WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered remarks during today’s hearing on reforming federal labor law to protect worker freedoms and strengthen workers’ rights. This will be the first of two hearings in October on labor reform.
Click here to watch the hearing live.
Cassidy’s speech as prepared for delivery can be found below:
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will please come to order.
Congress has not updated labor laws for nearly 100 years, and yet clearly the workforce has changed. We need labor laws that work for workers, unions, and businesses, making our nation competitive in a 21st-century global economy.
Blind adherence to decades-old status quo does a disservice to workers and families. Retreating to our ideological corners is not the answer. The middle class is being squeezed, and they need our help. We must listen to everyone on how to move forward.
The Committee will be hearing from Mr. Kaplan, who was recently Chair of the National Labor Relations Board and served in multiple other roles in government, designing and implementing labor policy. Ms. Greszler is a respected economist and a long-time advocate for reform. Mr. O’Brien, President of the Teamsters Union, represents more than one million workers nationwide, many of whom, I suspect, voted for President Trump. Mr. O’Brien has shown he is willing to put aside traditional partisan labor politics to engage in productive dialogue.
That is why President Trump invited Mr. O’Brien to speak at the Republican National Convention; to reach working-class Americans who otherwise would never vote Republican. Because of the President’s leadership, we have a new coalition of workers, businesses, and unions – all united in the goal of making the country a better place.
These witnesses will not agree with each other on everything. But this is how we build consensus. Today’s debate will inform us as policymakers so we can break through the noise and advance important, well-designed reforms.
Members of this Committee, including Senators Hawley, Scott, Paul, and Marshall, have ideas and have put forward bills or partnered on bills to address challenges in the workplace. Our Democratic colleagues have proposed legislation as well. I look forward to discussing everyone’s ideas more in-depth today.
As we start the conversation, it’s important to define what we mean when we say pro-worker. It does not mean being pro-union or pro-employer.
Being pro-worker is about empowering workers to exercise their Constitutional freedom of association, protecting workers’ rights when they are violated, and supporting the middle class in their pursuit to achieve the American Dream for their families.
I want to help President Trump continue to deliver on his pro-worker, pro-family record.
Whether you are a union machinist in Michigan or an independent gator farmer in Louisiana, we want to help you compete in the 21st-century economy. This hearing is an important step to achieving this goal.
With that, I recognize Senator Sanders.
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