Lucille Roybal-Allard: “Today is International Day Against Child Labor, which gives us the opportunity to reflect on the plight of hundreds of…”

“Today is International Day Against Child Labor, which gives us the opportunity to reflect on the plight of hundreds of millions of children throughout the world who perform work that endangers their health, deprives them of an adequate education, and denies them basic freedoms and protections. Unfortunately, the United States is not immune to the scourge of child labor. Long hours and dangerous working conditions are, sadly, a reality for hundreds of thousands of children working in our country's fields and farms. {time} 1040 Throughout our Nation, there are children like Zulema, who at age 12 works in the fields picking fruits and vegetables, while her classmates spend afternoons doing homework and playing with friends. Despite her young age, Zulema frequently, with bare hands, wields adult-sized harvesting shears. When crop dusters fly overhead, she is often covered in pesticides meant to kill insects in the field. In spite of Zulema's exposure to these serious and dangerous conditions, she takes home to her struggling family a mere $64 a week. Our farming industry is alarmingly plagued by preventable tragedies like the one in Mount Carroll, Illinois, where a 14-year-old boy cleaning a grain bin suffocated to death when he was sucked into a sinkhole of flowing corn. Tragic accidents like this underscore the fact that agriculture is one of our Nation's most dangerous industries.…”