Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor today for two reasons. Before discussing the nomination at hand--John Ring for the National Labor Relations Board--I do want to take a couple of minutes to mark Equal Pay Day.

Today, it takes women more than 3 additional months to make what their male colleagues made in 2017. In the 21st century, there is absolutely no excuse for the reality that women are still being paid less than men for the same work. It is wrong, it is harmful, and it has to change.

What is even more unacceptable is that for women of color, the pay gap is even worse. African-American women, working full time, only make 63 cents for every dollar their White male colleagues make, and on average, Latinas earn 54 cents for every dollar their White male colleagues make.

The wage gap doesn't hurt just women; it hurts families and our economy. Women are actually the sole or cobreadwinner in two-thirds of families with children. Families increasingly rely on women's wages to help make ends meet--to buy groceries, pay the bills, or pay for childcare.

In order to help women and all working families get ahead, I am very proud to be a sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act. The Paycheck Fairness Act provides transparency and support for women who are being paid less than their male colleagues. It protects women from retaliation for discussing salary information with their coworkers, it allows women to join together in class action lawsuits, and it prohibits employers from seeking salary history, so the cycle of pay discrimination cannot continue.

As President Trump now continues to roll back worker protections and prioritize corporate profits over working families' wages, I think it is time for Congress to act and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act because workers do deserve to be paid fairly, end of story, no matter their gender.

Mr. President, I want to turn to the nomination before the Senate today, the nomination of John Ring for the National Labor Relations Board.

First, I have to object to the unprecedented nature in which we are jamming this nominee through.

It is standard practice that Board nominees are always confirmed in pairs--one Democrat and one Republican. We do this to keep the Board as fair and balanced as possible in hopes that workers have a fair hearing when corporations violate their rights or bargain in bad faith, because the Board is the only place to which workers can turn to enforce their rights under the National Labor Relations Act. Workers cannot sue in court. So I must ask, why is this nominee being forced through without also filling the Democratic seat that is about to be vacated, especially at a time when so many other nominees have been waiting significantly longer--some more than 6 months--to be confirmed? I have to believe that it is because special corporate interests are putting immense pressure on my colleagues across the aisle to confirm someone who will advocate for corporations, no matter the cost to workers.

Right now, the Board's credibility is damaged because another Trump- appointed Board member, William Emanuel, chose to cast aside his ethics pledge and commitment to me by participating in Board actions that would directly benefit his former employer. Because of those actions, Mr. Emanuel--the Board's independent watchdog--opened an investigation, and because there was a clear conflict of interest, the Board was forced to vacate the decision that overruled Obama-era worker protections.

With a cloud of ethics controversies surrounding the current Board members, it is clear to me why corporations and special interests are trying to get Mr. Ring confirmed so quickly. Mr. Ring has spent his career as a corporate lawyer representing the interests of companies, not workers. He has opposed the Board's reforms that stop companies from unnecessarily delaying union elections. He has encouraged the Board to undermine long-established rights, including the right for workers to have coworker representation in disciplinary interviews. I find it difficult to believe he will advocate now for workers, as this Board desperately needs to be doing.

This administration has spent more than a year undermining workers' rights and making it easier for corporations to take advantage of them, and the Board, under Republican control, has been leading that charge by ignoring longstanding practices in a rush to overturn precedents that protect workers.

At a time when corporations in this country and the richest among us are getting richer and working families are left behind, it is so critical today that the Board be independent and able to advocate for workers. Now is not the time to break precedent and vote on a nominee without the Democratic pair.

For all these reasons, I will be voting no on this nominee. I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Thank you.

(Mr. JOHNSON assumed the Chair.)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source