Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2550 to Nullify the Executive Order Relating to Exclusions From Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs, and for Other Purposes
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOLDEN of Maine. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2 of rule XV, I call up the motion to discharge previously noticed.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOLDEN of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I rise to make a motion to discharge H.R. 2550, the Protect America's Workforce Act.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOLDEN of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I support this motion, and I encourage my colleagues, including the 226 Members of this Chamber who cosponsored the bill and the 218 of them who signed the discharge petition, to support the motion.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOLDEN of Maine. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOLDEN of Maine. Mr. Speaker, during consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purposes of debate only. General Leave
The Protect America's Workforce Act would overturn President Trump's executive order from March that ended collective bargaining rights for roughly 1 million Americans who work for the Federal Government.
Since the order was made, the administration has ripped up more than 700,000 union contracts. The order was the largest act of union busting in American history, and it left our Federal workforce more vulnerable to unfair treatment and political interference.
I am proud that since introducing this bill, it has won the support of 226 of my colleagues in this Chamber. This majority includes Democrats and Republicans who recognize that collective bargaining is not a partisan issue. It is about fairness, dignity on the job, and a voice in the workplace.
In his order, President Trump said ending collective bargaining was about protecting our national defense, but in my district and many others, affected workers build our warships and care for our veterans. These workers make our country safer and stronger every single day.
America didn't vote to silence these workers, but this bill gives all of us a chance to restore their voices. Every one of us in this body was sent here by our constituents to represent their voice in Congress. While the majority leadership has broad prerogative to set the calendar and control the flow of legislation, no one here believes they should have absolute power to determine which bills see the light of day and which don't.
The discharge petition process exists to give Members of Congress some agency. It is a release valve to ensure that good bills with broad support cannot be held up forever by a leadership team. It gives us a fair shot at building a coalition to do the people's work and get an up-or-down vote on the floor.
That is exactly how my colleagues and I have spent the past several months. We have built a bipartisan coalition representing a majority of the House in support of this bill and done the work to bring it to the floor.
I know that none of us ran for office with the vision of governing by discharge petition. Most of us long for the return of regular order where bills are assessed in committee, seriously debated, and given a vote. However, here we are. As it stands, we must use every tool available to do the people's work.
I am grateful to my eight Republican colleagues who cosponsored the bill, led by my friend Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and to the five Republicans who signed the discharge petition to ensure that this Chamber would hold this vote.
If the majority we built over the past few months sticks together, we can overturn this union-busting executive order, and we can show America that this body will protect workers' rights.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule. Let these workers have their day on the House floor. Give them an up-or-down vote. They deserve that much.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOLDEN of Maine. Dexter).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOLDEN of Maine. Hoyle).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source