Thank you Mr. Chairman, and good morning. Let me begin by thanking you and your staff, along with Chairwoman McCarthy, for your work with Committee Republicans and our staff on this legislation. And I’d like to thank my Republican colleagues, Congressman Platts and Congressman Hoekstra, for their leadership on this issue. They have been champions of accountable national service for years, and thei... Read more »
Earlier today, Democrats formally introduced the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would replace federally-supervised secret ballot elections with a public sign-up process that opens workers up to public pressure, intimidation, coercion, and retribution. Introduction of the legislation was carefully timed to follow a hearing in the U.S. Senate designed to make the case for this undemo... Read more »
Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, today denounced the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, legislation introduced by congressional Democrats that would deny workers the right to secret ballots in union organizing elections. The bill is a job killer, putting an estimated 600,000 American jobs at risk in just the first year after ... Read more »
Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, today issued the following statement in response to remarks from President Barack Obama on education reform: “President Obama is right when he says that America’s education system must once more be the envy of the world. Like him, I believe that education is the foundation upon which a competit... Read more »
This morning’s hearing continues our work – which we began in the 110th Congress – in addressing many of the issues confronting our nation’s health care system, including efforts to improve health care quality, access, and affordability. An important lesson we learned during the last Congress was that, though imperfect, the employer-based health care system has been successful in many ways. As we ... Read more »
Congressional Democrats are reportedly preparing to introduce their misnamed Employee Free Choice Act tomorrow, setting in motion a legislative gambit that would effectively eliminate secret ballots in the workplace. This anti-worker plan has already drawn the ire of editorial writers, economists, and the American people. Now, on what looks to be the eve of the bill’s formal introduction in Congre... Read more »
A majority of Americans – 74 percent, to be precise – think the card check process for publicly disclosing workers’ votes on whether to join a union is a bad idea. Now, our neighbors to the north are weighing in as well. A columnist for the Calgary Herald today spelled out in great detail the anti-worker consequences if a card check scheme is imposed on the American workforce. It’s a subject Canad... Read more »
Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement after participating in the White House Forum on Health Reform hosted by President Barack Obama this afternoon: “When it comes to health care, the need for reform could not be clearer. Costs are already too high, yet they continue to spiral upward. We have tried to... Read more »
The claims by card check supporters that their plan would strengthen the economy have always been dubious. After all, the best way to strengthen the economy in the current downturn is to create jobs – and the card check plan does nothing to spur job growth. But now, it has become clear that the card check plan – which takes away workers’ right to vote by secret ballot on whether to join a union – ... Read more »
Opposition to the anti-worker card check plan among editorial boards and opinion leaders is well documented. And it’s no surprise. After all, the card check legislation—deceptively dubbed the Employee Free Choice Act, despite the fact that it takes away employees’ free choice through a secret ballot—is fundamentally undemocratic, something the American people don’t take lightly. However, it’s not ... Read more »
