Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act of 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Colonel Kline, for the wonderful leadership that he has provided on our committee and the focus that he's given to this issue.

Mr. Speaker, never let a crisis go to waste. It's the defining principle of how this administration and how this Congress govern.

We're facing a devastating crisis right now, an oil spill which has ravaged the Gulf of Mexico both economically and environmentally. Out of this crisis there have been reports raising the issue of worker safety on oil rigs. Now, such reports raise very serious questions, which should be dealt with in a very serious manner, matters that require probing and oversight by Congress so that workers are adequately protected and free to report safety concerns.

However, what we've gotten from this majority is an unserious response, a political response more interested in taking advantage of the latest crisis. Remember, never let a crisis go to waste.

The bill before us today was introduced just this week. There's been no hearing on it, no committee consideration, no input from members of the committee, certainly on our side. Another rush to the floor, don't read the bill, don't read the bill, don't worry about it. Remember, never let a crisis go to waste.

And so what's the result? Confusion. With little time to review, we don't know what if any existing Federal whistleblower laws already apply to workers on offshore oil rigs and other employees in these companies. We don't know which agency is best equipped to enforce these new whistleblower protections. These are things that would normally, Mr. Speaker, in the course of activity come out during a committee hearing, during a normal open committee process. But no committee hearing, no committee hearing here. Remember, never let a crisis go to waste.

With this Congress, all the serious policy issues are secondary to the politics. Instead, what we get is a bill that establishes a whole new bureaucracy, a whole new whistleblower framework for a specific class of workers. It's an expansive set of protections that applies to health and safety and environmental and any other standards under the OCS Land Act; and yet it's untested, without an explicit description of which agency would even enforce the program.

Digging into the language a little deeper, it appears to favor resolution of complaints in Federal court, adding costs and inviting litigation. Remember, never let a crisis go to waste.

The Department of Labor only had 300 days to issue a final decision on a complaint or it gets kicked to the U.S. district court. Perhaps this wouldn't be a problem but there's an incentive to stretch out cases. Why, Mr. Speaker? Because bad-faith claims are not deterred. Employers can only recoup $1,000 total in attorneys' fees, which for some law firms--I know this won't come as any surprise to the Speaker--for some law firms less than a day's work; and even if the Department of Labor decides on a complaint before that deadline and defines it to be nonmeritorious, the case could still move on to court, creating a Federal right to sue. Remember, never let a crisis go to waste.

Now, later, Mr. Speaker, Republicans are going to offer a motion to recommit which is a better solution. Our positive solution gets to the heart of the issue, ensuring that workers are adequately protected and free to report safety concerns. It's not simply taking advantage of the latest crisis or rewarding plaintiff's trial lawyers for their support of the Democrat Party.

So, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the positive appropriate solution, the Republican motion to recommit, and defeat the partisan bill now before us.

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