U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN) recently voiced concerns to U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi about the majority’s dismissal of his efforts to address several issues, including child slave labor and human right’s abuses abroad.
“I have offered several amendments during Committee markups and through the Rules Committee to improve legislation slated for Floor consideration,” Rep. Stauber wrote in a March 11 letter sent to Pelosi in which he cited five amendments he has offered during the 116th and 117th congresses.
“Although I have repeatedly offered these amendments during both markups and full bill considerations, they have continually been blocked by the majority,” he wrote. “This blatant disregard for regular order and dismissal of legitimate committee action is concerning.”
Rep. Stauber highlighted particular concern about inaction regarding amendments related to ending child slave labor in the Congo, where Amnesty International reports children as young as seven are forced to work in terrible conditions to extract cobalt. The United States currently imports 78 percent of its cobalt from the Congo, the Congressman’s office said, noting that the Duluth Complex in Rep. Stauber’s district contains 88 percent of America’s cobalt reserves.
“It is my goal to end these horrific practices and ensure that the minerals used in our phones, renewable energies, and infrastructure projects are sourced ethically,” wrote Rep. Stauber. “Unfortunately, the reality remains that many of the technologies which Americans enjoy today are still powered by minerals sourced and mined by child slaves.”
The congressman told Pelosi that he hopes she “will carefully review my future efforts to prevent these abuses and make the correct decision to hold the United States to the moral standards our constituents, and the rest of the world, expect.”