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Just over a month ago, this subcommittee convened to discuss the need to modernize the confusing and outdated regulations implementing federal wage and hour standards.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 »
We all know the important role healthy food plays in a child’s education. We cannot expect children to learn or excel in the classroom if they are hungry or are not properly nourished. That’s why we on the Education and the Workforce Committee have been examining child nutrition programs to ensure they are effectively and efficiently providing children access to nutritious meals. It goes without s... Read more »
I wish we were here to discuss a proposal that enjoyed broad bipartisan support, one that would help strengthen our economy and improve the lives of hardworking men and women. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Instead, we are here to address a regulatory scheme that will hurt a lot of families, retirees, and small business owners, and it could not come at a worse possible time. One of the most d... Read more »
Upholding Native American rights of self-determination has long been a priority. As far back as the 1830s, when the governmental authority of tribes was first challenged, our courts have held that “tribes possess a nationhood status and retain inherent powers of self-government.” For decades, policymakers have agreed on the importance of protecting these fundamental rights. We should never stand i... Read more »
We all know the important role nutrition plays in a child’s development and education. As I’ve said before, it’s just commonsense that if children are hungry or malnourished, then they are less likely to succeed in the classroom. That’s why the federal government has long invested in programs that aim to provide America’s most vulnerable students the nutrition assistance they need. Ensuring childr... Read more »
For more than 75 years, the Fair Labor Standards Act has been the foundation of our nation’s wage and hour protections. It establishes important rights for American workers and continues to guide employers in protecting those rights. However, the workplace looks very different today than it did in 1938 when the law was enacted, and the rules and regulations defining the law are failing to meet the... Read more »
We are here to discuss the latest in a series of actions by the National Labor Relations Board designed to empower Big Labor at the expense of America’s workers. In recent years, the president’s appointees at the NLRB have undermined employee free choice through an ambush election scheme, stifled employee freedom through micro-unions, and restricted employee access to secret ballot union elections... Read more »
