Mike Honda: “I rise today to oppose efforts to pass legislation that will harm the American worker. Republicans are again bringing…”

“I rise today to oppose efforts to pass legislation that will harm the American worker. Republicans are again bringing forward bills that would rollback worker safety regulations under the jurisdiction of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). All four of the bills being voted on today passed the House in the 108th Congress, but the Senate very reasonably did not even hold mark-ups on these bills. The four bills are coming up notwithstanding the fact that we are at a point in time when workplace safety remains a critical national problem. Almost 6,000 workers a year die due to workplace accidents and another estimated 50,000 to 60,000 die every year due to occupational illnesses. Sadly, the bills on floor today will endanger the lives of even more workers by: making it easier for employers to challenge OSHA citations, unnecessarily expanding the OSHA Review Commission, undermining the enforcement authority of the Secretary of Labor, and punishing OSHA for substantially justified enforcement actions if the agency does not completely prevail. More specifically, H.R. 739 rolls back OSHA's ability to enforce the law.…”