Sec. 5504. Certification on ensuring no human rights abuses
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Congress finds the following: According to the International Energy Agency— electric cars require significant amounts of copper, lithium, nickel, manganese, rare earth elements, platinum group elements, and cobalt; and the top producer of cobalt is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. UNICEF and Amnesty International estimate that 40,000 boys and girls work in mines across the Democratic Republic of the Congo for up to 12 hours a day and earn no more than 2 dollars a day. The boys and girls working in mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo do not attend school, they are beaten by security guards, and they are exposed to high levels of cobalt, but are not issued protective equipment.
The Secretary of Commerce shall certify that no funds for programs related to reducing green house gas emissions under this title and the amendments made by this title are used for minerals sourced or processed with child labor, as such term is defined in Article 3 of the International Labor Organization Convention concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labor (December 2, 2000), or in violation of human rights.