Date: 2001-03-07
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. what is taking place here today is not terribly complicated. It is pretty straightforward. It is an unapologetic assault on some of the hardest working men and women in this country. It is an assault on the right to be pain free in their job. It is an assault on their right not to be injured on their job. It is an assault on their right to provide the wherewithal for their families. Because the workers who suffer these workplace injuries lose wages. they lose hours. and they lose jobs. which means they cannot provide what they want for their families. But the Republicans in the Congress have decided that they are going to assault these workplace rules in spite of all the science. in spite of all the evidence. in spite of all the medical testimony about the terrible toll that these workplace injuries take upon Americas working men and women. and disproportionately on women. Women are 40 percent of the work force. There is over 63 percent of the injuries. They have decided also that. not only are they going to assault Americas workers. they are going to insult Americas workers. They are going to insult them in the manner in which they bring this to the floor of the Congress. They are not going to use a procedure thatallows for 10 hours of debate so those who are pro this regulation and against this regulation can debate it. But they have decided we will only be given 1 hour of debate. That will be a half an hour on each side for 435 Members of Congress. So they are going to take 10 years of work. 10 years of scientific study. 10 years of medical evidence. 10 years of worker testimony and business testimony. and they are going to overturn it in 1 hour of debate. Now. I guess one could argue that maybe the Republicans do not know who these workers are. They do not see them with the wrist braces. with the finger braces. with the elbow brace. with the shoulder braces. with their arms in a sling. with the back braces. They do not see them at Home Depot. They do not see them at WalMart. They do not see them at United Airline as they are making out their tickets or as their flight attendants on their airplane are serving them meals or the people who handle their baggage. They do not see them when the UPS driver comes by or the FedEx worker comes by and drops off their packages and is wearing a brace on their arm. They do not see them in the lumber mills. They do not see them as. the healthcare attendants and the nurses in our hospitals. They do not see them in the Safeway stores. the checkers at the stand who are wearing brace s on their arms because of repetitive motion injuries to them. They do not see these workers when it is painful for them to get into the car to driveto work because their arms and their wrists and their hands are so badly damaged from being a key punch operator. They do not see them when they get into their cars painfully to drive home. They do not see them when they get into their house and they cannot pick up their children because their arms are so badly damaged from -repetitive motion or their back -is badly damaged from repetitive motion or from loads on their back. Somehow the Republicans do not see these individuals. But America sees them. We see them when we fly. We see them when we go to the supermarket. We see them when we go to the hardware store. We see them in the hospitals as they take care of members of our family. We see them as they turn over a patient in bed. And they are wearing braces on their arms because of these kinds of workplace injuries. the very same injuries that Republicans are insisting now that American workers do not have the right of protection from.