Nicholas Johnson: Senator Harkin, the same WSUI that is carrying your remarks had an item in "Morning Edition" the day that you spoke, describing this kind of slavery and child labor in the United States. International human rights organizations will cite examples of human rights abuses in the United States. What problems does this create for you, with the leadership that you've taken on the world stage, when countries that we are trying to correct point to examples here?
Senator Tom Harkin: Well, I think, Nick, what it does is it gives us some added sort of support. I mean, no one likes to think that we have child labor in this country. We do. Mostly in migrant labor. And we've got to close the door on that. But also in the garment factories, too, we have some.
This year [U.S. Secretary of Labor] Alexis Herman announced a program she just implemented. I don't know if she's started yet or not, pretty soon, called "Operation Salad Bowl," in which they are putting, I don't know how many more, but a lot more people out in the field to stop the use of kids under the age of fourteen -- actually, it's under the age of twelve, I misspoke -- from working in the migrant fields.
But sometimes, when I'm working on these issues, when you look at other countries and what they are doing, when they come back and say, "Yeah, but look at you," that kind of gives us some sort of a base, or a platform, on which to go to our colleagues and say, "Well, you know, all of you are in favor of getting rid of child labor, but look at what we are doing. We have to clean up our own back yard first." So then that's kind of helpful; to look in the mirror at ourselves.
But I hear about it. Sure I do. I mean, I hear about it when I drive down the road: "How come you haven't even signed the declaration on the children's rights? The convention?"
Professor Burns Weston: We are, in fact, only one of two countries in the world that hasn't done it. The other one is Somalia, and it doesn't have a government. [laughter]
Senator Tom Harkin: That's right. That's true. There are only two countries. Burns is right.
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