Hearing of the House Education and the Workforce Committee - Reviewing the President's Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Proposal for the Department of Labor

Hearing

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) Opening Statement for Full Committee Hearing with Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez on "Reviewing the President's Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Proposal for the U.S. Department of Labor"

Welcome, Secretary Perez, and thank you for your partnership in support of hard-working American families.

Since the Great Recession, we've made a good deal of progress toward repairing our economy, but much more needs to be done.

The good news is that in the past four years, the private sector has added 8.5 million jobs, and the unemployment rate is down to 6.7 percent.

But unemployment is still too high, and we still have more than 3.6 million long-term unemployed.

On top of that, we are seeing an alarming growth in income inequality. In the last decade, real wages for low-income workers have dropped, and middle-class wages have been mostly flat, while the top 10 percent has seen double digit increases.

It's not right that low-wage workers are working harder, yet sliding backwards, while the very few wealthiest Americans capture more and more of the gains. This increasing income inequality is holding back our economic growth.

When the very richest make more money, they end up with ever-fatter bank accounts. But when low- and middle-income consumers make more, they spend more of it at the grocery store, and in shops and restaurants, generating economic activity that benefits everyone.

In fact, many businesses have reported that weak demand is a main factor holding back their growth. As a front-page story in last week's Wall Street Journal pointed out, stagnant incomes have created "a vicious circle that has left businesses waiting for stronger spending before they rev up hiring and investment."

To grow our economy, we need policies that stop this vicious circle--policies that boost working families' incomes.

Pending before Congress are two tried and true ways to stimulate that kind of growth: extend unemployment benefits to those who simply can't find work and increase the minimum wage so that no one who works full-time has to raise their family in poverty.

While the Senate is expected to vote on extending unemployment benefits today, for the moment, House Republican leadership continues to refuse to act on either measure.

That inaction is unacceptable. It also makes the Secretary of Labor's job--and willingness to act--all the more critical to address the economic concerns of American families.

This administration has proven time and time again that it is willing to advocate for hard-working Americans--taking decisive action to reward work, protecting the nest eggs of pension and 401k participants, enforcing and enhancing worker safety and wage laws, and promoting the employment of veterans and individuals with disabilities.

For example, just recently the administration announced plans to update our overtime rules to allow millions of additional workers access to overtime pay. The idea is pretty simple. If you work more, you should be paid more.

The president also recently announced that federal contractors must pay a minimum wage of $10.10 an hour--a first step toward raising the wage for all Americans. I know that both the president and Secretary Perez support my legislation to increase the minimum wage, index it to inflation, and provide overdue relief for tipped employees--lifting millions out of poverty.

On the retirement front, the department has been fighting to help 401k plan participants protect their hard-earned nest eggs from high fees and ensure that workers receive investment advice that is truly in their best interest.

At the same time, the department has been fighting child labor abroad and helping to level the playing field for American workers with our trade partners.

Mr. Secretary, I commend you for your leadership in tackling these critical issues. Yet we need to be doing more.

Mr. Chairman, in the 40 years I have been in Congress, I have never been more disappointed by this committee's repeated failure to address America's critical economic concerns.

While the Republican leadership will likely say that they have scores of jobs bills designed to help the economy, most of them are just gifts to special interests at the expense of workplace safety, clean drinking water, and the soundness and safety of our nation's financial system.

There is still time--but not much time--to do better.

We should work with Secretary Perez in the final months of this Congress to pass legislation that will increase the minimum wage, tackle wage inequity for women, protect senior citizens and LGBT workers from discrimination, and provide quality job training to boost employment opportunities.

Thank you again, Secretary Perez, for joining us today.

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