Missed Opportunities

I wish to address Kailash Satyarthi’s suggested change for the Harkin Bill, proposed by Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. The 1992 bill (this interview occurred in 1994) would give monitoring duties to the United States government and to selected importers. Failing to pass, it was proposed numerous times throughout the nineties with its last iteration in 1999 as the “Child Labor Deterrence Act of 1999”. Naturally, such a bill was a double-edged sword to Satyarthi’s efforts, giving momentum and publicity to an important issue while delegating any real swinging power to those who might be considered biased (importers). While Satyarthi’s concerns are just, and with the exception of a lack of funding for released children, I fail to find any consequences from the proposed bill that would have made the situation worse off than before. If the bill, when it was proposed again in 1993, was expected to pass easily, such objections to it would be understandable in that it wouldn't drastically hinder its fruition. Considering the bill died all five times it was proposed, someone like Satyarthi’s organization should have done (or in this case not done) everything they could to get it passed. Yes, it may have put second string players in control of regulation, but it’s not like they were regulating anymore prior to such a proposition. This bill could have been a significant starting point for SACCS in the United States. If someone offers one dollar to help you pay for a twenty dollar item, by all means accept that one dollar.