Virginia Foxx: “As I understand it, this amendment requires the Chair of the EEOC, the primary agency that enforces Federal laws that…”

“As I understand it, this amendment requires the Chair of the EEOC, the primary agency that enforces Federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate, to submit five annual reports to congressional committees on the number of age discrimination claims brought to the EEOC under this act. These reports will come after H.R. 1230 unnecessarily reduces the burden of proof in these cases and nullifies decades of Supreme Court precedent. Before discussing my concerns with this amendment, I admit I am puzzled that it requires a study on how this legislation will affect future age discrimination claims when evidence is sorely lacking that there is a need for H.R. 1230 in the first place. The lone witness who testified on H.R. 1230 before the Committee on Education and Labor acknowledged that EEOC data has not shown workers are discouraged from filing age discrimination charges with the EEOC following the Supreme Court's 2009 decision in Gross v. FBL Financial Services. {time} 1500 This witness testified that: ``It is difficult to quantify the impact that the Gross decision has had on the number of older workers who bring cases and the number of those who win them.'' More information on whether H.R. 1230 is needed would have been useful, but Democrats were unable to provide it. With respect to this amendment, I have concerns about the feasibility of the mandated reports.…”