H.R. 7002

119 HR 7002 IH: Justice for Exploited Children Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2026-01-09
 text/xml
 EN
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 I  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  H. R. 7002  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.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Justice for Exploited Children Act  .
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.