H.R. 7981, Stop China’s Exploitation of Congolese Children and Adult Forced Labor Through Cobalt Mining Act

H.R. 7981 would require the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) to investigate the alleged use of forced labor in the cobalt mining industry in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The bill would require the FLETF to report to the Congress within 180 days on a strategy to prevent cobalt mined by forced labor from being imported and to provide semi-annual briefings on any updates to that strategy. 

The FLETF is composed of seven member agencies, and those agencies determine how many people they will assign to the task force. Funding for the task force is provided by the member agencies out of their own appropriations. Under the bill, the required work would cease after the earlier of eight years or when the President submits to the Congress a determination that forced labor in the DRC mining industry has ceased.

Based on information provided by the Department of Homeland Security and the cost of similar activities, CBO expects that the FLETF would need about 10 full-time employees, at an average cost of $200,000 per person in 2025 and upgrades to its information technology systems to investigate the use of forced labor and write the report. On that basis, and accounting for anticipated inflation, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 7981 would cost $12 million over the 2024-2029 period.