Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.J. Res. 42, a measure disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of Labor regarding drug testing unemployment compensation applicants. This legislation would overturn a Department of Labor regulation which, as directed by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, defines the occupations in which States may require unemployed workers to take drug tests as a condition of collecting earned unemployment benefits. Consistent with the Fourth Amendment, which protects us against searches without reasonable cause, the regulation limits drug testing to occupations where drug testing is required, like pipeline safety, some transportation operators, and jobs that require carrying a gun. Many communities are facing a rising rate of drug use, including my hometown of Springfield. Congress could and should do more to help people struggling with addiction, but the legislation that we are debating today has nothing to do with fighting drug abuse. It is about allowing States to put one more time-consuming, humiliating obstacle in the way of Americans who work hard and were laid off from their jobs and need unemployment insurance to pay the bills while they look for new jobs. As a reminder, in the aftermath of the recession, the unemployment rate in America went to 10 percent.…”