H.R. 2822House118th Congress (2023-2025)In Committee

Child Labor Exploitation Accountability Act

AI-Generated Summary

Updated January 20, 2026 at 6:39 AM UTC

The Child Labor Exploitation Accountability Act makes companies that contract with the Department of Agriculture report any past violations of a wide range of federal labor and employment laws. The Labor Department will use those reports to create a list of firms that are barred from USDA contracts for up to five years. The bill also adds criminal penalties for firms that fail to disclose required information and requires yearly reports to Congress on the program’s results.

Key Provisions

Contractors and their subcontractors must annually disclose to the Labor Department any administrative, arbitral, or civil findings of violations of specified federal labor statutes and related executive orders for the prior three years.
The Labor Department may consult with contractors and negotiate corrective actions to address identified violations before a firm is placed on the ineligible list.
The Labor Department prepares, each year, a list of entities with serious or repeated violations or that fail to complete corrective measures; the Agriculture Secretary must bar those entities from new contracts for the current year and the next four years.
The Agriculture Department is prohibited from inspecting facilities owned by listed entities during the ban period.
Knowingly failing to make the required disclosure is a criminal offense, treated as a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1031, with penalties based on the contract value.
The Agriculture Secretary must submit an annual report to Congress detailing the number of barred entities, corrective agreements, contract values involved, and performance metrics evaluating the Act’s effectiveness.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Agriculture Committee

April 25, 2023

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

April 25, 2023

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Agriculture Committee

April 25, 2023

Floor Debate

19 members

What members said about H.R. 2822 on the floor

+14

12 Republicans7 Democrats

Sen. Patty MurrayD-WA · Mar 22, 2024

Madam President, the CBP One app is a downloadable app to schedule appointments with CBP at a land port of entry. Under our existing asylum laws, noncitizens may apply for asylum at our Nation's…

Madam President, the CBP One app is a downloadable app to schedule appointments with CBP at a land port of entry. Under our existing asylum laws, noncitizens may apply for asylum at our Nation's ports of entry.

Using this app improves security because it provides the CBP with advanced notice of who is arriving and of those individuals who have already passed security checks. About 1,400 appointments a day occur through the app. By providing people with advanced travel authorization, it allows them to avoid human traffickers and drug cartels and other criminal organizations.

Accepting this amendment will lead to more encounters at the border, pulling our agents from other work and responsibilities, like stopping drug cartels from getting fentanyl through our border, and it will create long lines at ports of entry as individuals travel to the border to apply for asylum, and it will all but guarantee a shutdown for no sensible reason.

I strongly urge my colleagues to vote no.

Vote on Motion to Concur

Mr. President, in that case, I will also yield back my time.

Mr. President, this amendment would create an outright blanket ban on trans kids in K-12

schools participating in any sport activity consistent with their gender identity in every single State.

Let me just say this loud and clear: This amendment is as bigoted and dangerous as it is unnecessary. Of all the challenges facing our Nation, I am stunned this is how any Senator would ask this institution to spend its time.

Trans kids deserve to be kids. They deserve to play sports, go to school, be with their friends. They should not have to worry about hateful rhetoric and laws that attack their very existence, and they definitely shouldn't live in fear of a Congress that is going to stipulate that their school won't get any Federal funding if their coach just simply lets them play sports with their friends.

That is nothing to say that passing any amendment on this bill will guarantee a government shutdown.

I urge my colleagues--

--to vote yes on the motion to table.

Motion to Table

I move to table the motion to concur with the Tuberville amendment No. 1781.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, this motion would impose exactly the sort of poison pill rider we all worked very hard to keep out of this important bipartisan package, and it is worth stating once more that there was a bipartisan proposal on border policy changes just a few weeks ago. Republicans walked away from that issue just as soon as Donald Trump told them to.

And, now, here we are tonight, facing a serious, prolonged shutdown. Some are pressing for measures like this even when they know full well they are putting forward partisan policies we worked very hard to keep out of this bill. And there is no way to support this motion now without forcing a pointless government shutdown--none.

If Republicans want to show that they are serious, they can work with us on comprehensive immigration reform and real solutions to the challenges we are facing at the border.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this motion.

Mr. President, we have a bipartisan, bicameral package of funding bills before us, and right now our job is to pass this as soon as possible. We cannot delay a moment further, and that is what this motion would do--needlessly drag this out even longer for absolutely no good reason at all.

It is already well past midnight. Let us finish this job, pass our bills. I urge my colleagues to vote no.

Vote on Motion to Table

The question is on agreeing to the motion to table amendment No. 1794.

Mr. President.

Exactly like the previous vote, this is a procedural vote that will cause a shutdown. I urge a ``no'' vote.

Like the previous votes, this is procedural vote that will cause a shutdown. I urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. President, it has been a long road, but we are about to vote on a bipartisan funding bill that the House passed overwhelmingly, and we are finally ready to close the book on fiscal year 2024.

This is not the legislation the Democrats and Republicans would have written on our own. It is the result of tough negotiations. It is a bipartisan package that invests in families and our country's future.

I want to thank Vice Chair Collins and so many others for working with us to get this done.

This was not easy, but we all know how important the investments are that this bill makes in our country. It matters. So I hope all of our colleagues will join us now in voting to send these bipartisan bills to the President's desk. We don't have a minute to spare.

Mr. President, there were a lot of naysayers who didn't believe that this divided Congress could pass full-year appropriations bills. Tonight, we proved them wrong. We have finally passed all 12 bills to fund the government, and I am proud to be sending a $1 billion increase in funding to childcare and pre-K to the President's desk.

As chair of the Appropriations Committee, you have a responsibility: You help decide in a big way how to set the Nation's spending priorities. I wanted to write our bills to put working people--the parents I talk to all around my State who can't afford or find childcare--first.

I remember when I drove 100 miles to Olympia, our State capital, with my two young kids to try and save their preschool program, and a State lawmaker told me I couldn't make a difference; I was just a mom in tennis

shoes. Well, this mom in tennis shoes is now the Senate Appropriations chair. I think it makes a difference when you have a former preschool teacher and someone who lived what it means to be a working mom with young kids holding the pen in our Nation's spending bills. So I decided childcare had to be at the top of our country's priorities, and this time it was not going to get knocked off.

I am so glad we are making this investment in our kids, in our families, and in our economy. But this bill delivers a lot more. President Biden will be signing a bipartisan bill that delivers on the investments that matter most in people's daily lives--on everything from Pell grants to community health centers--this funding, free of the devastating cuts and extreme riders that was pushed by the House Republicans that would have sent our country back decades.

From day one of this process, I said there would be no extreme far- right riders to restrict women's reproductive freedoms in these funding bills--not small, not big; none. And there are none.

Democrats stood firm to protect a woman's right to choose in these negotiations, beating back countless far-right policies from House Republicans to ban abortion and attack reproductive freedom in every way possible.

These bills came about after some tough negotiations, but they will move our country forward.

I have to, once again, thank my vice chair Susan Collins for her partnership. We passed 12 bills with overwhelming bipartisan support last summer, and that was important. I think that bipartisanship and shared commitment to doing what was right for the country served us well in negotiating these final spending bills.

I hope my House Republican colleagues now understand that bipartisanship is the only path forward in a divided government. I hope they understand that when you strike a deal, you have to stick to it. It has to mean something. And I hope my House Republican colleagues will now continue to work with us, not against us, to deliver for the American people.

As Appropriations chair, I am so glad to finally close the book on this year's government funding. I am ready as ever to work with all of my colleagues as we determine what investments our country will make. Let's keep working to help people and solve problems.

I yield the floor.

Sen. Charles E. SchumerD-NY · Mar 22, 2024

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the only motions and amendments in order to the House message to accompany H.R. 2882 be the following: Paul motion to refer, which is at the desk; motion to concur with Cruz No. 1804; motion to concur with Tuberville No. 1781; motion to concur with Lee No. 1722; motion to concur with Schmitt No. 1795; motion to concur with Johnson No. 1706; motion to concur with Lankford No. 1713; motion to concur with Lankford No. 1718; Blackburn motion to refer, which is at the desk; further, that the Senate vote in relation to the above motions and amendments in the order listed; that upon the disposition of the Blackburn motion to refer, Senator Budd be recognized to make a motion to table the motion to refer with amendment No. 1794, and if that motion is not agreed to, Senator Hagerty be recognized to make a motion to table amendment No. 1793, and that if that motion is not agreed to, Senator Budd be recognized to make a motion to table the motion to refer with amendment No. 1792; further, that if the tabling motions are not agreed to, the cloture motion with respect to the House message be withdrawn, the pending amendments and motions be withdrawn, and the Senate vote on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2882, with 60 affirmative votes required for adoption of the motion to concur, without further intervening action or debate, and with 2 minutes for debate, equally divided, prior to each vote; further, that S. 4072, introduced earlier today, be placed on the calendar and, notwithstanding rule XXII, at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader but no later than Friday, April 19, 2024, the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 4072, Crapo tailpipe emissions; that there be up to 2 hours for debate, equally divided, and upon the use or yielding back of time, the bill be considered read a third time, and the Senate vote on passage of the bill with 60 affirmative votes required for passage, without intervening action or debate, and if passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Madam President, I am going to be brief because we want to move quickly on to votes.

It has been a very long and difficult day, but we have just reached an agreement to complete the job of funding the government. It is good for the country that we have reached this bipartisan deal. It wasn't easy, but tonight our persistence has been worth it.

I want to thank the great leadership of Chair Murray and Vice Chair Collins for making this agreement possible.

Again, it is good for the American people that we have reached a bipartisan agreement to complete the job of funding the government tonight.

I am going to put us into a short quorum call as we wait for the first person of the first amendment to arrive. He is on his way. I will ask everyone to stay in their seats so we can get this done very quickly. Some people have very important places to go, and we want to get her there.

Unanimous Consent Agreement

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that all of the votes after the first vote be 10 minutes.

Again, I would ask Members respectfully but with strength to sit in their chairs, please, so we can get this done.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to modify the previous order so that the Lee motion to concur be first in the order.

Mr. President, I object. Let me just say to my colleagues, accuracy is very important. We must make sure the vote count is accurate. But if we all sit in our seats and do 10-minute votes, we can get this done as quickly as possible.

Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, we are going to try to skip the recap. That will save a lot of time. But that means everyone has to be in his or her seat. Don't go to the front and answer. Just be in your seat and answer yes or no when called.

Mr. President, could everyone please stay in their seats until we complete this vote? That way, we can get it done most quickly. Thank you. This is the final passage.

Mr. President, it has been a long day, a long week, and a very long few months, but, tonight, we have funded the government with significant investments for parents and kids, small businesses and healthcare workers, military families and so much more. It is no small feat to get a package like this done in divided government. These past few months have shown yet again that when bipartisanship has room to work, we can get the job done.

A deep and sincere thank you to all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their good work. I thank Chair Murray, Vice Chair Collins, and all on Appropriations and their staffs. Thank you to my incredible staff too.

This was not easy, but our efforts have paid off with a strong funding bill that now goes to the President.

Remembering Patricia Collins

Finally, Mr. President, many of us have signed a condolence book to Senator Collins on the loss of her mother. It was even more difficult for her to get this bill done given the circumstances, but she showed her usual strength, courage, and tenacity.

So I would like to just ask for a couple of seconds of silence for Susan's mother, and I will present this book to her.

(Moment of silence.)

Vote on Motion to Concur

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Sen. James LankfordR-OK · Mar 22, 2024

Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2882 with further amendment No. 1713. Mr. President, I rise today to ask my colleagues to support my amendment…

Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2882 with further amendment No. 1713.

Mr. President, I rise today to ask my colleagues to support my amendment that would strike earmark funding for a hospital that performs chemical and surgical abortions, including well into the fifth month of pregnancy. In fact, this hospital, on their website, they brag that they routinely provide abortions up to 22 weeks. Five and a half months into a pregnancy is a late-term abortion. This is beyond even the Roe standard of viability.

At 22 weeks--that is 5\1/2\ months--a baby at that point can certainly feel pain. A baby can smile. They have formed tear ducts. They can recognize their mom's voice. They are sensitive to loud voices. They even have their taste buds already formed at that point.

Portugal restricts abortions after 10 weeks. Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, and Ukraine all restrict abortion after 12 weeks. Belgium, Luxemburg, and Spain restrict after 14.

This is a hospital bragging they do abortions at 22 weeks. We may disagree

on when life begins, but we should not provide Federal dollars for a facility that advertises it performs late-term abortions routinely. We should strike this earmark.

Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2882 with further amendment No. 1718.

Mr. President, yesterday, 5,770 people illegally crossed our southern border. Some of them were identified as special interest aliens.

Now let me give the definition for ``special interest aliens'' from the Department of Homeland Security. This is a non-U.S. person who, based on analysis of travel patterns, potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests. Often, such individuals or groups are employing travel patterns known or evaluated to possibly have a nexus to terrorism. That is what these individuals are. They have been identified by this administration's DHS as a potential national security risk and a possible nexus to terrorism.

The problem is most of them are released into the United States after a very quick screening at the border. Those individuals that have been labeled a national security risk are not being detained at our border. This amendment would simply say: If an individual has been identified by this administration as a national security risk, they have to be detained--

--throughout the time they are evaluated until they are adjudicated.

I would ask for a ``yes'' vote.

Sen. Ted BuddR-NC · Mar 22, 2024

Mr. President, I move to table Senate amendment 1794 for the purpose of offering my amendment No. 1807. I would like 2 minutes of debate. Mr. President, we are in the middle of the worst border…

Mr. President, I move to table Senate amendment 1794 for the

purpose of offering my amendment No. 1807.

I would like 2 minutes of debate.

Mr. President, we are in the middle of the worst border crisis in American history as a direct result of the failed policies of President Biden.

My amendments are meant to address these failed policies. The amendment I am offering prevents illegal aliens who commit the crime of assaulting a law enforcement officer from ever obtaining legal status or citizenship.

This is particularly relevant to my home State of North Carolina in light of the murder of Lake County Deputy Sheriff Ned Byrd by an illegal alien in 2022.

Any Senator who claims to support the police should have no problem supporting this amendment. So before you shut down this amendment, just ask yourself: Do you believe that someone who beats up a cop and is here illegally should be allowed to legally remain in our country? I don't think so, and I hope that all of my colleagues would agree.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, let me be clear. The amendment I am offering prevents illegal aliens who commit the crime of burglary, theft, or shoplifting from being granted legal status or citizenship.

This is particularly relevant in the case of Laken Riley, where the illegal alien who murdered her had previously been arrested for those crimes.

The American people need to know who stands on the side of preventing tragedies and who will enable them. Now, I know my Democratic colleagues are fearful, perhaps squeamish, to prevent immigration issues from being voted on tonight. We have even gone into past midnight and into a brief government shutdown to avoid it.

I might be a freshman in this Chamber, but I have been here long enough to know that deadlines are powerful motivators but so should be common sense and common decency.

Look, we have seen the cost of not dealing with this issue in the tragic death of Laken Riley, and I hope each and every one of my colleagues would agree it is time to act and support my amendment.

I move to table Senate amendment No. 1792 for the purpose of offering my amendment No. 1740, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Sen. John ThuneR-SD · Mar 22, 2024

The following Senators are necessarily absent: The Senator from Indiana (Mr. Braun), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Marshall), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio), and the Senator from Florida (Mr.…

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Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued April 25, 2023

118th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2822

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 25, 2023

Mr. Casar (for himself, Ms. Budzinski, Ms. Tokuda, Ms. Balint, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Salinas, Mr. Robert Garcia of California, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Deluzio, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Huffman, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Brown, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Magaziner, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Doggett, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Cleaver, and Ms. Bush) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To ensure that contractors of the Department of Agriculture comply with certain labor laws, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Child Labor Exploitation Accountability Act.

Promotion of economic security and workplace accountability

(a)

Required disclosures

The Secretary of Agriculture shall require any entity that enters into a contract with the Department of Agriculture on or after the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act to disclose to the Secretary of Labor, on an annual basis and to the best of the knowledge of the entity, whether, within the preceding 3-year period, any administrative merits determination, arbitral award or decision, or civil judgment, as defined in regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor, has been issued against the entity, or any subcontractor of the entity, for violations of any of the following (including, as applicable, any regulations issued under any of the following):

(1)

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).

(2)

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.).

(3)

The National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).

(4)

Subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code (commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act).

(5)

Chapter 67 of title 41, United States Code (commonly known as the Service Contract Act).

(6)

Executive Order 11246 (42 U.S.C. 2000e note; relating to equal employment opportunity).

(7)

Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 793).

(8)

Section 4212 of title 38, United States Code.

(9)

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).

(10)

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.).

(11)

Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111 et seq.).

(12)

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.).

(13)

Executive Order 13658 (79 Fed. Reg. 9851; relating to establishing a minimum wage for contractors).

(14)

The Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).

(15)

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (division II of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117–328)).

(16)

Section 4714 of title 41, United States Code.

(17)

Part 170 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (regarding the Worker Protection Standard).

(18)

Section 218 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188) relating to protections for H–2A workers.

(19)

Section 274B of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1324b).

(20)

Any applicable State or local labor or employment law, as defined in regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor.

(b)

Consultation

The Secretary of Labor shall be available, as appropriate and in coordination as described in subsection (e), for consultation with an entity described in subsection (a) to assist the entity in evaluating the information on labor compliance submitted to the entity by a subcontractor pursuant to such subsection.

(c)

Corrective measures

On an annual basis, the Secretary of Labor—

(1)

shall provide an entity that makes a disclosure pursuant to subsection (a) an opportunity to report any steps taken by the entity, or any subcontractor of the entity, to correct violations of or improve compliance with the labor laws, including Executive orders, listed in such subsection, including any agreements entered into with an enforcement agency; and

(2)

may negotiate with such entity corrective measures that the entity or any subcontractor of the entity may take in order to avoid having the entity placed on the list under subsection (d).

(d)

List of ineligible entities

(1)

In general

For each calendar year beginning with the first calendar year that begins after the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, in coordination as described in subsection (e), shall prepare, and submit to the Secretary of Agriculture, a list of each entity that shall be ineligible for a contract with the Department of Agriculture for that year based on—

(A)

serious, repeated, or pervasive violations of the labor laws, including Executive orders, listed under subsection (a) committed by the entity or any subcontractor of the entity; or

(B)

the failure of such entity, or any subcontractor of such entity, to complete any corrective measure negotiated under subsection (c).

(2)

Ineligibility

The Secretary of Agriculture shall not—

(A)

solicit a contract from any entity on the list under paragraph (1) that is in effect for a year for that year or any of the subsequent 4 years; and

(B)

conduct an inspection pursuant to the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.), as applicable, of any facility owned or controlled by an entity on the list under paragraph (1) that is in effect for a year for that year or for any of the subsequent 4 years.

(e)

Coordination

In providing the consultation described in subsection (b) and preparing the list under subsection (d), the Secretary of Labor shall coordinate, as appropriate, with the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, States, and local governments.

(f)

Criminal penalty for failure To report

(1)

Offense

It shall be unlawful for an entity to knowingly fail to make a disclosure required under subsection (a).

(2)

Penalty

(A)

In general

A violation of paragraph (1) shall be treated as a violation of section 1031(a) of title 18, United States Code.

(B)

Gross loss to Government; gross gain to defendant

For purposes of applying section 1031 of title 18, United States Code, to a violation of paragraph (1) of this subsection, the amount that the Department of Agriculture pays an entity that violates such paragraph (1) under a contract described in subsection (a) of this section shall be treated as the gross loss to the Government or the gross gain to the defendant.

(g)

Annual reports to Congress

For each calendar year beginning with the first calendar year that begins after the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, Secretary of Agriculture shall submit a report to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives that includes—

(1)

the number of entities on the list under subsection (d) for the year of the report;

(2)

the number of entities that agreed to take corrective measures under subsection (c) for such year;

(3)

the amount of the applicable contracts for the entities described in paragraph (1) or (2); and

(4)

performance indicators and measures, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture, assessing the effectiveness of the implementation by the Secretary of Agriculture of this Act for such year.