The Obama administration took the reins of power amid lofty promises of transparency and accountability. But as the President and his team prepare to mark their 100th day in office, workers around the country are in for a rude awakening. It seems the pledge of transparency doesn’t apply to rank-and-file workers. In fact, one of the first orders of business for the Obama Labor Department turns out ... Read more »
Good morning, and welcome to our distinguished panel of witnesses. We look forward to hearing your perspectives and gaining the benefit of your expertise on issues of great national importance. This morning’s hearing is the second hearing on health care reform this year, and will try to address a very broad range of issues confronting our nation’s health care system. While I am hopeful that meanin... Read more »
We’re here this morning to discuss Chairman Miller’s legislation to change the way 401(k) retirement savings plans operate. Much of the focus has been on the bill’s requirements for increased reporting and disclosure, so let me start there, and let me be perfectly clear: Republicans support sensible disclosure to make 401(k)s more transparent and understandable to workers. We’re approaching this i... Read more »
Good morning, and welcome to our distinguished panel of witnesses. Some of you are making a return appearance before the Committee, and we appreciate your efforts to continue to provide us with your expertise on issues of such national importance. Others are joining us for the first time, and we look forward to your new perspectives. We return today to a debate we started in the last Congress, spe... Read more »
This bill is largely the same as the GIVE Act, a bipartisan bill that this chamber passed overwhelmingly two weeks ago. The other chamber took up our version of the bill and made a few minor changes – including some that significantly improve the bill. I would like to address a few of the key Republican provisions that were in the House bill and still remain in this bill. Additionally, I will disc... Read more »
I would like to begin by thanking our distinguished panel of witnesses for appearing today. We appreciate that they have taken time out of their busy schedules to share their expertise and experiences with us. Today’s hearing provides Members of this Subcommittee with the opportunity to learn more about the emerging workforce sector encompassed by the term “green jobs.” As we have already seen, Co... Read more »
One of the benefits of living in a free society is that its citizens are free to create. This freedom has given birth to art forms that Americans – and people around the world – have enjoyed for decades. Take music: Blues. Country. Jazz. Rock ‘n’ roll. All of them come from America. Then there’s Broadway and Hollywood. For more than a century, American films, plays, musicals and TV shows have been... Read more »
Today’s hearing is about work and pay. It’s the engine that drives the American Dream. Republicans have long believed in the value and dignity of work, and the rewards that come from it. Take welfare reform. Back in the 1990s, Republicans pushed to change a system that – for decades – gave money to people for not working. Today, welfare recipients earn their benefits by working. Or training for a ... Read more »
Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, today joined fellow House Republicans in outlining a series of principles aimed at helping American families protect and rebuild their hard-earned savings, from college funds to retirement accounts and everything in between. The proposals unveiled today were developed by the House GOP Savings R... Read more »
We’re here this morning to examine an issue that is enormously complex, but based on a principle that is remarkably simple. Simply put, today, literally billions of dollars of investment savings in participant directed retirement accounts are being managed by individual plan participants. For the laymen in our room, that means that decisions about, say, 401(k) investments that will have consequenc... Read more »
