Dear Students:

We are writing to express our strong support for your efforts to ensure that apparel and other products bearing the names of your colleges and universities are not made under sweatshop conditions. We applaud your successes toward establishing effective codes of conduct and strongly support your protests against weak licensing agreements that would undermine the campaign to stop sweatshops.

Your recent protests have drawn important attention to the fact that some codes of conduct, like the one being developed by the Collegiate Licensing Company, do not meet all of the criteria that you believe are necessary to ensure that university licensed apparel is not made in sweatshops. You have forcefully argued that licensing agreements must include payment of a living wage and full public disclosure of factory locations in order to effectively combat sweatshops, or else codes of conduct may end up providing cover for poor working conditions. You have also demonstrated that a "consensus" code of conduct does not have to mean an ineffective code of conduct.

There will always be some people and certain companies that will try to get away with the weakest workforce protections they can, even when negotiations, such as with Duke University, called for stronger standards. But by raising your concerns and your moral voice, you have the ability to expose and suspend measures that fall far short of the mark.

Last year, we were proud to support your efforts by passing through Congress a resolution urging all American colleges and universities to adopt rigorous licensing codes of conduct to assure that university licensed merchandise is not made by exploited labor in sweatshops. Today we are again expressing our support for your actions to make sure that university codes of conduct are strong and effective.

Creating codes of conduct to change the over $2.5 billion university licensing industry will be a significant achievement in the long and difficult fight to eradicate sweatshops. As students you have a powerful influence on your schools and on our country and we support your efforts for a more just society.

Sincerely,

George Miller, Richard A. Gephardt, Sam Gejdenson, David E. Bonior, John Lewis, Juanita Millender-McDonald, Rosa Delauro, Bernard Sanders, Donald M. Payne, Sherrod Brown, Lane Evans, John W. Olver, Marcy Kaptur, George Brown, Carlos Romero-Barcelo, Tom Barrett, Dennis J. Kucinich, Max Sandlin, Bennie G. Thompson, Lynn C. Woolsey, Barbara Lee, Jose E. Serrano, Major Owens, John M. Spratt