Pete Sessions: “I believe they are a marvelous step in the right direction. After 40 to 50 years of inaction and lack of review, I…”

“I believe they are a marvelous step in the right direction. After 40 to 50 years of inaction and lack of review, I believe we are in a position to make some changes today. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao is one of the finest members of this administration. She is a determined public servant. She advertised those changes. She solicited information from various groups and individuals and got 70,000 responses. They evaluated those responses and made the proposed rule changes that are before us. I think it is clearly a step in the right direction and will add to the number of people who are covered. The final rule updating part 541 of the Fair Labor Standards Act regulation is important. When these rules were established, we used words and terms that don't really exist today. They used terms like 'gang leader.' That has quite a different tone today than it did when that rule was set up. There was also 'linotype operator' and overtime was guaranteed only for persons who made less than $8,060 a year. So this rule change improves the regulations in quite a significant way.”