Whereas the Department of Labor has reported that the worst forms of child labor have been exploited in the extraction and processing of cobalt ore in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and these activities are in violation of international standards; Whereas the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that 40,000 children work in mines in the former Province of Katanga, DRC, including in the cobalt sector; Whereas the DRC continues to be the world’s leading source of mined cobalt, supplying more than 64 percent of global cobalt production in 2018; Whereas for their economic survival, families often encourage children to work, including in the mining sector; Whereas cobalt is a strategic and critical mineral used in numerous diverse commercial, industrial, and military applications, for which demand is growing; Whereas Amnesty International found major electronics and electric vehicle companies are still not doing enough to stop human rights abuses entering their cobalt supply chains; Whereas key stakeholders, especially industry groups, trade associations, and private companies, have an individual responsibility to identify, prevent, and take action to halt hazardous and working conditions in their cobalt supply chains, and to conduct due diligence with the aim of reducing child labor and improving working conditions in artisanal mines and in the broader cobalt supply chain, thereby respecting human rights, avoiding contributions to conflict, and advancing sustainable development; Whereas, in August 2017, the Government of the DRC issued a strategy on child labor in which it pledged to end child mining by 2025