On the recordApril 23, 2012
I thank the Chair. Mr. President, this Congressional Review Act challenge is the latest chapter in an unprecedented Republican assault on unions. The amount of time this Congress has wasted scrutinizing and bullying the National Labor Relations Board over the last 2 years is simply astonishing. This time the debate is about whether the NLRB acted appropriately when it streamlined its procedures for setting up a union election and eliminated unnecessary bureaucracy to make the agency more efficient. This seems like a commonsense and logical step that if taken by any other agency my colleagues on both sides of the aisle would be applauding as a step forward for good government and efficiency. But because these reforms were put forward by the NLRB--an agency my Republican colleagues seem to do anything to undermine--we are all standing here today debating the merits of this eminently sensible action. It is a real shame. At a time when we should be working together to rebuild our economy and addressing the real challenges facing working families across this Nation, instead Republicans are distracting this body with partisan attacks on the National Labor Relations Board and on unions. I would welcome the opportunity to spend this time on the Senate floor debating how to make life better for middle-class families. I would even welcome the opportunity to have a real debate about unions and the important role they play in our country.…
