On the recordMarch 19, 2015
I thank the gentleman. According to a 2013 report by the Center for American Progress, the decline of union membership between the 1960s and today correlates to a decline of the middle class. When we have strong unions and workers' rights protections, the middle class does better. And workers who are not unionized benefit from the ripple effect of rising wages. Let's defeat this bill. I think the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kline), the chairman of this committee, has said that he would sit down with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) to come up with a bipartisan bill--which this is not--which will do what all of us say we think is fair, to have elections, to have elections where both sides--and of course the employer always has access to the voter in this case--and do something for the American worker and for business which will put us on a steady path to growing the middle class and making sure that workers are treated as they ought to be, with the dignity and respect and the ability to support their families that they need. {time} 1100
