FIRST ON FOX: New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith has introduced legislation that would ensure minerals key to green energy in the U.S. are not extracted using child labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Smith's legislation — called the Stop China’s Exploitation of Congolese Children and Adult Forced Labor through Cobalt Mining Act — would specifically block cobalt extracted or processed with the use of child or forced labor from entering the U.S. market.
Smith's legislation was crafted alongside House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., whose committee has jurisdiction over the bill. The committee will mark the legislation up on Wednesday, setting it up for a potential floor vote in the near future. The bill was also written, in part, in response to a November congressional hearing chaired by Rep. Chris Smith that put a spotlight on forced labor in the DRC.
America has long fought to end child and adult forced labor, yet the cobalt vital to the batteries in our technology is unethically mined with the use of forced labor under Chinese control,' Rep. Jason Smith said. 'This legislation is a critical step to blocking material tainted by these inhumane labor practices from entering this country. I am thankful to Rep. Chris Smith for introducing this legislation to stop these dangerous practices.
Three years ago, I set an ambitious target: that half of all new cars and trucks sold in 2030 would be zero-emission,' President Biden said last month. 'I brought together American automakers. I brought together American autoworkers. Together, we’ve made historic progress. Hundreds of new expanded factories across the country. Hundreds of billions in private investment and thousands of good-paying union jobs. And we’ll meet my goal for 2030 and race forward in the years ahead.