Political Quotes

“I rise to support the rule. There is a campaign of disinformation that is being waged against the overtime pay reforms put in place by the Department of Labor late last month, and I would like to speak to that. The administration has guaranteed overtime protection for 6.7 million working Americans, and it is a reform that was needed and it was overdue. We have not seen millions of workers lose their overtime pay. In fact, we have watched as 1.3 million additional Americans have gained their right to claim overtime pay. The previous system was outdated, it was unfair, and the Bush administration deserves credit for reforming the system, even though they knew the political interests aligned against the President would try to frame it as a negative. The old status quo was a 54-year-old regulation. That is what the critics are claiming was fair. Under that regulation, someone earning as little as $8,060 would be classified as a white collar employee and prevented, prevented, from receiving overtime pay. No more, Mr. Speaker. This new policy is worker-friendly, it is fair, and I support the rule.”