Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006

DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 24, 2005)

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.

The text of the amendment is as follows:

Amendment offered by Ms. DeLauro:

At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following:

SEC. __. None of the funds made available under this Act may be used to enforce or carry out item 6B of the settlement agreement between the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor and Wal-Mart Stores, Incorporated, signed January 11, 2005, whereby the Wage and Hour Division agrees to provide Wal-Mart Stores, Incorporated, with 15 days prior notice of any audit or investigation to be conducted by such Division.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, pursuant to the order of the House of June 23, 2005, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) each will control 5 minutes.

The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 3 minutes.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment would prohibit the Department of Labor from using Federal funds to enforce or carry out item 6B of the settlement agreement between the wage and hour division of the Department and Wal-Mart Stores, the provision providing Wal-Mart with 15 days of advance notice prior to any audit or investigation.

This amendment is important to ensuring the safety of our children. On January 6, the Department of Labor entered into an agreement with Wal-Mart to settle violations of child labor laws in 3 States: Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Arkansas. It found that Wal-Mart employed 85 minors, ages 16 and 17, who performed prohibited activities, including operating cardboard balers and chain saws, which are considered particularly hazardous jobs, jobs Wal-Mart and other employers cannot legally permit anyone under the age of 18 to perform.

For these violations, the Labor Department fined Wal-Mart, a company with $285 billion of revenues last year, a total of $135,540.

Perhaps the most egregious part of the agreement is the provision, 6B, that grants Wal-Mart 15 days' advance notice before the government investigates any wage-and-hour law complaints, notice that applies not just to child labor complaints in the three cited States but all Wal-Mart stores nationwide.

Wal-Mart has a history of prior child labor violations. In 2000, Wal-Mart was found to have 1,436 violations in 20 Maine stores. Last year, Wal-Mart's own internal audit found 1,371 violations of child labor laws between 1997 and 1999. Granting 2 weeks' advance notice is essentially daring repeated child labor law violators like Wal-Mart to conceal any further violations.

And if we need any proof of that, I would point my colleagues to the weekend papers in Connecticut which cite a State investigation that found 11 more violations of child labor laws at three of our Wal-Mart stores. Three violations involved the store not even bothering to check the age of their workers.

It is clear the settlement is not stopping Wal-Mart from violating child labor laws. In fact, the Governor of Connecticut has ordered periodic, unannounced visits by State inspectors at Wal-Mart stores to ensure that any future violations are promptly revealed and addressed.

Why can the Federal Government not do the same? If a State government can get tough on a child labor violator, one that happens to be our Nation's largest private employer, there is no reason the Federal Government should not be able to do so as well.

Congress needs to send Wal-Mart a message that companies who violate child labor laws will not be tolerated. Our society long ago stopped tolerating the kind of sweatshop conditions that my mother worked in when I was growing up. It is time that this administration did so as well.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Let me correct an error that was made. The very fact is that the amendment would only restrict funds for the provision that gives Wal-Mart the 15 days' advance notice before the Department investigates any wage-and-hour law complaints. It does not abrogate the entire settlement. That is what Wal-Mart would like to have everyone believe. It is just the 15-day notice.

The fact is that this is not a typical agreement. None of the agreements that the Department of Labor made with Genesis Health Ventures, Footlocker, and Sears provided a blanket promise of advance notice nationwide to all their stores. This one does. It is a sweetheart deal with Wal-Mart. Nor did they provide for a 10-day window for the company to come into compliance in the event of child labor violations. These companies were expected to fix the problem immediately or to face serious penalties.

This is hardly standard procedure. That is why the Labor Department's own Inspector General has been investigating how this settlement was negotiated. We are talking about the safety of our children. That is why the amendment is necessary, and that is why I ask my colleagues to vote for this amendment.

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