Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Chair, we can raise living standards for families who have members who are working for Federal contractors right now. I propose in this amendment that we can raise that living standard for working families across the country if we use the Federal dollars to create good jobs.

My amendment would reprogram funds to create an Office of Good Jobs in the Department of Defense that would help ensure that the Department's procurement, grant-making, and regulatory decisions encourage the creation of decently paid jobs, collective bargaining rights, and responsible employment practices.

Right now, the U.S. Government is America's leading low-wage job funder, funding over 2 million poverty jobs through contracts, loans, and grants with corporate America. That is more than the total number of low-wage workers who are employed by Walmart and McDonald's combined. Many U.S. contract workers who work for Federal contractors earn so little that nearly 40 percent use public assistance programs, like food stamps and Section 8, to feed and shelter their families. To add insult to injury, many of these low-wage U.S. contract workers are driven deeper into poverty because their employers take away their wages through wage theft--breaking other Federal laws.

Now, some people might think, well, the debarment system covers this. Why is this necessary? The fact is you can get away with a lot of labor violations before you are debarred, yet there are some Federal contractors who have excellent employee relations, who pay decent wages, who allow collective bargaining, and who never engage in wage theft. These good contractors are competing with the bad ones.

Not only is this Office of Good Jobs going to prioritize the best public contractors, but it will also make sure that workers are treated fairly and that good, high road contractors are treated fairly.

Mr. Chair, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky).

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Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Chair, how much time do I have remaining?

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Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Chair, first of all, I have a particular story I would like to tell.

There is a young woman named Mayra who works at the Pentagon food court. She was fired after challenging her managers to comply with labor laws and for going on strike multiple times in response to those violations.

Mayra is a first-generation immigrant who is struggling to pay her tuition at George Mason University. She now works odd jobs to make ends meet. Her experience at the Pentagon has inspired her to seek further education so she can help workers who get treated unfairly.

Research shows that Mayra is not alone. Federal contractors break Federal laws sometimes--not all. Many are good, but not all are, and the bad ones are not good for the United States. A U.S. Senate report, for example, found that over 30 percent of the biggest penalties for law-breaking were filed against the biggest U.S. contractors. This is an issue. We need an office to make sure that the best public contractors--Federal contractors--are the ones who get the best contracts and who get preferential treatment over the ones who have multiple violations.

Workers aren't the only ones who benefit from this new office, as I already mentioned. Let me emphasize that this is about benefiting law- abiding contractors, high road employers. They are competing with people who cut every corner and do the least to avoid debarment. We need to make sure that our system works well and that the largest spender of money in the world--the U.S. Government--spends it wisely, not with the ones who can barely skate by through the debarment process but with the best contractors, the ones who really prioritize good employment practices.

I ask Members to vote in favor of this amendment. It is a step toward bringing forth good jobs and closing this awful wage gap and wage stagnation we have seen in our country for 30 years. Please give us a ``yes'' vote.

Mr. Chair, it is intended that funds in the appropriation for Defense Wide Operations and Maintenance be used to establish an Office of Good Jobs in the Department aimed at ensuring that the Department's procurement, grant-making, and regulatory decisions encourage the creation of decently paid jobs, collective bargaining rights, and responsible employment practices. The office's structure shall be substantially similar to the Centers for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships located within the Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Commerce, Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Small Business Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and U.S. Agency for International Development.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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