Providing for Further Consideration of H.R. 5303, Water Resources Development Act of 2016; Providing for Consideration of H.R. 6094, Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits...

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, Americans have waited long enough to update our Nation's overtime pay rules. After years of debate and regulatory review, proposed rules and final rules, it is time to ensure that Americans are paid for the hours they work.

When I go home to my district, I hear how hard it is for working women and men to meet their families' basic needs. Americans need a raise. The Republican majority has blocked any vote to raise the minimum wage, and they have blocked bills to provide women with equal pay for equal work. Did you know that working single mothers are paid about 57 cents on the dollar that men are paid right now? Today's bill will take $600 million in earned overtime pay from 4.2 million working men and women. Half a century ago, 60 percent of salaried employees qualified for overtime pay; today, only 7 percent do. This is because we did not update overtime rules until this administration stepped forward.

We have heard the arguments for inaction and delay--that it is too hard for businesses, the false argument about nonprofits; ``this is happening too fast'' is another argument. They don't hold up. It has been 12 years since the overtime rule was changed, nearly 3 years since President Obama asked for action, and more than a year since the proposed rule was issued. The Department of Labor reviewed more than 270,000 comments, and it changed its proposal as a result of those comments. It has provided flexibility for businesses, and it has lowered the salary threshold. The Department of Labor has been responsive to concerns, and now it is time for the House of Representatives to be responsive to the concerns and the needs of working families.

In my home State of Illinois, nearly 194,000 working men and women and their families would be helped by overtime protections. They shouldn't have to wait any longer. Extra work should mean extra pay. It is a simple matter of fairness. Workers who are hired full time should not be paid the same salary whether they work 40 hours a week or 60 hours a week. They should either be paid for the hours they work or be able to spend those extra hours with their families.

Many Americans are balancing their jobs with caring for children and aging parents. Delaying the Department of Labor's update to overtime protections is unfair to those workers and their families.

It is really time now to get on with it, to move forward. I urge my colleagues to reject today's rule and vote against this bill. Let these long-overdue overtime rules--overtime pay--for Americans take effect.

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