Rep. Corrine Brown: “H.R. 1 is a disgrace to American workers. In the last several days workers from all over my district have come to…”

“H.R. 1 is a disgrace to American workers. In the last several days workers from all over my district have come to Washington to ask me to vote against this bill. Those working constituents do not want their pay reduced by a Congress out of touch with the American work force. Let me repeat that. Those working constituents do not want their pay reduced by a Congress out of touch with the American work force. Mr. Speaker, a vote for this bill is a vote for a pay cut for the workers. H.R. 1, the Working Family Flexibility Act of 1997, is also known as the pay reduction act. Today millions of workers depend on overtime pay just to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads. How cruel to consider this overtime pay as optional. Today too many people depend on overtime pay to survive. Their survival is not optional. Mr. Speaker, it is employers, not employees, who get greater flexibility from this bill. This bill does not contain necessary safeguards to ensure that the employee decision to accept comptime is truly voluntary. The overtime provision in the Fair Labor Standards Act protects workers from excess demands, from overtime work, and by requiring a premium pay for overtime provides an incentive for businesses to create additional jobs. There is no doubt that the American workers prefer pay for their overtime work instead of comptime.”