Nomination of Martin Joseph Walsh

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to support the nomination of Mayor Marty Walsh to serve as Secretary of Labor.

Across the country, working families are really desperate for help. Even before this pandemic, the deck was stacked against workers and especially against women, workers of color, and workers with disabilities, thanks to an unlivable Federal minimum wage and subminimum wage for tipped workers and workers with disabilities that do leave millions of workers struggling to make ends meet; a pay gap that makes getting by even harder for women, in particular, women of color; a lack of a national paid family, sick, and medical leave policy and quality, affordable childcare for working families; a failure to protect workers from pandemics and workplace accidents and harassment and discrimination and more; and a wave of job loss and economic uncertainty that is upending the lives of workers and retirees across our country.

This pandemic has laid bare the painful fact that while our economy might work for the biggest corporations and wealthiest individuals, it isn't working for working families. And all of these challenges--unsafe workplaces, lost jobs, low wages--are even worse for people of color due to longstanding inequities that are rooted in systemic racism and are widening due to this pandemic.

Our country cannot fully recover from this crisis unless we begin to change that by rebuilding a stronger, fairer economy. And that starts by making sure we have a Secretary of Labor who will actually champion workers and working families.

As a union leader, a State representative, and as a mayor, Mayor Marty Walsh has done just that. He has a clear track record as a collaborative leader who worked across coalitions with labor groups and the business community to build up Boston's middle class. Under his leadership, 135,000 new jobs have been created in Boston.

He fought for a $15 minimum wage and paid leave policies to help ensure women, workers of color, and workers with disabilities can succeed in the workforce and get the pay they deserve.

During this pandemic, Mayor Walsh has continued to show a deep commitment to his frontline workers who have kept this country running by providing funding for emergency childcare and other resources his essential workers needed to weather the pandemic.

And he would bring an important perspective as the first union leader to head the Department in decades.

His unwavering commitment to put workers first was plain to see during our confirmation hearing. In his testimony Mayor Walsh spoke powerfully about the importance of protecting frontline workers who do so much to keep our communities and our country running and rooting out the inequities that have done so much damage to communities of color. Mayor Walsh made clear he will work with Congress to help ensure every worker has a fair, livable wage; a safe workplace; paid family, sick, and medical leave; access to quality, affordable childcare; a secure retirement; and the right to join a union and collectively organize.

I was impressed by his answers during our hearing, and I wasn't the only one. Mayor Walsh's nomination passed out of our HELP Committee with strong bipartisan support in an 18-to-4 vote, and I hope he will now be confirmed with similar, overwhelming, bipartisan support because even before this pandemic and even before President Trump's 4-year crusade against workers, we had a long road ahead to build a truly fair, inclusive economy that works for working families. But, now, not only is the road longer, the clock is ticking.

Workers who are the backbone of our economy have been pushed to the brink. They need us to confirm Mayor Marty Walsh so we have a Secretary of Labor who will take quick action to address the urgent challenges we face and be a valuable partner in helping our economy come back stronger and fairer for all workers.

While we made important progress in the American Rescue Plan to extend unemployment benefits and provide much needed tax relief for those benefits, provide direct payments for families, and protect the pensions millions of workers and retirees depend on and while President Biden is taking important steps to reverse Trump-era rules that undermined workers' rights, this road to recovery is long, and there are still many steps we need to take, including raising the Federal minimum wage to one fair wage of $15 an hour, passing the PRO Act into law to strengthen workers' right to join a union, and passing the BE HEARD in the Workplace Act to protect people from harassment, assault, and discrimination.

We have a lot to do and no time to waste. I urge all of my colleagues to prove to families back home they understand we need a Secretary of Labor we can trust to stand up for workers and not huge corporations. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting to confirm Mayor Walsh.

Thank you.

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