Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 6094. There has been a lot of talk about what small businesses think about this law. We put it in the name of the bill. Well, let me give you a perspective of a small-business owner for 29 years. I am, this week--maybe not right now; they might have left--paying overtime to one of my employees. They are working extra hours because we are extra busy at this time of year. You know what that means when I pay them extra money? That means I am making more money because we have got more hours that we are billing out. All I am doing is sharing it with the employees who, otherwise, are spending less time with their families. That is why we pay overtime pay. It is a pretty basic concept. The problem is, if you delay this rule for 6 months, you will deny Americans $600 million in pay during that time. There will be 4.2 million Americans newly eligible for overtime pay, under the proposed rule. Another 8.9 million working Americans will have their overtime protections strengthened under this rule. Let's make sure people really understand what it is really about. The current level that is in place for overtime is $23,400. The Federal poverty line for a family of four, Mr. Speaker, is $24,300. We are asking people to work overtime--extra hours--for free who are living below the Federal poverty line at the current level. That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.…”