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Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act

Floor Speech

Date: Jan. 15, 2020
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Senior Citizens Employment and Affirmative Action

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Mr. BROWN of Maryland. Mr. Chair, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I would like first to recognize the leadership of Chairman Bobby Scott, my Potomac partner from Virginia, chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, and the hard work and the bipartisan work done in that committee to bring this important bill to the floor.

Mr. Chair, older workers are critical to our economy and workplaces. However, 6 in 10 older Americans report seeing or experiencing age discrimination on the job. More than half of older workers are fired from their jobs before they retire. If they find a new job, 9 in 10 never match their prior earnings.

A 2009 Supreme Court decision created a higher burden of proof for workers claiming age discrimination than any other form of discrimination.

Enforcement statistics from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission show the number of age discrimination complaints has been rising.

In the year 2000, the EEOC received roughly 16,000 age discrimination complaints. That number climbed to over 20,000 complaints in 2017, or 23 percent of all discrimination claims filed.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment would require the EEOC to submit an annual report to Congress on the number of age discrimination claims under this act.

It is important that Congress receives this information in a timely and transparent way to ensure our older workers are being properly protected and heard.

Discrimination is discrimination, whether it is age, race, gender, faith, gender identity, or sexual orientation, and all should be treated fairly under the law.

My amendment and the underlying bill are commonsense pieces of legislation that would restore fairness for all workers.

Mr. Chair, I strongly encourage my colleagues to support my amendment and the underlying proposed legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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