U.S. Dept. of State - IIP: The United States and China

Text: Proposed Resolution Seeks Trade Deals That Ban Child Labor
(Measure expresses condolences to Fanglin explosion victims)

The March 6 explosion that killed 42 people, including 37 children, at the Fanglin elementary school in China's Jiangxi province has triggered a response from U.S. lawmakers.

Representative George Miller (Democrat of California) and 16 co-sponsors introduced a resolution April 24 that would call for trade agreements and policies "that will enforce the International Labor Organization's core labor standards, which include prohibition of child labor and forced labor."

The proposed resolution, House Resolution 121 (H. Res. 121), would also express the "sincerest condolences" of the House of Representatives to the families of the people killed in the explosion and criticize "the Chinese Communist Party's original attempts to put forward an 'authorized', but false, version of the events."

The proposed resolution was referred to the House International Relations Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.

H. Res. 121 says that "systematic exploitation of children in the elementary school was not only known about but actually organized by individuals holding official responsibilities with the local Chinese Government."

The practice of forcing children to make fireworks in their classrooms, the resolution's authors said, "is a grave violation of the rights of children under the International Labor Organization's Conventions 138 and 182, as well as Convention 29 on Forced Labor."

The resolution expresses support for "international trade agreements and policies that will enforce the International Labor Organization's core labor standards, which include prohibition of child labor and forced labor."

107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 121
Expressing the sincerest condolences of the House of Representatives to the families of the 42 people, including 37 children, killed in the March 6, 2001, explosion at the Fanglin elementary school in the Jiangxi province of the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 24, 2001

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Bonior, Mr. Coyne, Mr. Evans, Mr. Filner, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Kildee, Ms. McKinney, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Payne, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Shows, Ms. Solis, and Mr. Stark) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

Expressing the sincerest condolences of the House of Representatives to the families of the 42 people, including 37 children, killed in the March 6, 2001, explosion at the Fanglin elementary school in the Jiangxi province of the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.

Whereas on March 6, 2001, an explosion at the Fanglin elementary school in the Jiangxi province of the People's Republic of China's killed at least 42 people, including 37 children;

Whereas the children, all between the ages of 9 and 11, were being forced by elementary school officials to manufacture fireworks when this tragedy occurred;

Whereas the parents of the deceased children report that the mandatory labor, which involved mounting fuses and detonators into large firecrackers, had been a daily practice at the school for years;

Whereas this systematic exploitation of children in the elementary school was not only known about but actually organized by individuals holding official responsibilities with the local Chinese Government;

Whereas this practice is a grave violation of the rights of children under the International Labor Organization's Conventions 138 and 182, as well as Convention 29 on Forced Labor; and

Whereas Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji has taken the important step of acknowledging these violations of internationally recognized labor standards: Now, therefore, be it

(1) expresses its sincerest condolences to the families of the 42 people killed in the March 6, 2001, explosion at the Fanglin elementary school in the Jiangxi province of the People's Republic of China, including to the parents and families of the 37 young children who lost their lives as a result of this dangerous and forced child labor;

(2) expresses its gratitude to the Chinese and international journalists who reported the true cause of the explosion in response to the Chinese Communist Party's original attempts to put forward an `authorized', but false, version of the events; and

(3) expresses its support for international trade agreements and policies that will enforce the International Labor Organization's core labor standards, which include prohibition of child labor and forced labor.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)