Tom Harkin: “today, June 12, 2014, is the day set aside by the International Labor Organization to bring attention to the tragic…”

“today, June 12, 2014, is the day set aside by the International Labor Organization to bring attention to the tragic predicament of millions of children across the globe who continue to be trapped in forced and abusive labor, often in extremely hazardous conditions. So today is the World Day Against Child Labor. It is a day set aside every year globally for people to take a look at what is happening to kids around the globe who are forced into very abusive and exploitative labor conditions. I think we should obviously think about these children more than just 1 day a year. We should think about them every day. In my travels I have seen the scourge of forced and abusive child labor firsthand. Previously on the floor--going back for almost 20 years--I have spoken about how shocked I was to see the deplorable conditions under which some of these kids are forced to work. I have witnessed this personally in places from South Asia to Latin America, to Africa. These pictures I have in the Chamber are, as a matter of fact, pictures I took myself. This picture was taken in a rug-making place in Kathmandu, Nepal. We were told there were no children being forced into this kind of labor, but under the cover of darkness, on a Sunday night--it was probably after about 8 o'clock in the evening--we were able to make entry into one of these back-alley places, and this is what we came across: young people, girls and boys, some as young as 8 years of age, working at these looms.…”