Lynn N. Rivers: “the debate today really is about striking a balance, about finding a way to meet the demands for flexibility that…”

“the debate today really is about striking a balance, about finding a way to meet the demands for flexibility that employees all over this country have with our need to protect people from decisions that employers might make to the disadvantage of that employee. We are really talking about income protection here today. I know that there has been some discussion about the importance of letting individual employees decide and I agree, that is important. We should let individuals decide. But I think that the other side protests a little too much about that, and the speeches we have heard about how demeaning it is to suggest that employees may need some protection really does not look at the issue in a reasonable light. I know, because for many years my husband and I lived on overtime. My husband is an autoworker. He works in 1 of the 12 automobile plants in my district. He has been an hourly worker for the entire time we have been married. Overtime for many years paid for our Christmas presents. It allowed us to take a summer vacation. It allowed us to make additional payments on our cars. If that income were not available to us, our life and our quality of life would have changed substantially. Now, the argument is, is that the employee makes all the decisions under this bill. Of course that is not true.”