[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 920 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 920
To ensure that Federal contractors comply with child labor laws, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 10, 2025
Mr. Hawley (for himself and Mr. Booker) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure that Federal contractors comply with child labor laws, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing Child Labor Exploitation
in Federal Contracting Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Education and Workforce of the
House of Representatives.
(2) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has
the meaning given such term in section 133 of title 41, United
States Code.
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Labor.
SEC. 3. PROMOTION OF WORKPLACE ACCOUNTABILITY.
(a) Required Representations and Certifications.--Not later than 18
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition
Regulatory Council shall amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to--
(1) require any entity that enters into a contract with an
executive agency to represent, on an annual basis and to the
best of the knowledge of the entity, whether, within the
preceding 3-year period, any final administrative merits
determination, arbitral award or decision, or civil judgment,
as defined in coordination with the Secretary, has been issued
against the entity for any violation of section 12 of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 212), relating to child
labor;
(2) provide (through a revision of the Certification
Regarding Knowledge of Child Labor for Listed End Products as
described in section 52.222-18 of the Federal Acquisition
Regulation or through, if necessary, another certification) a
requirement that an offeror--
(A) certify, to the best of the knowledge of the
offeror, whether, within the preceding 3-year period,
any final administrative merits determination, arbitral
award or decision, or civil judgment, as defined in
coordination with the Secretary, for a violation
described in paragraph (1) has been issued against the
offeror; and
(B) require such a certification from each of the
subcontractors or service providers to be used in
performing, or that were considered for the performance
of, the contract for which the offeror is submitting an
offer and provide such certifications with the
certification by the offeror under subparagraph (A);
(3) prohibit executive agencies from awarding a contract
to--
(A) an entity that provides an affirmative response
to a representation under paragraph (1) and has failed
to implement any corrective measure negotiated under
subsection (b); or
(B) an offeror that--
(i) provides an affirmative response to a
certification under paragraph (2) and has
failed to implement any corrective measure
negotiated under subsection (b); or
(ii) intends to use a subcontractor or
service provider in the performance of the
contract that was identified as having a
violation in such an affirmative response and
has failed to implement any corrective measure
negotiated under such subsection;
(4) require the name and address of each entity that
provides an affirmative response to a representation under
paragraph (1), and the name and address of each offeror,
subcontractor, or service provider identified as having a
violation in an affirmative response to a certification under
paragraph (2), to be referred to the Secretary for purposes of
negotiating with that entity, offeror, subcontractor, or
service provider on corrective measures under subsection (b)
and preparing the list and conducting suspension and debarment
proceedings under subsection (c);
(5) provide procedures for consultation with the Secretary
by an offeror described in paragraph (2) to assist the offeror
in evaluating the information on compliance with section 12 of
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, relating to child labor,
submitted to the offeror by a subcontractor or service provider
pursuant to such paragraph; and
(6) make any other changes necessary to implement the
requirements of this Act.
(b) Corrective Measures.--An entity that makes an affirmative
response to a representation under subsection (a)(1) or offeror,
subcontractor, or service provider that makes an affirmative response
in a certification under subsection (a)(2)--
(1) shall update the representation or certification,
respectively, based on any steps taken by the entity, offeror,
subcontractor, or service provider to correct a violation of or
improve compliance with section 12 of the Fair Labor Standards
Act of 1938, relating to child labor, including any agreements
entered into with the Secretary; and
(2) may negotiate with the Secretary regarding corrective
measures that the entity, offeror, subcontractor, or service
provider may take in order to avoid being placed on the list
under subsection (c) and referred for suspension and debarment
proceedings under such subsection, in the case the entity,
offeror, subcontractor, or service provider meets the criteria
for such list and proceedings under such subsection.
(c) List of Ineligible Entities.--
(1) In general.--For each calendar year beginning with the
first calendar year that begins after the date that is 2 years
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in
coordination with other executive agencies as necessary, shall
prepare a list and conduct suspension and debarment proceedings
for--
(A) each entity that provided an affirmative
response to a representation under subsection (a)(1)
and has failed to implement any corrective measure
negotiated under subsection (b) for the year of the
list; and
(B) each offeror, subcontractor, or service
provider that was identified as having a violation in
an affirmative response to a certification under
subsection (a)(2) and has failed to implement any
corrective measure negotiated under subsection (b) for
the year of the list.
(2) Ineligibility.--
(A) In general.--The head of an executive agency
shall not, during the period of time described in
subparagraph (B), solicit offers from, award contracts
to, or consent to subcontracts with any entity,
offeror, subcontractor, or service provider that is
listed--
(i) under paragraph (1); and
(ii) as an active exclusion in the System
for Award Management.
(B) Period of time.--The period of time described
in this subparagraph is a period of time determined by
the suspension and debarment official that is not less
than 4 years from the date on which the entity,
offeror, subcontractor, or service provider is listed
as an exclusion in the System for Award Management.
(3) Additional considerations.--In determining the entities
to consider for suspension and debarment proceedings under
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure procedures for such
determination are consistent with the procedures set forth in
subpart 9.4 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation for the
suspension and debarment of Federal contractors.
(d) Penalties for Failure To Report.--
(1) Offense.--It shall be unlawful for a person to
knowingly fail to make a representation or certification
required under paragraph (1) or (2), respectively, of
subsection (a).
(2) Penalty.--
(A) In general.--A violation of paragraph (1) shall
be referred by any executive agency with knowledge of
such violation for suspension and debarment
proceedings, to be conducted by the suspension and
debarment official of the Department of Labor.
(B) Loss to government.--A violation of paragraph
(1) shall be subject to the penalties under sections
3729 through 3733 of title 31, United States Code
(commonly known as the ``False Claims Act'').
(e) Annual Reports to Congress.--For each calendar year beginning
with the first calendar year that begins after the date that is 2 years
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to
the appropriate committees of Congress, and make publicly available on
a public website, a report that includes--
(1) the number of entities, offerors, subcontractors, or
service providers on the list under subsection (c) for the year
of the report;
(2) the number of entities, offerors, subcontractors, or
service providers that agreed to take corrective measures under
subsection (b) for such year;
(3) the amount of the applicable contracts for the
entities, offerors, subcontractors, or service providers
described in paragraph (1) or (2); and
(4) an assessment of the effectiveness of the
implementation of this Act for such year.
SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTIES COLLECTED FOR CHILD LABOR LAW VIOLATIONS.
(a) Amounts.--
(1) In general.--Section 16(e)(1)(A) of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)(1)(A)) is amended--
(A) by aligning the left margins of clauses (i) and
(ii) with the left margin of clause (i) of section
16(e)(1)(B) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29
U.S.C. 216(e)(1)(B));
(B) in clause (i), by striking ``$11,000'' and
inserting ``$100,000''; and
(C) in clause (ii), by striking ``$50,000'' and
inserting ``$500,000''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1)
shall be applicable to violations occurring on or after the
date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Application of Penalties.--Section 16(e)(5) of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)(5)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Except'' and all that follows through
``sums'' and inserting ``Sums''; and
(2) by striking the second sentence.
SEC. 5. TRAINING WITH RESPECT TO CHILD LABOR LAW VIOLATIONS.
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is
amended by inserting after section 18D (42 U.S.C. 218d) the following:
``SEC. 18E. TRAINING WITH RESPECT TO CHILD LABOR LAW VIOLATIONS.
``The Secretary shall establish programs to provide training for
relevant personnel at the Department of Labor and other executive
agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the
Department of Homeland Security, on identifying and preventing
violations of section 12.''.
SEC. 6. GAO STUDY.
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study on the
prevalence of violations of section 12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act
of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 212), relating to child labor, among Federal
contractors and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
report with the findings of the study.
SEC. 7. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS.
No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for the
purpose of carrying out this Act.
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