Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, on Sunday morning, millions of mothers nationwide will wake up to the excited faces of their children wishing them a ``happy Mother's Day.''

Mothers will receive gifts of all kinds from their sons and daughters--tokens of love and gratitude for all that moms do every day.

MORE WORK, LESS PAY

Yet today, House Republicans are offering up a different Mother's Day gift: more work, less pay.

House Republicans are putting forward the so-called ``Working Families Flexibility Act.''

The name may make it sound appealing, but don't be fooled--this bill is nothing more than smoke and mirrors meant to hide its true purpose:

To end the 40-hour work week;

To cut pay for women;

To undermine the economic security of the middle class.

This legislation claims the mantle of flexibility, yet only means greater flexibility for employers and lower wages for workers.

This proposal is simply another ideological assault on workers, another mean-spirited attack on workers' rights, and another Republican message bill that will never become law.

WHAT THE BILL DOES

More work, less pay--that's what this bill is about.

It guts protections for workers and removes flexibility for working families.

It amounts to an interest-free loan to employers--paid for by workers' wages and unused comp time hours.

It is nothing more than a mirage--claiming to give flexibility to workers to take time off to care for family or attend a parent-teacher conference while actually handing flexibility to their bosses to cut pay or call for more hours.

SAYING ``NO'' TO WORKERS

This legislation is brought to you by the same people who attack and undermine working families at every turn--the same people who say:

``No'' to raising the minimum wage.

``No'' to the Paycheck Fairness Act

``No'' to extending unemployment benefits that strengthen our economy.

``No'' to any measure that could expand the middle class.

The same people who will only say ``yes'' to more hardship for workers, to more pain for the middle class, to more work and less pay.

OPPOSITION

No wonder this bill is opposed by more than 160 women's organizations across the country, from Arkansas and Arizona to Washington and Wisconsin, who wrote a letter to Congress calling this measure ``an empty promise [that] would cause considerably more harm than good.''

No wonder President Obama has pledged to veto this bill, declaring that ``this legislation undermines the existing right to hard-earned overtime pay, on which many working families rely to make ends meet, while misrepresenting itself as a workplace flexibility measure .....''

CLOSE

The Republican proposal is the last gift anyone should give our families on Mother's Day.

That's why I urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation and to work together on steps to invest in working families, to bolster small businesses, to create jobs, and to build a strong, thriving middle class.

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