Overall, this request moves us in the right direction.

The Affordable Care Act is helping millions of families across our country.

So we can conclude that if the ACA continues to constrain the growth of healthcare costs, will that not wipe out a significant portion of the projected future deficits?

I strongly support the President's goal of improving access and completion and reining in college costs.

One area of great concern to my constituents in Kansas is China's unjustified barriers to U.S. agriculture.

the budget put forward by Chairman Ryan that the House is considering this week threatens to do even more damage.

I want to know how you plan to collect compensation data from Federal contractors in order to improve contractor awareness and encourage self-evaluations.

We just want more children in this country to have access.

the Congress has cut funding for job training and reemployment programs by 20 percent since fiscal year 2010.

If I can ask unanimous consent to put into the record a document about the raising the minimum wage, 10 Reasons Raising the Minimum Wage to $10.10 Is a Women's Issue.

Is there any consideration of an executive order, as I and the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee have called for, prohibiting Government contractors from retaliating against their employees who disclose salary information?

Nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers are women.

This has become a total bipartisan issue in the real world.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, the first issue I would like to discuss is the Labor Department's efforts to improve economic opportunities for women.

The U.S. has no mandatory paid leave policy, making it just three countries in the world and the only country among industrialized countries to not mandate paid maternity leave for new mothers.

Thank you for your leadership on behalf of working families, including pushing for higher wages and support for the unemployed since becoming the Secretary of Labor.

The future of the economy lies in jobs that require knowledge and skills, and those jobs also offer the best chance for decent, livable wages and benefits.

I was very happy to see the budget request for an increase of OFCCP and including funds to investigate pay discrimination by Government contractors.

Can you make a compelling case for going above this year's spending caps to fund additional job training programs?

Last year, several of us worked extremely hard to restore funding to the Job Corps that had been cut due to sequestration.

I would love to have the opportunity to talk to you or ask you if there is any consideration of an executive order to prohibit the Government contractors from retaliating against their employers--employees who disclose salary information?

No investment is more critical than investment in education for our young people.

the paycheck fairness bill does include that

If they cannot be protected on the job and lose their life, we have a moral responsibility to do something about that.

The fact is we are somewhere about 25th, 26th, 28th amongst industrial countries.