U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg says he will try to block any funding that would go to enforce a proposed child-labor rule affecting family farms.
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is also opposing the rule, and says the U.S. Department of Labor has agreed to reevaluate parts of it.
Rehberg testified Thursday in a House hearing on the Youth Ag Rule. Rehberg says the proposed rule pits the government against struggling farmers.
The rules would ban children younger than 16 from using most power-driven equipment and prevent those younger than 18 from working in feed lots, grain bins and stockyards.
Rehberg says that means children would be barred from working with animals being branded or castrated. He argues parents know best when it comes to deciding the work children do.