Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, the 40-hour workweek used to mean something. It was installed many years ago so that people wouldn't have to work 6 and 7 days a week, 10 or more hours a day. They could work 5 days a week, 8 hours, and have an opportunity to go home. Now the 40-hour workweek only applies to 7 percent of salaried workers, and they can be forced to work 45, 50, 60 hours, with no additional pay. We have heard the impact on universities. I think the gentleman from Alabama said that it would cost the Alabama system $17 million. Well, their budget is $2.4 billion; $24 million would be 1 percent. {time} 1930 If his number is right--$17 million--that is still way under 1 percent of their expenditures. But there are a lot of ways to comply with this rule without any cost at all. You can let people go home after 40 hours, or you can honestly restate their salary. If it is $30,000 and a lot of overtime, call it $20,000 and they have got to make $10,000 overtime. They will get the same amount at the end of the year at no cost to the employer, but an honest way to assess the salary. It wouldn't cost anything. So there are ways of complying with this honestly that make the 40-hour workweek mean something. The new rule only covers about a third of the salaried workers. It is a good rule. It should not be delayed. In fact, it is not being delayed. This is the first step in trying to defeat the rule. This bill should be defeated.…”