Joe Manchin: “I rise today, and I agree with my friend and my colleague from Indiana Senator Braun, my friend and my colleague from…”

“I rise today, and I agree with my friend and my colleague from Indiana Senator Braun, my friend and my colleague from Louisiana Senator Cassidy, and my friend and my colleague from Kansas Senator Marshall. I rise today in support of the joint resolution of congressional disapproval to overturn the National Labor Relations Board's new joint employer rule. This rule is just another example of Executive overreach and the partisan politics that we deal with all too often. Small businesses are the heart of our economy, from the States like myself in West Virginia--small, rural States. This is the backbone of our business society. And especially, we have 98 percent of our businesses are small in West Virginia. I don't have one city in my State with a population greater than 50,000. So I am 1.7 million of small towns and cities. This is who we are. The COVID-19 pandemic was hard on small businesses and franchises, with an estimated 32,700 franchise businesses closing during the first 6 months of the pandemic. The last thing they need is greater uncertainty caused by this rule. And the joint employer rule has caused confusion for franchise owners for years--telling them they could be held liable for actions taken by businesses with their brand, potentially subjecting them to corporate control. Franchising is a pathway to entrepreneurship for Americans across the country, and it helps build generational growth.…”