Child Labor Exploitation Accountability Act

What it does

If Congress passes it, the Child Labor Exploitation Accountability Act would prohibit USDA from engaging in contracts with companies that have committed egregious labor law violations and/or contracted with vendors that have incurred, and failed to rectify, serious worker or labor infractions. Specifically, this bill would:

• Require companies competing for contracts with Department of Agriculture to disclose labor and worker safety infractions by the company itself as well as by any of their contractors in the preceding three years
• Empower the Secretary of Labor to determine corrective measures for a company and/or their contractors to remain eligible for the USDA contracts
• Require the Secretary of Labor to prepare a list of companies that are ineligible for USDA contracts for that year based on serious, repeated, or pervasive violations of labor laws, and 
• Establish strong enforcement measures to ensure USDA and DOL compliance. 

Read a FAQ about this bill.

Who supports this bill?

The Child Labor Exploitation Accountability Act is a bicameral bill, which means it has some support in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators Cory Booker and Peter Welch and Representatives Jasmine Crockett and Greg Casar introduced the bill. In the Senate, this bill is referred to as S.1288 and these Senators are already supporting the bill. In the House, this bill is referred to as H.R.2822 and these Representatives are already supporting the bill.

This bill is endorsed by over fifty organizations, including HEAL Food Alliance, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.

Want to support this bill?

If your Senators and House Representative aren’t already on the list of cosponsors for the bill:

• Ask your two Senators to “cosponsor the Child Labor Exploitation Accountability Act, S.1288.”
• Ask your House Representative to “cosponsor the Child Labor Exploitation Accountability Act, H.R.2822.”

If your elected officials are already supporting this bill, you can always contact them to thank them and help spread the word among your networks.

Resources

If you’d like to learn more about the Child Labor Exploitation Accountability Act, you can:

• Find instructions for calling or writing your Senators and Representative (tip: enter your address)
• Track the bill’s progress on Congress.gov or GovTrack
• Learn why lawmakers are supporting this bill (Representative Gregorio Casar’s press release and Representative Jasmine Crockett’s press release)
• Read the full bill text

See more bills worthy of your support in the 2023 Farm Bill.