Mark Pocan: “I am doing this on behalf of Ms. DeLauro. As we know, her mother passed this weekend, and she is in our thoughts. Mr.…”

“I am doing this on behalf of Ms. DeLauro. As we know, her mother passed this weekend, and she is in our thoughts. Mr. Chairman, this also incorporates two other amendments that we would have otherwise taken up separately under my name, but they are all-inclusive in here. So let me talk about what the amendment does. This amendment would restore funding to worker protection programs to keep to the fiscal year 2017 levels. The bill, as it stands, has a cut of $59 million to worker protection agencies, including a cut of $21 million to OSHA, the elimination of the Susan Harwood training grants, and a cut of $14 million to the Mine Safety and Health Administration. This is the lowest budget OSHA has seen since 2009. We need OSHA. It saves lives. Since 1970, occupational deaths have been cut in half, saving over 80 million lives. But there is plenty of work left to do. Last year alone, 4,800 workers were killed on the job, and over 3 million were seriously injured. An average of 15 workers die every day from job injuries, costing U.S. businesses over $170 billion. The proposed budget would further reduce enforcement personnel by 140 investigators. That is 2,318 fewer workplace investigations. In addition, in the bill under consideration, safety training grants to reach workers in the highest risk jobs are eliminated, despite being a core OSHA program through every administration, Republican and Democrat, since 1978.…”