(2003-10-18) -- As the U.S. Department of Labor cracks down on family-run Amish sawmills and furniture shops for their violations of child labor laws, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-MA, has introduced a bill which would provide horse-powered virtual video games for newly unemployed Amish teenagers.

Senator Arlen Specter, R-PA, had already introduced a bill allowing Amish kids to work in their family businesses and to learn a useful trade, as long as they don't work directly with saws and other dangerous devices.

But Mr. Kennedy said he opposes the Specter bill because "it would exacerbate the cultural barriers between Amish teens, and normal American teens."

"An Amish child who grows up working will never relate to most of his peers in our nation," said Mr. Kennedy. "We have Amish ghettos filled with industrious apprentices and young tradesman, totally isolated from the mainstream of entertainment junkies who are living the American dream, hanging out with their friends, their cell phones and their Playstations."

Mr. Kennedy said his bill respects the culture of the Amish, while keeping their children safe in a lifestyle of idle leisure activities.

The games, to be provided at taxpayer expense, don't actually have a video screen since the Amish eschew the use of televisions, computers and most other electrically-powered or motorized devices. The vitual video games simulate American football by jiggling 22 painted stones around on a wooden board which is tied to a horse's tail to cause the occasional vibration.

Each game unit will cost taxpayers about $650, and will be manufactured in a union shop.