[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 71 (Thursday, April 27, 2023)] [House] [Pages H2072-H2077] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Date: 2023-04-27
Chamber: HOUSE
Ms. FOXX: I thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Speaker, President Biden is waging a war on America's workforce. First, he made the anti-worker PRO Act a legislative priority. Then his Department of Labor proposed a rule to extinguish opportunities for workers who want to be independent contractors. Now his handpicked nominee, Julie Su, has barely made it through the Democrat-controlled Senate HELP Committee on a party-line vote, paving the way for her to head the agency overseeing our Nation's workforce. As California's Secretary of Labor, Su was the architect and chief enforcer of AB 5, a bill that mirrors current Federal anti-worker proposals like the PRO Act and DOL's proposed rule. Nearly 80 percent of independent contractors prefer their current status to traditional employment. AB 5 forced many independent contractors to be reclassified or lose work opportunities. Many Californians lost their livelihoods. Most rejected the bill through a Statewide referendum. AB 5 sank in such spectacular fashion that over 100 industry exemptions were created; from recording artists and song writers to dog walkers and home cleaners. This is the policy that Democrats tacitly endorsed by supporting Julie Su for Secretary of Labor. I have talked at length with independent contract workers whose livelihoods are put in peril by Julie Su. Let me explain her nomination and confirmation from their perspective. In the eyes of truckers, Su places 350,000 owner-operator jobs at risk. Truckers worked tirelessly to keep our economy afloat during the pandemic. This is their repayment? In the eyes of journalists, Julie Su's confirmation tells them the independence of freelancing is not valuable to their industry. In the eyes of tutors, Su is a slap in the face for those who helped save students from falling through the cracks during the pandemic. Many tutors are independent contractors, and two of every three are women. They wouldn't have a place in Su's workforce. In the eyes of every worker who files a 1099 on tax day, Julie Su is an assault on their way of life. Many Members have rightly criticized Julie Su for her long track record of incompetence, like how she lost $31 billion to unemployment fraud in California. Biden has already proven he will staff his Cabinet with woefully unqualified and incompetent Secretaries. Look at Mayor Pete. I am worried about Su being an activist for Biden's pro-union boss and anti-worker agenda. It is no wonder that industry groups lined up against her confirmation in a rare display of agreement in Washington. Her destiny might be out of the House's hands, but I can end with a promise. As chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, I promise to conduct robust oversight of the Labor Department or the department of any radical who threatens our Nation's workforce. We will deliver to independent workers, to truckers, journalists, tutors, and more, much deserved accountability from their Federal Government.