Orrin Hatch: “I rise today to encourage my Senate colleagues to support the Department of Labor's proposed changes to our nation's…”

“I rise today to encourage my Senate colleagues to support the Department of Labor's proposed changes to our nation's overtime regulations. The amendment being offered by my friend Senator Harkin to the 2004 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill would prohibit spending to implement the Department of Labor's proposed regulations and, thereby, cripple the Department in making these important changes. This is not a wise course of action and I wish to voice my support today for the Department's proposed regulations changes. Before discussing the proposed regulations, I would like to take a moment to address current overtime rules. As you may know, there have been very few changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act's, FLSA, overtime provisions since the early 1970s. Under these outdated rules, most workers are only guaranteed time- and-a-half overtime pay if they earn less than $155 per week.”