Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the best way to keep our workers and our workplaces safe is through compliance. We write workplace safety laws for a reason, and we expect employers to follow those laws. This is true for factories and family-run businesses, and it is true for offshore oil rigs. We never want to see a workplace where laws are not followed and worker safety and health is put at risk. But if that happens, workers must be able to report those risks without fear of being discriminated against or losing their job. This is where whistleblower protections come. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforces 18 separate Federal whistleblower statutes for workers who report violations of worker safety, airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, health care reform, nuclear energy, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad and securities laws. Yet somehow, in this maze of whistleblower protections, it seems that workers on offshore oil rigs may not be fully protected. When we asked the agencies responsible for overseeing rigs on the Outer Continental Shelf, they told us they did not know which statute might apply. This is unacceptable. I fully support the effort to ensure workers on offshore oil rigs have access to whistleblower protections. But I have concerns and questions about how H.R.…”