Tom Harkin: “I have spoken with the author of the pending amendment, and I am very supportive of Senator Hutchinson's amendment. This…”

“I have spoken with the author of the pending amendment, and I am very supportive of Senator Hutchinson's amendment. This is a friendly amendment, which he accepts. My amendment does not in any way change the intent of the Hutchinson amendment nor does it add any more money. Basically, this amendment reflects the intent of Congress to include forced and indentured child labor in the interpretation of section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930. The Congress spoke with one voice when it instructed the U.S. Customs Service to block from entry into the United States any imports made by forced or indentured child labor, as they are inherently for imports made with forced and indentured labor. This clarification of congressional intent was part of the fiscal year 1998 Treasury-Postal appropriations bill which the President has signed into law. So, again, this amendment does not change anything really of the Hutchinson amendment. It simply adds forced and indentured child labor as part of the amendment. As I said, it preserves the congressional intent passed last year. The U.S. Customs Service will still be able to aggressively pursue items made with convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor, and prevent them from reaching our shores. They should rightly do so. That is why I am supportive of the Hutchinson amendment.”