William L. Clay: “Mr. Chairman, the amendment makes very minor improvements in a very bad bill. H.R. 1 fails to protect vulnerable…”

“Mr. Chairman, the amendment makes very minor improvements in a very bad bill. H.R. 1 fails to protect vulnerable workers. It fails to safeguard employee wages. It encourages the abandonment of existing paid leave policies, and it invites further violations of the overtime law. The amendments before us exempt some part-time and seasonal workers. Many other workers who are not exempted remain subject to abuse. H.R. 1 holds out the very real potential that a worker will be cheated out of 6 weeks of wages. The amendment before us limits that amount to 4 weeks of wages. Mr. Chairman, H.R. 1, with or without this amendment, is fatally flawed. It deserves to be defeated. However, I will accept the amendment because it provides very minor improvements in the underlying bill.”