NCL urges withdrawal of expected Federal Reserve nominee Stephen Moore
May 2, 2019
Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832
Washington, DC—The National Consumers League (NCL) is urging President Trump to withdraw his consideration of Stephen Moore as a nominee to the Federal Reserve Bank’s Board of Governors after the revelation that Moore supports unequal pay for men and women and favors the elimination of many child labor laws.
According to a report in Slate, Moore said during a 2016 debate about the minimum wage that the United States should eliminate many of its child labor laws to help individuals get early work experience. “I’m radical on this,” said Moore, “I’d get rid of a lot of these child labor laws. I want people starting to work at 11, 12.”
“Since 1899, the National Consumers League has worked to protect children from the health and safety dangers of child labor and its horrific impact on children’s education,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “Stephen Moore is out of touch on modern labor protections and would wipe out over 100 years of labor progress and endanger countless children.”
“The number of child occupational deaths have fallen dramatically over the last century as child work in factory, coal mines, and other dangerous jobs have been outlawed,” said Reid Maki, NCL’s Director of Child Labor Advocacy and the coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition, which NCL founded 30 years ago and continues to co-chair. “We must not turn back the clock and reverse this progress by gutting our child labor laws.”
The Trump Administration has attempted to weaken current child labor laws by pursuing regulations that would allow teens working in nursing homes to operate patient lifts without adult supervision. “This would endanger both the patient and the teen worker,” said Maki. The administration also tried to reverse an Obama Administration ban on children applying pesticides at work. “It appears that this awful idea has been abandoned,” noted Maki.
In 2014, Moore expressed hope that men would continue to be their family’s “breadwinners” and characterized the gender pay gap between men and women as a distraction from falling wages. He also said that women should be banned from serving as college announcers and referees in college basketball games. “The Federal Reserve plays a critical role in directing the American economy. There’s no place on its Board of Governors for someone who shows no concern for the gender pay gap or someone who would deny women equal access to jobs,” added Greenberg.
CNN reports that Moore has attacked the Violence Against Women Act as the “most objectionable pork” in the 1994 crime bill. Multiple news reports have indicated that Moore had a contempt of court citing for failing to pay alimony and child support to an ex-wife and that he owes the IRS more than $75,000 in back taxes. “There are ample reasons for the president to withdraw Stephen Moore from consideration,” said Greenberg.
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About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
