During a House Transportation Committee hearing last week, Rep. John Duarte (R-CA) spoke about child slavery in the electric vehicle and rare mineral mining industries.
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00minutes. Hello, Secretary. Thank you for joining us here today. Last time we're here, we talked
00:07about two things. One was the high-speed rail project in my district, which is the California
00:13high-speed rail project, the $128 billion high-speed rail project that was a state initiative
00:20that will move from Merced, a city of 60,000, down to Bakersfield, a city of approximately
00:25350,000, I believe. Are those the type of metropolitan centers that you were just
00:31meaning to describe when you talked about the best candidates for high-speed rail?
00:35On their own and in a vacuum, it is unlikely that they would generate that justification. But of
00:39course, that Merced to Bakersfield segment represents a step toward connecting two of
00:44the largest economic areas in the United States. So after we've spent $128 billion going over
00:50flatland between Merced and Bakersfield, we'll then think about how we're going to get through
00:55the mountains and the urban areas of Los Angeles and the Bay Area to then finish the high-speed
01:00rail project someday in the distant, distant future? Well, the Bakersfield to Merced segment
01:07comes first. And yes, as I understand it, the vision of the project sponsors is ultimately
01:11to fully connect all the way through to the downtown. Are you capable of recognizing a
01:17hopeless boondoggle? Because that's what we're discussing right now. I've seen a lot of the
01:22most compelling and ambitious human projects characterized as hopeless boondoggles during
01:27the time that they were taking shape. And I'm not surprised for a project that represents the first
01:32movement in the United States of America toward this kind of technology that it has proven to
01:38present a lot of challenges for those first movers. Thank you. Let's move on to something
01:43even more important, in my opinion. Representative Owens, a good friend of mine earlier,
01:47discussed the electric vehicle trade, the proxy imperialism that American taxpayers are sponsoring
01:54in the Congo in the pursuit of cobalt. I don't know, I guess God shined on us today because
02:00just walking in the atrium of Rayburn office building here, we have a Congolese delegation
02:07talk about economic development in Congo. So I got a quote from Abraham Leno, who was sitting
02:12in here a little while ago, but his schedule does not permit for him to be here right now.
02:17Nonetheless, I'd encourage you to speak to him on your way through there today.
02:20Let me quote Abraham Leno. He actually provided me a quote that I'll read verbatim.
02:26Children are working in situations with exposure to chemicals like mercury and going into mines
02:31with no safety regulations or oversight. Beyond the daily tragedy, Congo is losing the productive
02:36labor force of the future and people who would contribute to a brighter future with a stronger
02:42society. I've read the book, or at least audio book, I'll admit, Cobalt Red. As you pursue these
02:50electric vehicle technologies, you call it technology, but technology in my book makes
02:56lives better. I don't see electric vehicles making lives tremendously better in the United States.
03:02They're crushing lives around the world. We've got slave trade in Congo. I just can't accept
03:09that's a necessary consequence of newer technology. Don't accept it. If you feel aglow driving an
03:14electric vehicle here today in America, go ahead and feel that. There are children in mines being
03:19crushed. There are families being broken. There are warlords forcing these people into slavery
03:24around the world. And I trust anyone serious about confronting that will join us in enforcing
03:28our protections against forced and child labor. I must also say that I am puzzled to find people
03:35who have shown no interest in dealing with forced and child labor in any other product.
03:39You are forcing child labor in the Congo. It's documented. It's been known for decades. You want
03:45to talk about reparations. Your party wants to talk about proxy imperialism in our history. We
03:51are practicing imperialism today through the Chinese communist government going in to extract
03:57them. We're competing with the Chinese communist government to build this on U.S. soil, with which
04:01we would have your help on. You are subsidizing the Chinese government today. We're subsidizing
04:05the American auto industry. You are subsidizing. You are not going to tell me you believe. Go ahead.
04:11Tell me you believe that the majority of batteries produced for American EVs that are receiving
04:16federal subsidies today are being produced with constituents and components sourced in America
04:23and are slavery free. What I can tell you is that. That's a pretty simple statement. You believe the
04:27constituents and components in American electric vehicles being subsidized by our government today
04:32are slavery free. Here's what I can tell you. 80% less cobalt is going into today's EV batteries.
04:40Most of the cobalt that is used comes as a byproduct from nickel and copper mining and
04:44major battery makers in the U.S. So you don't want to discuss slavery. Could you please let me finish?
04:47No, you're not finishing. I asked you about slavery. You're telling me about constituents
04:50and other components. Ask me, just answer the question I actually asked, which is, do you
04:55believe the electric vehicles being produced and subsidized by American taxpayers today
05:01are slavery free, fair trade vehicles? I should certainly hope that they are, and if there's any
05:06specific evidence of any violation of any provision to prevent forced and child labor
05:11of any product, any of the 159 products listed, we will work on that.
05:16Will you speak to our friends in Congo out here in the atrium to find your way out?
05:20I'm just astonished that people have shown zero interest in confronting forced or child labor on
05:24any of the other 158 products listed, are suddenly terribly concerned about it on this
05:29one product, which we can actually do without that much cobalt.
05:32This isn't just about unfair competition. This is about subsidizing child labor through American
05:38Then why didn't you vote for the provision to move it onto U.S. soil?
05:42The gentleman's time has expired.
05:44Thank you. I yield back.