Guess who wants federal child labor laws banned? The newly elected Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who is, it goes without saying a Republican. In short, he believes that federal laws that ban child labor are unconstitutional.

Lee’s reasoning was that labor and manufacturing are “by their very nature, local activities” and not “interstate commercial transactions.” He added: “This may sound harsh, but it was designed to be that way. It was designed to be a little bit harsh.”

The key Congressional law that addresses child labor is the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which placed a series of restrictions against the employment of people under 18 in the public and private sectors.

By this same reasoning any law involving worker safety, the minimum wage, limitations on hours worked per day and week, etc. are also unconstitutional as being strictly local matters that only the states may regulate. Indeed, industrial pollution that cannot be shown to have migrated across state borders might also be considered unconstitutional, as would federal laws demanding an environmental impact statement before commercial or industrial development, regardless of how dangerous the planned activities might be, or how damaging to the environment.

Yes, Senator Lee, your idea of what the constitution allows would be harsh. Indeed, it would be more than harsh, it would be harmful and even deadly to millions of Americans. Think back to the conditions around the turn of the twentieth century, when children worked for low wages for ten or twelve or sixteen hours a day six or even seven days a week. Or where workers were locked into their factory so that they could not sneak out to take a break from their mind numbing exhausting work. Locked in such that when fires broke out they had no way to escape the flames that took their lives:

275 girls started to collect their belongings as they were leaving work at 4:45 PM on Saturday. Within twenty minutes some of girls’ charred bodies were lined up along the East Side of Greene Street. Those girls who flung themselves from the ninth floor were merely covered with tarpaulins where they hit the concrete. The Bellevue morgue was overrun with bodies and a makeshift morgue was set up on the adjoining pier on the East River. Hundred’s of parents and family members came to identify their lost loved ones. 146 employees of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company were dead the night of March 25, 1911. The horror of their deaths led to numerous changes in occupational safety standards that currently ensure the safety of workers today.

At the time of the fire the only safety measures available for the workers were 27 buckets of water and a fire escape that would collapse when people tried to use them. Most of the doors were locked and those that were not locked only opened inwards and were effectively held shut by the onrush of workers escaping the fire. As the clothing materials feed the fire workers tried to escape anyway they could. 25 passengers flung themselves down the elevator shaft trying to escape the fire. Their bodies rained blood and coins down onto the employees who made it into the elevator cars

That is the America they wish to return to. One where children were exploited by large companies in the same way they were in the 19th Century:

Children as young as six years old during the industrial revolution worked hard hours for little or no pay. Children sometimes worked up to 19 hours a day, with a one-hour total break. This was a little bit on the extreme, but it was not common for children who worked in factories to work 12-14 hours with the same minimal breaks. Not only were these children subject to long hours, but also, they were in horrible conditions. Large, heavy, and dangerous equipment was very common for children to be using or working near. Many accidents occurred injuring or killing children on the job. […]

The treatment of children in factories was often cruel and unusual, and the children’s safety was generally neglected. The youngest children, who were not old enough to work the machines, were commonly sent to be assistants to textile workers. The people who the children served would beat them, verbally abuse them, and take no consideration for their safety. Both boys and girls who worked in factories were subject to beatings and other harsh forms of pain infliction. One common punishment for being late or not working up to quota would be to be “weighted.” An overseer would tie a heavy weight to worker’s neck, and have them walk up and down the factory aisles so the other children could see them and “take example.” […]

Factory owners loved child labor, and they supported their reasoning with ideas that it was good for everything from the economy to the building of the children’s characters. Parents of the children who worked were almost forced to at least approve of it because they needed the income.

An America where a very few people lived as Kings and Queens, and the vast majority had minimal education, no protections from abusive employers and unsafe working conditions, and when children were seen as just another means to keep labor costs down.

Yes, we should never allow the federal government to regulate such “local” matters. You see, Lee’s interpretation of the harshness of the Constitution would benefit the fictional corporate Americans that he and his fellow travelers on the right seem to believe are entitled to more protections under the law than real breathing human beings.

Hey, Tea Party supporters, is that really the kind of America you want? Because if so, your elected Tea Party officials are more than willing to give it to you.