House Democrats on July 18 announced that they were launching a task force to investigate the startling rise in children found working in violation of labor laws across the United States.
“Our country is facing a child labor crisis,” Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) said in his opening remarks at a press conference announcing the launch. “Recent reporting has shown child labor violations are growing at an alarming rate, while companies very often are quite complicit.”
Lawmakers on the task force, including Reps. Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.), and Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.), cited a sharp uptick recorded by the Department of Labor showing a 69 percent increase in the number of federal child labor law violations….