Pete Sessions: “The amendment will restore funding to the Office of Labor and Management Standards at the Department of Labor by…”

“The amendment will restore funding to the Office of Labor and Management Standards at the Department of Labor by increasing funding at OLMS by $5 million. There is an important principle involved here. Union members should have the same protection of their moneys that stockholders have in businesses. In many ways, they deserve better protection than stockholders. The Office of Labor and Management Standards is to union transparency and integrity what the SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, is to corporate accountability. Yet for fiscal year 2008, the Senate appropriations bill that is now before the Senate funded the SEC at $905 million. That is $12 million above the fiscal year 2007 level and at the requested level of the President's budget. The Office of Labor and Management Standards is the only Federal agency created to protect rank-and-file union members. It enforces the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, which requires financial disclosure by labor unions and union officers. It requires disclosure, that is all it does. This office audits, in addition, union books to detect embezzlement and other thefts of union members' dues and ensures fair elections of union officers.”