IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 105 

Recognizing the 100th Anniversary of the establishment of the Department 

of Labor. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2013 

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the 100th Anniversary of the establishment of 

the Department of Labor. 

Whereas, for the past 100 years, the Department of Labor 

has fostered, promoted, and developed the welfare of 

wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the Nation; 

Whereas the Department of Labor has continually sought to 

make the American workplace safer, healthier, and fairer 

for everyone; 

Whereas working families across the Nation and around the 

world have benefitted from the Department of Labor’s efforts to assure work-related benefits and rights, including 

the right to be paid fairly for every hour labored; 

Whereas the Department of Labor has historically championed many of the cherished characteristics of work life 


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in the United States, including the 40-hour work week, 

weekends, overtime pay, the right to collectively bargain, 

unemployment insurance, and the prohibition of child 

labor; 

Whereas the Department of Labor has evolved to meet the 

changing needs of the workforce by partnering with employers, community organizations and institutions of 

higher learning to improve job training, provide lifelong 

learning opportunities, and advance efforts for profitable 

employment; 

Whereas, since the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act 

in 1938, the Department’s Wage and Hour Division has 

protected workers from exploitation and discrimination by 

enforcing the law’s Federal minimum wage, overtime pay, 

recordkeeping, and child labor requirements; 

Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics has served the Nation for nearly 130 years, predating the Department, by 

measuring and analyzing statistical data in order to provide policymakers, economists, investors, and the public 

with open, accurate information about the workforce and 

economy; 

Whereas, after decades of serious injury or loss of life as a 

result of unsafe working conditions, the Occupational 

Safety and Health Administration and the Mine Safety 

and Health Administration have administered laws that 

have dramatically reduced injuries and illnesses and assure workers the right to safe and healthful workplaces; 

Whereas, after hosting the first meeting of the International 

Labor Organization in Washington, DC, in 1919, the Department of Labor has engaged with the international 

community to promote the values of fairness, justice, and 


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respect for human dignity around the world, continuing 

its role as a vital partner in the Nation’s efforts to combat human trafficking and child labor through extensive 

research and reporting and technical cooperation 

projects; 

Whereas, since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act which, in part, created the Job 

Corps, the Department has administered the education 

and vocational training program with a mission to attract 

eligible young people, teach them the skills they need to 

become employable and independent, and place them in 

meaningful jobs or further their education; 

Whereas the Department’s Employee Benefit Security Administration provides critical protection for the pension, 

health, and other employee benefits promised to workers 

and their families, through its administration and enforcement of laws including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA); the Consolidated Omnibus 

Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA); The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 

(HIPAA); and the Patient Protection and Affordable 

Care Act (ACA); 

Whereas the Department of Labor continues to strive to 

achieve the aims of the Civil Rights era by protecting access to economic opportunity for all Americans and eradicating discrimination in the workplace; 

Whereas the Department of Labor has promoted and defended gender equality in the workplace, and since 1919, 

the Department’s Women’s Bureau has developed standards and polices to ensure fair treatment of women in the 

workplace; 


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Whereas, in 1965, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance 

Programs was established by President Johnson, with the 

aim of holding Federal contractors to a higher obligation 

for affirmative action by prohibiting such contractors and 

subcontractors from making employment decisions that 

discriminate based on race, sex, color, religion, or national origin; 

Whereas, after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act 

in 1990, the Office of Disability Employment Policy has 

dramatically expanded the idea of inclusion in the American workforce by prohibiting discriminatory practices on 

the basis of a disability and promoting the concept of 

reasonable accommodation; 

Whereas, in 1916, the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act 

created the Office of Workers Compensation Programs, 

which today provides wage replacement benefits, medical 

treatment, vocational rehabilitation, and other benefits 

for disabled Federal Government workers, longshore 

workers, coal mine workers, energy workers, and overseas 

contractors, along with eligible dependents and survivors; 

Whereas, by administering laws like the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act of 1981, the 

Department stands up for some of the most vulnerable 

workers in the Nation, including farmworkers, low-wage 

workers, and migrant workers and ensures that legal protections are applied fairly and forcefully to all; 

Whereas, from World War II through the conflicts in Iraq 

and Afghanistan, the Department of Labor has played an 

evolving role in providing employment support services 

members of the Armed Forces and veterans, including 

training and certification programs administered today 

by the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service; and 


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Whereas the services provided by the Department of Labor 

will remain of critical importance to the well-being of all 

Americans and will continue to meet the needs of future 

workers: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the 100th anniversary of the es3 tablishment of the Department of Labor; and 

4 (2) congratulates and commends all those who 

5 have served as employees of the Department of 

6 Labor to improve the lives of working people. 

Æ 


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