate that is central to our democratic COLIN ROBINSON. Good morning, Con- Education in Action, the youth have a voice. gressman Sanders and Professor Gutman. process. It gives them a pulpit from which would be While we support House Resolution 392 in Our testimony is going to begin with a de- heard. scription of the problem of child labor, and The child laborers of our world need a its final form, we have concerns that this reso- then we’re going to move on to an expla- voice. So educate yourself and speak out. lution presents a one-sided view of a many- nation of the causes of child labor, then pos- DELIA KIPP. In April of 2001, sixteen stu- sided reality. sible solutions, and wrapping up with what dents from Child Labor Education in Action We cannot ignore the suffering of the Pales- the Child Labor Education Act, CLEA, has traveled to Pasac Segundo in western high- tinian people and the loss of innocent civilians. done in Guatemala. lands of Guatemala. The people of the Pasac We cannot ignore the economic hardship MARCIA LO MONOCO. Exploitative child Segundo are Mayans and victims of extraor- the Palestinians have endured as they con- labor is when children work under conditions dinary poverty. This is an agricultural com- that are hazardous to their physical and/or munity, and here is where the children work, tinue their attempts to create their own Demo- mental health, when they are deprived of an in the fields surrounding their homes. This is cratic nation. opportunity to get an education, and not a place where the land is rich and the people And we cannot ignore the physical damage paid a liveable wage. Once children begin to are poor. done to Palestinian infrastructure in Jenin, in work, sometimes as early as the age of 4, The children of the Pasac Segundo had no Ramallah and other towns in the West Bank. their chances to change the future are very way of breaking the vicious poverty cycle Even with the Resolution’s shortcomings, small. until two years ago, when their parents and we believe it is critical to speak out against It is common to think that child labor is a other community members joined together acts of terrorism that have claimed the lives of problem in Third World countries, but it is to start a school. We went to Pasac Segundo also a very real problem in the United to help them build a new school. Alongside thousands of innocent Israeli civilians. States. One million children in the U.S. pick adults and children of the village, we cleared The United States is scarred by its own the produce we eat every day. There are an the land of stone and leveled the ground. We September 11 experience and we have a new estimated 250,000 sweat shops in American dug foundations and constructed rebar and somber national consciousness of ter- cities. But child labor is a global problem. frames to reinforce cement and bricks. rorism on our soil.
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