CHILD LABOR LAW...FARM SUBSIDIES

How could this happen ("Teen dies in woodshop accident," Dec. 16)? It is illegal for 17-year-olds to perform the task that lead to this tragedy. The disregard for the law and practical safety procedure is appalling considering the Amish have, only recently, successfully petitioned Congress for an exemption to child-labor laws prohibiting people under the age of 18 from working in woodshops. Amendment HR 1943 sponsored by Rep. Joe Pitts and signed by President Bush in January 2004 permits Amish children, ages 14 to 18, to work in woodshops but prohibits operation of machinery.

It makes little sense that a community known for its generous charity to each other would seek, through a child-labor law exemption, to gain access for their children to work in an area known to be fraught with injury and death.

The minority views attached to HR 221 reveal no hearings were held where opposition views could be presented, the Department of Justice was not given enough information to make a decision on the constitutionality of the proposed legislation and it was stuck onto the end of the year Omnibus appropriations bill (HR 2673) which ruled out debate and an up or down vote on its own merit.

A chilling display of Republican arrogance and disdain for the deliberative process. Conservative ideology agrees with Amish belief when it insists goverment interference is always bad. But Republicans have a track record of passing legislation that favors the rich and powerful while leaving the weak and the poor to fend for themselves.

Are these the kind of values the Amish community wants to be known for?







A 17-year-old Amish boy died recently in a work-related accident.
The task he was performing was a violation of child-labor laws.
Recent legislation that allows Amish children 14-17 years of age to work in woodshops prohibits them from operating machinery and performing tasks like the one that led to the fatality.
The shop owner's apparent failure to comply with the law, besides the tragic consequences for the victim, erases the trust the legislation bestowed on him in the first place.
A perusal of HR 221 reveals that the majority rejected a provision that would have required employers of Amish children to submit injury reports so the legislation could be evaluated for its impact on the children it affected.
As a former Amishman, I can say with authority that the Amish community possesses qualities that are a tribute to the goodness of humankind, but policing their industries for the sake of creating a safe and humane work environment is not one of them.
So, who will protect these children?







The remark, "I can't say I feel guilty," by Amish man David King in reference to the accidental death of his 13-year-old nephew [Sunday News, March 5] highlights the need for informed dialogue between the Amish and the non-Amish communities.
The U.S.
Department of Labor fined King for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, which prohibits the activity the victim was engaged in.
King adheres to Amish doctrine in stating the fatality was God's will.
The dilemma posed in embracing such doctrine isn't in response to tragedy but in defining what a community's moral responsibility is in avoiding it.
The Constitution grants the Amish the freedom to practice their faith.
But today's Amish farm and William Penn's religious experiment are light-years apart.
Amish life has become inextricably intertwined with commerce, real-estate values and human capital.
All influence Amish life in ways that are hard to reconcile with typical Amish values.
It is gut-wrenching to witness the effect of Western culture's values on a people who have no mechanism in place to counter the negative aspects of those values.
Amish faith demands submission to God's will, so any attempt by the non-Amish community to use this tragedy to spur safety awareness, impose external legal restraints, or motivate internal self-governance through shame from public outcry feels blasphemous to the Amish.
Yet the difficulty posed by our interfacing values and customs must not be allowed to deter a solution.
Innocent lives depend on it.





The coverage of the Plain community's use of farm subsidies [Aug. 27] has left me reeling. Not because I doubt the need to sustain the family farm, but because as a former Amishman I know that wide and pervasive acceptance of handouts will destroy the Amish as we know them.
A prominent teaching in Amish faith is the need to remain separate and apart from the world.
Farming became a sacred endeavor for the Amish, specifically because it enabled them to practice their faith with minimal interference. Now the religious tenet that defined them is on a crash course with the farming that has served them so well.
It is an epic irony that this havoc among my people is instigated by a government program at a time when our government is run by people who fanatically believe in the free market, limited government and pulling oneself up by the bootstraps.