Date: 2011-09-15
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to express my strong opposition to H.R. 2587. the Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act. This legislation does absolutely nothing to protect jobs. in fact. it puts them at risk. A more accurate title for this bill would be the Outsourcers Bill of Rights. This legislation is an assault on working Americans. H.R. 2587 guts the National Labor Relations Act. renders the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) powerless and undoes decades worth of improvements for workers rights. The National Labor Relations Act provides workers with essential protections. protections that have resulted in a strong middle class. This law prevents companies from retaliating against workers who exercise their rights. such as the right to strike. petition for better pay. demand safer working conditions. and form a union. It is the National Labor Relations Act that prevents companies from outsourcing or transferring. subcontracting or relocating jobs for discriminatory reasons. The Act protects jobs by prohibiting employers from taking work away from anyoneunion or nonunionbecause they have exercised their rights. Current law does not dictate where companies can and cannot run their businesses. it merely ensures that companies are not permitted to relocate to another state or to another country in order to pay workers lower wages. The National Labor Relations Acts protects the rights of American workers. and keeps American jobs from being shipped overseas. so long as the Act has an effective enforcement mechanism. The Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act strips that mechanism. the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) of its ability to enforce the law by ensuring jobs that are unlawfully outsourced are returned to America. The NLRB. for example. was able to order jobs back to America from Mexico in 2000. when the jobs were relocated overseas to prevent workers from unionizing. H.R. 2587 would not only prevent the NLRB from protecting jobs from illegal outsourcing. it would also allow companies to subcontract work away from unionized workers. and eliminate jobs done by prounion employees. This legislation undermines American workers by eliminating laws that prevent employers from discriminating against workers that exercise their rights to competitive wages. benefits. and safe working environments. I am extremely disappointed that my Republican friends are willing to create an atmosphere that forces hard working Americans to compete for jobs based on who will accept the lowest wages. worst benefits. and harshest working conditions. This bill creates a race to the bottom that is simply not worthy of a great nation. and certainly not worthy of America. Time after time. throughout the 20th century. the nation turned to the labor community to build infrastructure. supply the Armed Forces. and manufacture the materials that constructed our great American cities. and time after time. hard working Americans answered the call and made this country great. It appears that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have decided to repay the American workforce by forcing them to choose between their rights and their jobs. The Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act protects nothing but special interest and corporate profits by undermining the law that prevents discrimination against Americans who simply want to exercise their rights. This bill forces Americans to compete for lower wages instead of strengthening the middle class by providing employees with competitive wages. fair benefits and safe working conditions. I will fight. as I have throughout my tenure in Congress. to protect the middle class by protecting American jobs. My Republican friends have not passed a single bill to create jobs. and the Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act is no exception. In fact. this reckless legislation threatens American jobs and undermines workers rights while safeguarding special interest. I urge my colleagues to oppose this harmful legislation. and instead focus our efforts on a bipartisan jobs bill that will foster a new age of American ingenuity and prosperity.