Justice for Exploited Children Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7002 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7002

 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for enhanced 
                 penalties for child labor violations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 9, 2026

Ms. Scholten (for herself, Mr. Mackenzie, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. 
Thanedar, Mr. Landsman, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Norton, and Ms. Titus) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for enhanced 
                 penalties for child labor violations.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Justice for Exploited Children 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CHILD LABOR PENALTIES.

    (a) Criminal Penalties.--Section 16(a) of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act (29 U.S.C. 216(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Any'' and inserting ``(1) Any'';
            (2) by inserting ``(other than subsection (a)(4))'' after 
        ``15'';
            (3) by striking ``this subsection'' each place it appears 
        and inserting ``this paragraph''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) Any person who repeatedly or willfully violates section 
15(a)(4) shall upon conviction thereof be subject to a fine of not more 
than $100,000, or to imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or both.
    ``(3) Any person shall upon conviction for a violation of section 
15(a)(4) be subject to a fine of not more than $500,000, or to 
imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both, if such violation 
was--
            ``(A) willful and resulted in the death or serious injury 
        of an employee under the age of 18 years; or
            ``(B) repeated and such violation and a prior violation 
        each resulted in the death or serious injury of such an 
        employee.''.
    (b) Civil Penalties.--Section 16(e) of the Fair Labor Standards Act 
of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``not to exceed--'' and inserting ``as 
        follows:'';
            (2) in paragraph (A)--
                    (A) by moving the margins for clauses (i) and (ii) 
                4 ems to the left;
                    (B) in clause (i);
                            (i) by striking ``$11,000'' and inserting 
                        ``Not less than $1,000 but not more than 
                        $150,000''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``; or'' and inserting ``, 
                        which penalty shall be doubled where the 
                        violation is a repeated or willful 
                        violation.'';
                    (C) in clause (ii)--
                            (i) by striking ``$50,000'' and inserting 
                        ``Not less than $25,000 but not more than 
                        $601,150'';
                            (ii) by striking ``death or''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``may'' and inserting 
                        ``shall''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(iii) Not less than $50,000 and not more than $601,150 
        with regard to each such violation that causes the death of any 
        employee under the age of 18 years, which penalty shall be 
        doubled where the violation is a repeated or willful 
        violation.''; and
            (3) in paragraph (B), by striking ``subparagraph (A)'' and 
        inserting ``this section''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this Act shall apply 
with respect to violations occurring on or after the date of enactment 
of this Act.
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