Every Child Achieves Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the Peters amendment No. 2095. Financial literacy has been defined as the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being. Unfortunately, too many American families, both parents and their children, lack basic financial skills. Recent studies have shown that future generations are likely to be less financially stable than those who preceded them.

Just last year, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation conducted a survey and found that millenials engaged in problematic financial behaviors and expressed concerns about their debt. To address this issue, a number of States have included financial literacy as a core component of high school education.

A separate FINRA study found that credit scores significantly improved and delinquency rates on credit accounts were reduced in States with financial literacy education. For example, that study found that credit scores improved by 11 points in Georgia, 16 points in Idaho, and 32 points in Texas.

There is a clear need for practical education programming for both parents and students, and we should provide States with the flexibility to provide this programming. That is why I have filed amendment No. 2095. The Peters amendment will include family financial literacy programming as an allowable use for title I parent and family engagement funding.

Family financial literacy programming can ensure our Nation's parents and children have the skills necessary to properly utilize credit, finance an education, manage a household budget, and plan for retirement.

I believe we must do all we can to help our Nation's parents and students succeed in every aspect of their lives.

I thank Senator Murray and Senator Alexander for their leadership on this bill and for their willingness to work with me on this amendment. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting the Peters family financial literacy amendment No. 2095.

Mr. President, in addition to my financial literacy amendment, I was happy to work with the chairman and ranking member to include language in the text of the bill that will help us identify and assist our most vulnerable children. The term ``dual status youth'' refers to children who have come into contact with both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

A growing body of research has shown that dual status youth experience poor educational performance, higher recidivism rates, and higher detention rates. Many at-risk children lack stable home lives, and they are frequently funneled through the school-to-prison pipeline. I am glad the Every Child Achieves Act now includes language that would encourage States to identify dual status youth and improve intervention programs in order to reduce school suspensions, expulsions, and referrals to law enforcement.

I was also pleased to join Senator Gardner in introducing an amendment to allow title I funds to be used to support concurrent and dual enrollment programs at eligible schools. This amendment would enable high school students to simultaneously receive college credit from courses taught by college-approved teachers in secondary education. With the cost of higher education continuing to grow, helping students get a head start on completing their college courses helps them save money and get ahead.

I am proud that this body approved the Gardner-Peters amendment last week. This provision will make the dream of higher education more accessible to students in Michigan and across the country.

WORKING AMERICANS AND OVERTIME PAY

Mr. President, I wish to speak at this time in strong support of plans to increase our Nation's overtime pay threshold for the first time in over a decade and restore meaning to a threshold that has significantly eroded over the last 40 years.

In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the bill into law. This landmark legislation represents an important promise that is as true today as it was 77 years ago--that if you work hard and play by the rules, you will have a secure future. Ensuring fair overtime pay for employees is one of the most critical components of the Fair Labor Standards Act. It ensures that hard-working Americans are able to make an honest wage for their hard work. For middle-class families, who are the backbone of our country, and for those families working hard to get there, we must protect the important safeguards put in place by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

I personally learned the value of hard work and the importance of protecting labor standards for all Americans from my mother, Madeleine. Born a French citizen, she met my father during World War II, married him, and moved to this country. She later worked as a nurse's aide. While she enjoyed working with her patients, she did not like the way she or her coworkers were treated by their employer, so she fought for a better workplace and ultimately to win union representation. She later went on to serve as a union steward.

A strong labor movement nationwide helped build economic opportunity for millions of Americans just like my mother. Standing together to call for fair wages, safer work places, and better hours, American workers and their families helped build the American middle class and make the American dream a reality for regular folks.

The strong protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act helped ensure that American workers have a minimum wage, a 40-hour workweek, and overtime pay. Unfortunately, we have allowed these protections to fall behind present-day needs. Today, growing income inequality and stagnant wages are a serious threat to our middle class, to our economy, and to our democracy.

Americans are working harder and harder only to fall further and further behind, receiving less and less pay for their long hours. Middle-class families are struggling to stay afloat, and those who aspire to be in the middle class are finding it more and more difficult to achieve.

Today, some employees are required to put in 50 or 60 hours or more a week and are not receiving any overtime pay for their efforts. Our Nation's overtime pay rules are long overdue for an update. Decades of inflation have outpaced the current overtime pay threshold of $23,600 and eroded the value of an honest paycheck for millions of hard-working Americans. This means a worker earning only $23,600 gets paid the same whether they are working 40 hours or 60 hours in a week. That is simply unacceptable. This is not a fair wage, and it is not the American dream we fought to secure for generations.

If we are truly committed to building a strong American economy, then we have to make sure American families can thrive. Raising the salary threshold for overtime pay will help nearly 5 million workers across the country and as many as 100,000 workers in Michigan earn better wages for their hard work.

The pillars used to build and grow our middle class and support our democracy are in jeopardy of crumbling if we do not stand up and protect them. The American middle class and those who aspire to be in it are the heart and soul of our country, and we have an obligation to help every family nationwide realize their version of the American dream.

My home State of Michigan is the birthplace of our Nation's auto industry, where American workers and their families helped build the middle class and make the American dream a reality for millions of people. We owe it to our future generations to preserve this legacy.

I know there are some who do not believe we should update the overtime pay rules. They will oppose this rule saying it is a harmful attack on our Nation's business community. Well, I strongly disagree with that position.

Prior to coming to Congress, I worked in business for more than 20 years and I hired many people. I found that paying employees a fair wage is the best way to ensure a happy and productive workforce. It is good business, and it is the right thing to do. Providing a fair paycheck to hard-working Americans so they can build their family and own a home and help save for their children's college education as well as enjoy a secure retirement is good for business and it is good for our country. Workers who are paid fairly for their work are able to spend their hard-earned money in their communities, creating new customers for local businesses and in the process help our economy grow. If we invest in American workers--the best and brightest in the world--we will get a strong return on that investment.

Enforcing the Fair Labor Standards Act gives American workers a fair wage for a fair day's work, and it will help keep the possibility of the American dream alive. We must do what is right for our workers. Updating the overtime pay rule will give millions of Americans a wage increase that they have earned and provide economic stability and security for hard-working families, while boosting our economy.

I am proud to support these efforts, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

I yield the floor.

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