Adam Smith: “I too rise in opposition to H.R. 1. It is basically another blow to the working men and women of our country, and it is…”

“I too rise in opposition to H.R. 1. It is basically another blow to the working men and women of our country, and it is important to look at one critical question. As was said by the worker I believe was from Iowa that the majority party cited: If I had the choice. Well, it has been pointed out numerous times the employee does not have the choice in this bill, and that is the critical factor. The employer controls, as they do far too often, the working conditions that men and women face in this country. But what I really want to get into is why this bill is here today. To hear from the majority party and supporters of this measure, we would think that a grassroots movement rose up of working people in this country and demanded comp time, that it was from the people, when everyone on this floor knows that this bill came to us from the employer community. They are the ones who wanted it; they are the ones who lobbied for it. Now, I am not going to say that the employer community never cares about its workers. Certainly they do, but they have another agenda on this bill. That is the agenda that we have heard far too often in the 1990's: reduce labor costs. That is why this bill is here, folks. It is not working men and women who rose up and asked for this. It is the employer community that rose up and asked for this in another effort to reduce labor costs. Mr. Speaker, I just want to briefly remind my colleagues that labor costs are wages.…”