I’d like to extend a special welcome to you, Dr. Michaels, and thank you for being with us to discuss an issue that is incredibly important to every one of us: ensuring the health and safety of American workers. We all agree that men and women working hard to make a living deserve workplaces that are safe and working conditions that protect their health and wellbeing. In the 21st century workplace... Read more »
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Head Start, a program that plays an important role in the lives of many children and families. Head Start was designed to offer comprehensive services to three- and four-year-old children from low-income families so they could start school on a level playing field with their peers. What began as a summer school program has grown into a multi-billion dollar e... Read more »
Since the Republican majority began nearly five years ago, Speaker Boehner has urged every one of us to make the people’s priorities our priorities. That is what this committee has always tried to do, and today’s effort is no different. In fact, the reconciliation process presents an opportunity to address three urgent priorities. The first priority is getting our nation’s fiscal house in order. A... Read more »
For more than five years, the president’s health care law has failed to produce the kind of health care system the American people deserve. While the Obama administration continues to tout the “benefits” of its government takeover of health care, hardworking men and women across the country have been forced to contend with less access to doctors, a system plagued by waste and abuse, costly penalti... Read more »
I’m disappointed yet another misguided move by the partisan National Labor Relations Board has brought us here, but I’m not surprised. As chairman of this subcommittee, I have presided over numerous hearings focused on the NLRB’s threats to American workers and job creators. From ambush elections and micro-unions to restricting access to secret ballots and intruding on tribal sovereignty, the unel... Read more »
Earlier this week, as millions of students stepped foot on a college or university campus, members of Congress returned from their districts to continue their work strengthening America’s higher education system. As we all know, that effort often requires difficult but necessary conversations about tough issues, which is why we are here today. Every college student should be able to learn in an en... Read more »
As is often the case when an agency secretary appears before the committee, we have a lot of ground to cover in a short period of time. That is especially true for an agency as big, powerful, and costly as the Department of Health and Human Services. By the end of the current fiscal year, HHS is expected to spend approximately $1 trillion administering numerous programs affecting millions of Ameri... Read more »
Just over a month ago, this subcommittee convened to discuss the need to modernize the confusing and outdated regulations implementing federal wage and hour standards. At the time, the administration had not yet released its overtime proposal, but several of our witnesses were already worried about what the proposal would look like and the consequences for workers and job creators. Recognizing thi... Read more »
Today the committee will consider H.R. 511, the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2015. This important legislation will prevent the National Labor Relations Board from exerting jurisdiction over Native American businesses operating on tribal lands. As we all know, policies governing labor-management relations are extremely complex and controversial. More than 80 years after its enactment, the Nation... Read more »
Before I explain the technical changes included in the substitute amendment, I’d like to take a minute to discuss the importance of the broader legislation. As the chairman said, the purpose of this bill is simple: to protect the sovereignty and promote governmental parity, of Native Americans by making it very clear that tribal businesses on tribal lands are free to operate with the same autonomy... Read more »
