Workers' Memorial Day

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last month, during Workers' Memorial Day, we honored and remembered those killed or injured on the job. It is a day we reaffirm our commitment to workers and their families to do all we can to prevent these tragedies.

Forty-seven years ago, when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was established, an estimated 14,000 workers were killed on the job. By 2016, the number was reduced to nearly 5,200. We have come a long way in worker safety, but when more than 14 people die on the job every day--and only 2.9 million work-related injuries are reported annually even though the real number could be as much as 7.4 to 11.1 million--more work needs to be done. Clearly, the workplace remains too dangerous. We owe it to America's working men and women to ensure their safety, but too often, we are reminded of our failure to do so.

I want to talk about Pamela Knight, from Dixon, in my home State of Illinois. An employee of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Pamela was asked last September to check on the welfare of a child. When Pamela arrived, sensing a dangerous environment, she decided to remove the 2-year-old boy from the home and place him in protective custody. That is when the child's father knocked her to the floor, kicked her in the head, and continued beating Pamela's fractured skull. After this horrific incident, she was airlifted to a hospital in nearby Rockford, IL, where she underwent two surgeries, but it was too late. Pamela suffered permanent brain damage and passed away about four months after the attack. Pamela Knight was 59 years old.

The job of our investigators and first responders, like Pamela, at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is not easy. They are on the frontlines to those in crisis, but we can all agree, it should never be fatal. My heart goes out to Pamela's family, friends, colleagues, and all our public service workers protecting and serving the most vulnerable in our communities.

The theme of this year's Workers' Memorial Day was ``Safe Jobs. Every Worker's Right.'' While the administration attempts to walk back many vital protections and existing safeguards for our workers, let's recommit ourselves in Congress to live up to those words and provide the right every worker deserves: a safe job. In doing so, we can honor the legacy of courageous Americans, like Pamela Knight, who simply did her job.

I urge all my colleagues to join me in fighting for secure workplaces everywhere and once and for all, live up to the promise of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's mission to assure the dignity of a safe and healthy working condition for all Americans. With the right commitment, we can protect, strengthen, and advance the gains we have made over the last half century and make the safety of all workers a reality.

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