*EPF410 04/26/01
Text: Rep. Miller Calls on China to Stop Use of Child Labor
(Lawmaker cites March 6 explosion at school in China) (650)

Citing a March 6 explosion in a Chinese village school that killed 37 children reportedly forced to make fireworks there, Representative George Miller (Democrat of California) called on China April 24 to cease the practice of child labor.

"This tragedy resulted from a situation of forced child labor in which the deceased third- and fourth-graders were required to spend long hours during the school day making firecrackers," Miller said.

"For years, the parents of children in the Fanglin elementary school, which is in a small village 40 miles southwest of Shanghai, had complained that their children were being forced by school officials to manufacture large firecrackers at school," said Miller, who has worked on children's issues in the House of Representatives.

Miller said he and 16 co-sponsors were introducing a bipartisan resolution, House Resolution 121 (H. Res. 121), "that expresses condolences to the families of the deceased and expresses support for international trade agreements that will enforce the International Labor Organization's core labor standards, which include prohibition of child labor and forced labor."

Following is the text of Representative George Miller's extended remarks from the April 24 Congressional Record:

(begin text)

FORCED CHILD LABOR IN CHINA
HON. GEORGE MILLER
Extensions of Remarks
April 24, 2001

HON. GEORGE MILLER OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, April 24, 2001

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my sincerest condolences to the families of the 42 individuals--including 37 young school children--who died in a horrible explosion in China on March 6 of this year. This tragedy resulted from a situation of forced child labor in which the deceased third- and fourth-graders were required to spend long hours during the school day making firecrackers. Along with 16 co-sponsors, today I am introducing a bipartisan resolution that expresses condolences to the families of the deceased and expresses support for international trade agreements that will enforce the International Labor Organization's core labor standards, which include prohibition of child labor and forced labor.

For years, the parents of children in the Fanglin elementary school, which is in a small village 40 miles southwest of Shanghai, had complained that their children were being forced by school officials to manufacture large firecrackers at school. Every day, the young children were required to spend hours mounting fuses and detonators into the firecrackers that were then sold by local officials. To ensure that their monetary intake remained high, the officials set a sliding production quota that started at 1,000 firecrackers per day for the youngest children and reached 10,000 firecrackers per day for the fifth-graders.

It was only a matter of time before this disturbing example of forced and dangerous child labor would end in tragedy. On a Tuesday afternoon, the firecrackers exploded in the elementary school and took the lives of the 37 young children.

Chinese Prime Minister Zhu immediately denied the use of forced child labor, and Communist Party officials invented a story about a ``mad man'' who entered the school and set off the explosion as part of his suicide attempt. However, thanks to the courageous and persistent reporting of both Chinese and international journalists, Prime Minister Zhu was eventually forced to acknowledge the true events of March 6.

The forced labor and child labor in China violates several conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO), but unfortunately the ILO has no enforcement powers. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting a bipartisan House Resolution that expresses our condolences to the families of the deceased and urges strong international action to enforce the ILO core labor standards.

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