John Joseph Moakley: “Mr. Speaker, my erstwhile colleague said that this was a family friendly bill. It is, if you are talking about the Ford…”

“Mr. Speaker, my erstwhile colleague said that this was a family friendly bill. It is, if you are talking about the Ford family and the Rockefeller family and the du Pont family. But, for all other families, it is not a friendly bill. I know my Republican colleagues mean well, and I know my Republican colleagues really want to help; but this was a bad idea last session and it is a bad idea this session. It helps the big people, but it does not do much for the ordinary worker. In fact, this bill, Mr. Speaker, would force workers to take time off rather than overtime pay. That is not what the American people want. The American people do not want comp time. They want cash. In fact, polling data shows that nearly three out of every four American workers would rather have cash than comp time. And I cannot say that I blame them. These days it is hard enough to get a job in the first place. And once you get one, Mr. Speaker, the last thing you want to do is leave. Most people want to work as much as they possibly can, but this bill just will not let them do it. It has no guarantee that workers can make that decision themselves. It is very possible that employees will be the ones to decide whether workers get additional pay or get additional time. Mr. Speaker, that just is not fair.”