Political Quotes

“It is amazing, Mr. Speaker, how the people on the other side of the aisle can continue to come forth with such statements that Republicans are cruel to children. Most of these education programs are actually being increased in spending, so I do not understand where the rhetoric is coming from. The reason I am here today is to advise that last April I invited the OSHA administrator to visit Zenith Cutter in my district. Zenith Cutter is a small manufacturer of industrial knives and has about 175 employees. Mr. Jeffress saw firsthand, with Cedric Blazer, the owners, what industry is already doing in the area of ergonomics without any government mandates. It makes no sense to finalize the ergonomics rule by the end of this year, because nobody at OSHA understands the rule. In fact, we held a hearing in our congressional district the day after a blizzard. Over 100 people showed up from small to large industries. The OSHA people came in from Chicago, and as well-intentioned and as kind as they were, they could not adequately describe exactly what these ergonomic rules are or the standards that would be promulgated with the resulting rules. So I therefore support the decision of the Committee on Appropriations to hold off any action on the proposed ergonomic rule.”