Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I commend him for it. What he said was very, very important because, in fact, the question I get asked when I am home…”

“I commend him for it. What he said was very, very important because, in fact, the question I get asked when I am home and talking about this bill is, ``Why is it necessary to have a law? Why can't people go in and ask their boss to take time off on Friday afternoon to see their children's soccer game and make it up on Monday?'' Most people in this country believe that you can do this already. The biggest surprise is that 60 million hourly workers in this country do not have this option. They do not have this option because the U.S. Congress in 1938 passed a law when only 10 percent of the women, the mothers in this country, worked. It said you have a 40-hour workweek, and employers and hourly employees cannot violate the 40-hour workweek unless you pay time and a half for overtime work. Federal employees have the ability to go in and say, ``I would like to work 38 hours this week and 42 hours next week.'' Salaried employees have the same option. But 60 million hourly employees--the ones who need flexibility the most--are not able to do it because of a law passed in 1938 when 10 percent of the mothers in this country worked.”