Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman and Members, I'd like to thank my colleague, Mr. Obey for offering this amendment. The Department of Labor has implemented new overtime regulations that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim will bring 1.3 million new people into overtime eligibility. However, other independent studies such as the one by The Economic Policy Institute report that at least 6 million will lose their overtime rights under this rule. Also, this analysis projects that only 400,000 low-income workers will now qualify for overtime pay. Not the 1.3 million claimed by the Administration. Yesterday, leadership refused to debate this amendment because several of their colleagues would have voted for this amendment. This only indicates that both Republicans and Democrats know that passing this amendment is the right thing to do. My home state of Texas has an unemployment rate higher than the national average and that's true for the City of Houston as well. Many of my constituents rely on what they make in overtime pay to keep the lights on in their homes. I think it's time we start thinking about our most important resource in this country: the American Worker, and vote ``yes'' to this amendment.”