Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my leader here who has done such a great job to protect workers.

We are here today to fix a terrible 2009 Supreme Court decision that weakened protections against age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

A 2020 AARP survey found that three in five workers age 45--yes, age 45 and older--had seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace. So, there is absolutely evidence that this exists. It is real, and we need to do something to fix it.

Meanwhile, Americans are working more and longer than they ever have. Workers deserve strong workplace protections throughout their entire careers, full stop.

I am absolutely proudly and enthusiastically looking forward to voting ``yes'' on H.R. 2062, the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act, to ensure that older workers can hold employers accountable for age discrimination.

When asking workers, ``Have you ever experienced any kind of discrimination based on age?'' and when the answer is three out of five say yes, beginning at age 45, I trust that this is true. This was in a survey that was done by the AARP, which has millions of members, that told us that. So, the current laws that were cited across the aisle are not doing the job that needs to be done right now to protect our older workers.

Let's pass this bill today.

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