Lynn C. Woolsey: “first of all I wish to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens) for what he has been doing on worker safety issues…”

“first of all I wish to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens) for what he has been doing on worker safety issues all these years. If we would just listen to every word he says, we would all learn every day from his wisdom. And I thank him also for the hearings that he held last week. Anybody that sat in those hearings and listened to those families who had lost a family member to a work-site tragedy, it would have strengthened their resolve absolutely that our goal is to strengthen OSHA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 2731 because workers deserve to know that their interests will be represented and represented fairly by OSHA. As I said earlier today on another bill, we are not the least bit worried about employers who manage in good faith. We are worried about the ones that ignore near misses and important safety standards, employers who know they have a major problem after the experience of an employee's death or severe injury, but ignore the problem and carry on business as usual until another fatality or another severe injury occurs. Those are the employers we are concerned about. When workers and their families suffer due to poor safety at the workplace, they feel angry and they feel betrayed. They are not protected and they know it. They do not need to feel betrayed further by their government when they are seeking justice for their original betrayal.”