Child Labor Exploitation Accountability Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2822 To ensure that contractors of the Department of Agriculture comply with certain labor laws, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 25, 2023 Mr. CASAR (for himself, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. BALINT, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. SALINAS, Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mr. LIEU, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. PIN- GREE, Mr. DELUZIO, Ms. HOYLE of Oregon, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. BROWN, Mr. POCAN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. TONKO, Mr. MAGAZINER, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. CLEAVER, and Ms. BUSH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To ensure that contractors of the Department of Agriculture comply with certain labor laws, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Labor Exploi- 4 tation Accountability Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2822.IH H2822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2822 IH SEC. 2. PROMOTION OF ECONOMIC SECURITY AND WORK- 1 PLACE ACCOUNTABILITY. 2 (a) REQUIRED DISCLOSURES.—The Secretary of Ag- 3 riculture shall require any entity that enters into a con- 4 tract with the Department of Agriculture on or after the 5 date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this 6 Act to disclose to the Secretary of Labor, on an annual 7 basis and to the best of the knowledge of the entity, wheth- 8 er, within the preceding 3-year period, any administrative 9 merits determination, arbitral award or decision, or civil 10 judgment, as defined in regulations issued by the Sec- 11 retary of Labor, has been issued against the entity, or any 12 subcontractor of the entity, for violations of any of the 13 following (including, as applicable, any regulations issued 14 under any of the following): 15 (1) The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 16 U.S.C. 201 et seq.). 17 (2) The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 18 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.). 19 (3) The National Labor Relations Act (29 20 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 21 (4) Subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, 22 United States Code (commonly known as the 23 ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’). 24 (5) Chapter 67 of title 41, United States Code 25 (commonly known as the ‘‘Service Contract Act’’). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2822.IH H2822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2822 IH (6) Executive Order 11246 (42 U.S.C. 2000e 1 note; relating to equal employment opportunity). 2 (7) Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 3 1973 (29 U.S.C. 793). 4 (8) Section 4212 of title 38, United States 5 Code. 6 (9) The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 7 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.). 8 (10) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 9 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.). 10 (11) Title I of the Americans with Disabilities 11 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111 et seq.). 12 (12) The Age Discrimination in Employment 13 Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.). 14 (13) Executive Order 13658 (79 Fed. Reg. 15 9851; relating to establishing a minimum wage for 16 contractors). 17 (14) The Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et 18 seq.). 19 (15) The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (divi- 20 sion II of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 21 (Public Law 117–328)). 22 (16) Section 4714 of title 41, United States 23 Code. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2822.IH H2822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2822 IH (17) Part 170 of title 40, Code of Federal Reg- 1 ulations (regarding the Worker Protection Stand- 2 ard). 3 (18) Section 218 of the Immigration and Na- 4 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188) relating to protections 5 for H–2A workers. 6 (19) Section 274B of such Act (8 U.S.C. 7 1324b). 8 (20) Any applicable State or local labor or em- 9 ployment law, as defined in regulations issued by the 10 Secretary of Labor. 11 (b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of Labor shall 12 be available, as appropriate and in coordination as de- 13 scribed in subsection (e), for consultation with an entity 14 described in subsection (a) to assist the entity in evalu- 15 ating the information on labor compliance submitted to 16 the entity by a subcontractor pursuant to such subsection. 17 (c) CORRECTIVE MEASURES.—On an annual basis, 18 the Secretary of Labor— 19 (1) shall provide an entity that makes a disclo- 20 sure pursuant to subsection (a) an opportunity to re- 21 port any steps taken by the entity, or any subcon- 22 tractor of the entity, to correct violations of or im- 23 prove compliance with the labor laws, including Ex- 24 ecutive orders, listed in such subsection, including 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2822.IH H2822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2822 IH any agreements entered into with an enforcement 1 agency; and 2 (2) may negotiate with such entity corrective 3 measures that the entity or any subcontractor of the 4 entity may take in order to avoid having the entity 5 placed on the list under subsection (d). 6 (d) LIST OF INELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each calendar year be- 8 ginning with the first calendar year that begins after 9 the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment 10 of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, in coordination 11 as described in subsection (e), shall prepare, and 12 submit to the Secretary of Agriculture, a list of each 13 entity that shall be ineligible for a contract with the 14 Department of Agriculture for that year based on— 15 (A) serious, repeated, or pervasive viola- 16 tions of the labor laws, including Executive or- 17 ders, listed under subsection (a) committed by 18 the entity or any subcontractor of the entity; or 19 (B) the failure of such entity, or any sub- 20 contractor of such entity, to complete any cor- 21 rective measure negotiated under subsection (c). 22 (2) INELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary of Agri- 23 culture shall not— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2822.IH H2822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2822 IH (A) solicit a contract from any entity on 1 the list under paragraph (1) that is in effect for 2 a year for that year or any of the subsequent 3 4 years; and 4 (B) conduct an inspection pursuant to the 5 Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et 6 seq.) or the Poultry Products Inspection Act 7 (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.), as applicable, of any 8 facility owned or controlled by an entity on the 9 list under paragraph (1) that is in effect for a 10 year for that year or for any of the subsequent 11 4 years. 12 (e) COORDINATION.—In providing the consultation 13 described in subsection (b) and preparing the list under 14 subsection (d), the Secretary of Labor shall coordinate, 15 as appropriate, with the National Labor Relations Board, 16 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the En- 17 vironmental Protection Agency, States, and local govern- 18 ments. 19 (f) CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO REPORT.— 20 (1) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for an enti- 21 ty to knowingly fail to make a disclosure required 22 under subsection (a). 23 (2) PENALTY.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2822.IH H2822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2822 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—A violation of para- 1 graph (1) shall be treated as a violation of sec- 2 tion 1031(a) of title 18, United States Code. 3 (B) GROSS LOSS TO GOVERNMENT; GROSS 4 GAIN TO DEFENDANT.—For purposes of apply- 5 ing section 1031 of title 18, United States 6 Code, to a violation of paragraph (1) of this 7 subsection, the amount that the Department of 8 Agriculture pays an entity that violates such 9 paragraph (1) under a contract described in 10 subsection (a) of this section shall be treated as 11 the gross loss to the Government or the gross 12 gain to the defendant. 13 (g) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—For each cal- 14 endar year beginning with the first calendar year that be- 15 gins after the date that is 2 years after the date of enact- 16 ment of this Act, Secretary of Agriculture shall submit 17 a report to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 18 Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture 19 of the House of Representatives that includes— 20 (1) the number of entities on the list under sub- 21 section (d) for the year of the report; 22 (2) the number of entities that agreed to take 23 corrective measures under subsection (c) for such 24 year; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2822.IH H2822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2822 IH (3) the amount of the applicable contracts for 1 the entities described in paragraph (1) or (2); and 2 (4) performance indicators and measures, as 3 determined by the Secretary of Agriculture, assess- 4 ing the effectiveness of the implementation by the 5 Secretary of Agriculture of this Act for such year. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2822.IH H2822 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS