Henry Bonilla: “Mr. Chairman, we are opposed to this amendment presented by the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey]. It strips out a lot…”

“Mr. Chairman, we are opposed to this amendment presented by the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey]. It strips out a lot of hard work and a lot of issues that we attached to this bill that are going to do a lot to help the American people. I am proud of the guts that members of this committee on our side showed in trying to advance some of these issues. I will point out two, because there are other Members who have other issues to discuss as well. The first I would like to discuss involves ergonomics. Ergonomics is one of these words that has small business in America shaking in its boots, because it is another tool, a potential tool that OSHA is going to use to impose unfair fines and unfair burdens and unfair paperwork on small business across this country. Ergonomics is a fancy term for designing jobs and tools to fit the physical and physiological limits of people. In the private sector, there have been many efforts so far to improve productivity, to try to help the working environment so people are at work more often, have fewer absences, fewer injuries, and fewer illnesses.”