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 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 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; 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 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 That the House of Representatives— (1) recognizes the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Labor; and (2) congratulates and commends all those who have served as employees of the Department of Labor to improve the lives of working people.

Summary: Recognizes the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Labor. Congratulates and commends all those who served as employees of the Department to improve the lives of working people.