Tom Harkin: “I listened to the President's State of the Union Message hoping he would come up with a real jobs plan to help America's…”

“I listened to the President's State of the Union Message hoping he would come up with a real jobs plan to help America's families. But quite frankly, there was nothing in the State of the Union Address that talked about that. We need to extend emergency unemployment for the hundreds of thousands of people who paid in when they were working, but months after losing their jobs, they still can't find work. We need to raise the minimum wage, which has not been increased in 6 years. And right now, most important of all, the administration needs to withdraw its proposal that would deny millions of American workers their overtime pay protections. Five months ago, the Senate voted on my amendment 54 to 45 to block the administration's effort to take away overtime pay protection for up to 8 million workers. That's right, the Bush proposal that came out of the Department of Labor would deny overtime pay protection to 8 million American workers. Congress spoke up clear as a bell. They said: No, the administration should not strip overtime pay protection for these 8 million workers.”