|
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 693-4650
I am delighted that the Senate has given its consent to ratify the
Convention on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor adopted by the
International Labor Organization. Today we are taking an important step
together in building a life of hope for all of the world's children.
According to the International Labor Organization, more than 250 million
children worldwide between the ages of 5 and 14 are working, often under
exploitative and dangerous conditions. The Convention addresses intolerable
abuses of children in the workplace, such as slavery, the sale and trafficking
of children, prostitution, pornography, drug trafficking and hazardous work
which harms a child's safety, health and well being.
The Convention speaks of eliminating the worst forms of child labor "as
a matter of urgency," and indeed it is an urgent matter. One child working in
abusive conditions is one child too many. By ratifying this Convention, we will
help give our children the 21st century they deserve.
One of the most gratifying aspects of the Senate action has been the
bipartisan unanimity surrounding this issue. My sincere thanks to Senate
Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms, Senator Joseph Biden and
Senator Tom Harkin. I want to also congratulate and commend John Sweeney of the
AFL-CIO and Thomas Niles of the United States Council for International
Business. As our representatives to the ILO, they helped draft this Convention
which the international body unanimously adopted last June.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
| 
