00:00Mr. Hawley. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Congratulations to the nominees. Thank you all for being here. Mr. Rogers, let me start with you. As you might know, on the 6th of May, I sent a letter to the Secretary, Ms. Chavez de Riemer, on a topic that's extremely important to me and to my state, and that's illegal child labor.
00:16I relayed to the Secretary whistleblower information that I have received from an employee at Tyson Foods, alleging that that individual employee had witnessed underage labor in a Tyson's plant.
00:30That same whistleblower also had information regarding other underage employees at other plants, and this is by no means an isolated incident.
00:39The New York Times, even, has done a comprehensive series of stories on underage illegal child labor in various poultry processing plants around the country, including Tyson Food.
00:49Now, I'll tell you why it's particularly irksome to me, because Tyson Food unceremonially closed two major plants in the state of Missouri after telling our workers and farmers they would remain open.
01:03They canceled contracts with our farmers, putting many of them into bankruptcy, they fired all of the workers, sending many of them into destitution, and what we learned instead is that Tyson is happy to hire and use illegal, I mean hire is the wrong word, they're happy to use illegal child labor in their supply chains.
01:22So, they're punishing Missourians, they're closing our plants, they're breaking our contracts, but they're hiring illegals and they're using child labor.
01:31So, let me just ask you, are you familiar, broadly speaking, with these reports as it regards Tyson and other poultry processors?
01:39Senator, I'm generally aware of the reports, but not the particulars that you mentioned.
01:44Well, following my letter to the Secretary, the acting head of the department, the division that you are now nominated to fill, responded to me and said the following.
01:53Protecting children against illegal child labor is one of the top priorities of the department and the Wage and Hour division.
01:58Wage and Hour investigates every actionable complaint, tip, and referral about child labor violations, takes those allegations very seriously.
02:06He went on to say that the Wage and Hour division is engaged, I'm quoting now, the Wage and Hour division is engaged in ongoing investigations of Tyson Foods and its contractors under the FLSA.
02:17So, let me just, here's my question for you.
02:19Should you be confirmed, will you continue WHD's open investigation of Tyson Foods?
02:27Well, Senator, I can't comment without knowing more of the details, but I certainly commit to continue to investigate offensive child labor wherever it may be.
02:35Okay, good.
02:35And let me just ask you a little more specifically, what actions would you anticipate taking to ensure that illegal child labor is not possible in this country in the year 2025?
02:46Well, Senator, there's a lot of ways in which the department can focus on continuing to do, as Secretary Chavez de Riemer mentioned, to double down on enforcing against oppressive child labor.
03:00And one of those ways is to use the resources that we have and to use the data that's available to drive down where those violations are most likely, take tips such as yours, and to move forward as aggressively as possible to make sure that we can eradicate unlawful child labor in this country.
03:19I just want to emphasize to you that this issue is of the highest importance to me.
03:23I think it is absolutely unconscionable that we have child labor being used widely by these mega corporations, and I'm particularly incensed that it has happened to the detriment of Missouri workers.
03:37I don't like being lied to, and I will tell you that the CEO of Tyson Food has lied to me, and he has lied to the people of my state.
03:44And I don't like it being lied to and then having the law broken in front of my face, flouted in front of me.
03:51As a former prosecutor, it irritates me.
03:54It rankles me.
03:55It infuriates me.
03:57And I want to see some justice here.
03:59I want to see justice for the kids who are being illegally employed.
04:02And, yeah, I want some justice for the Missouri workers who were tossed out in the cold because Tyson Food has chosen to found its supply chain on illegal labor and child labor.
04:11So I just want to underscore for you that this is the highest priority for me.
04:15And if you are confirmed, I'll look forward to working with you on it.
04:18I can promise you you'll hear a lot about it from me.
04:21I look forward to that, Senator.
04:22Great.
04:22Mr. Berry, the Biden administration in 2023 rescinded the Trump administration's previous rule on religious exemptions for federal contractors and subcontractors, as I'm sure you're aware of.
04:33The effect of that was to strip away protections that ensured that faith-based organizations didn't have to violate their consciences in order to compete for federal contracts.
04:42My question is, does DOL plan to reinstate the implementing legal requirements for that previous rule?
04:49Will you put back in place the protections?
04:50So, Senator, religious liberty, including in the practice of business and contracting, is of the utmost importance under the Constitution, in my personal views.
05:02That will be, I think that's a serious issue that will have to be worked into the Department's larger plans for federal contractors.
05:12Will you advocate for it?
05:13I will absolutely support robust protections for religious liberty.
05:17Good. Well, I see my time's expired, and I never go over my time, Mr. Chairman.
05:21That's a joke.
05:23I will, I'm sure the other nominees are just devastated I didn't get to ask you a question, so I'll have some more questions for you for the record.
