Xavier Becerra: “I have spoken on this floor about my concerns with H.R. 5, the unfunded mandates legislation, for a number of reasons…”

“I have spoken on this floor about my concerns with H.R. 5, the unfunded mandates legislation, for a number of reasons, least of which, of course, is the fact that the State and local governments are taking on burdens. More to the point, however, we do not take into account in H.R. 5 numerous provisions to protect those very States and local governments and neighborhood communities that we say we are about to protect through this particular legislation. One specific example to me, Mr. Chairman, which is very glaring, is that the legislation we have before us today does nothing to protect our American people against discrimination based on age. Today we have before us H.R. 5, that says nothing about preserving the rights of people, based on their age, to work, to live freely, and I believe it is important that at least something like this be included in H.R. 5. The Federal laws prohibiting age discrimination provide protection for millions of older Americans from arbitrary and unjust discrimination. As with all laws prohibiting discrimination, the laws prohibiting age discrimination set basic standards for fair treatment in a workplace and other areas of American society. The right to work free of age discrimination is a fundamental right. However, age-based employment discrimination remains prevalent, despite the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the ADEA.”