The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Senate section on pages S7555-S7556 on June 9, 2003.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr09jn03-132]
[Page S7555-S7556]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr09jn03-132]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr09jn03-132]
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
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SENATE RESOLUTION 162--HONORING TRADESWOMEN
Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Mr. Collins, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Kennedy, and Ms. Cantwell) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:
S. Res. 162
Whereas women worked side by side with men for long shifts under dangerous conditions to rescue individuals, remove debris, and prepare the sites for future use at Ground Zero, the Pentagon, and in the Shanksville, Pennsylvania field after the September 11th terrorist attacks;
Whereas the number of tradeswoman has risen dramatically over the last 30 years, but remains startlingly low;
Whereas while the number of women carpenters has tripled since 1972, they still only represent 1.7 percent of workers in the occupation;
Whereas the number of electricians who are female has quadrupled over that same time period, yet women make up only 2.7 percent of electricians;
Whereas the number of women who are firefighters has increased by 6 fold, yet women account for only 3 percent of all firefighters;
Whereas the skilled trades industry is experiencing a significant labor shortage, which will be exacerbated over the next 2 decades as many skilled workers retire;
Whereas the United States Department of Labor projects job growth in the skilled trades industry at 12.3 percent through the year 2010;
Whereas the National Association of Manufacturers reports a projected need for 10,000,000 new skilled workers by 2020, and the Associated General Contractors predicts a shortage of 250,000 skilled workers per year;
Whereas the average age of a construction worker is 47;
Whereas many women are employed in jobs that pay only a minimum wage and do not provide benefits, such as health insurance;
Whereas 59 percent of women earn $8 per hour, and while women constitute 47 percent of the workforce, they make up 60 percent of the working poor;
Whereas 44 percent of women are reported to be the sole supporter of themselves or their families;
Whereas the majority of women are segregated into 20 out of 440 occupations;
Whereas women could increase their earnings significantly by obtaining skills that allow them to become tradeswomen, for example a journey level electrician will make over
$1,000,000 more than a typical cashier in a 30-year career;
Whereas women make up 77 percent of all wait staff who earn
$6.55 an hour, on average, and only 5 percent of truck drivers who make an average of $17.50 an hour; and
Whereas women need greater access to training and opportunities to participate in skilled trades occupations: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) there should be more attention paid to breaking down the barriers that women face in entering the skilled trades; and
(2) policymakers, labor unions, and industry leaders should look at different labor pools to address existing and future skills shortages.
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SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 50--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT
THERE SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED A NATIONAL TRUCK SAFETY MONTH TO RAISE
PUBLIC AWARENESS ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTIONS, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND NEEDS
OF TRUCK DRIVERS TO MAKE THE NATION'S HIGHWAYS SAFER
Mr. TALENT submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:
S. Con. Res. 50
Whereas over 2,000,000 long-haul trucks and 138,000,000 automobiles share the Nation's highways each day;
Whereas the loss of more than 5,000 lives each year in accidents involving large trucks raises important safety issues;
Whereas truck drivers, who experience more workplace fatalities than any other single occupation, are acutely aware of their responsibility to contribute to highway safety;
Whereas long-haul truckers serve vital business just-in-time delivery schedules at great personal sacrifice, including driving at all times of the day and under adverse weather, road, and delivery conditions;
Whereas the United States economy depends upon the Nation's long-haul truckers, who deliver 71 percent of the dollar value of freight hauled in the United States;
Whereas truck safety has become the highest priority of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the Federal Government invests nearly $200,000,000 in truck safety enforcement activities each year; and
Whereas truck drivers across the Nation have committed themselves to make June a model month for compliance with the truck safety rules: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That--
(1) it is the sense of Congress that there should be established a National Truck Safety Month to raise public awareness about the contributions, responsibilities, and needs of truck drivers to make the Nation's highways safer; and
(2) Congress requests that the President issue a proclamation commending all truckers for their extra efforts to comply with truck safety regulations, designating a month for highway safety, and calling on all highway users, shippers, receivers, motor carriers, and Federal and State regulatory and law enforcement officials to support the efforts of truck drivers to make the Nation's highways a safer place to travel and to work.
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SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 51--COMMENDING MEDGAR WILEY EVERS AND HIS
WIDOW, MYRLIE EVERS-WILLIAMS FOR THEIR LIVES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS, DESIGNATING A MEDGAR EVERS NATIONAL WEEK OF REMEMBRANCE, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES
Mr. COCHRAN (for himself and Mr. Lott) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:
S. Con. Res. 51
Whereas a pioneer in the fight for racial justice, Medgar Wiley Evers, was born July 2, 1925, in Decatur, Mississippi, to James and Jessie Evers;
Whereas, to faithfully serve his country, Medgar Evers left high school to join the Army when World War II began and, after coming home to Mississippi, he completed high school, enrolled in Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, presently known as Alcorn State University, and majored in business administration;
Whereas, as a student at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, Evers was a member of the debate team, the college choir, and the football and track teams, was the editor of the campus newspaper and the yearbook, and held several student offices, which gained him recognition in Who's Who in American Colleges;
Whereas, while a junior at Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, Evers met a freshman named Myrlie Beasley, whom he married on December 24, 1951, and with whom he spent the remainder of his life;
Whereas, after Medgar Evers received a bachelor of arts degree, he moved to historic Mound Bayou, Mississippi, became employed by Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Company, and soon began establishing local chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (referred to in this resolution as the ``NAACP'') throughout the Delta region;
Whereas, moved by the plight of African-Americans in Mississippi and a desire to change the conditions facing them, in 1954, after the United States Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional, Medgar Evers became the first known African-American person to apply for admission to the University of Mississippi Law School, but was denied that admission;
Whereas, as a result of that denial, Medgar Evers contacted the NAACP to take legal action;
Whereas in 1954, Medgar Evers was offered a position as the Mississippi Field Secretary for the NAACP, and he accepted the position, making Myrlie Evers his secretary;
Whereas, with his wife by his side, Medgar Evers began a movement to register people to vote in Mississippi and, as a result of his activities, Medgar Evers received numerous threats;
Whereas, in spite of the threats, Medgar Evers persisted, with dedication and courage, to organize rallies, build the NAACP's membership, and travel around the country with Myrlie Evers to educate the public;
Whereas Medgar Evers' passion for quality education for all children led him to file suit against the Jackson, Mississippi public schools, which gained him national media coverage;
Whereas Medgar Evers organized students from Tougaloo and Campbell Colleges, coordinated and led protest marches, organized boycotts of Jackson businesses and sit-ins, and challenged segregated bus seating, and for these heroic efforts, he was arrested, beaten, and jailed;
Whereas the violence against Medgar Evers came to a climax on June 12, 1963, when he was shot and killed in front of his home;
Whereas, after the fingerprints of an outspoken segregationist were recovered from the scene of the shooting, and 2 juries deadlocked without a conviction in the shooting case, Myrlie Evers and her 3 children moved to Claremont, California, where she enrolled in Pomona College and earned her bachelor's degree in sociology in 1968;
Whereas, after Medgar Evers' death, Myrlie Evers began to create her own legacy and emerged as a national catalyst for justice and equality by becoming active in politics, becoming a founder of the National Women's Political Caucus, running for Congress in California's 24th congressional district, serving as Commissioner of Public Works for Los Angeles, using her writing skills to serve as a correspondent for Ladies Home Journal and to cover the Paris Peace Talks, and rising to prominence as Director of Consumer Affairs for the Atlantic Richfield Company;
Whereas Myrlie Evers became Myrlie Evers-Williams when she married Walter Williams in 1976;
Whereas, in the 1990's, Evers-Williams convinced Mississippi prosecutors to reopen Medgar Evers' murder case, and the reopening of the case led to the conviction and life imprisonment of Medgar Evers' killer;
Whereas Evers-Williams became the first female to chair the 64-member Board of Directors of the NAACP, to provide guidance to an organization that was dear to Medgar Evers' heart;
Whereas Evers-Williams has published her memoirs, entitled
``Watch Me Fly: What I Learned on the Way to Becoming the Women I Was Meant to Be'', to enlighten the world about the struggles that plagued her life as the wife of an activist and empowered her to become a community leader;
Whereas Evers-Williams is widely known as a motivational lecturer and continues to speak out against discrimination and injustice;
Whereas her latest endeavor has brought her home to Mississippi to make two remarkable contributions, through the establishment of the Evers Collection and the Medgar Evers Institute, which advance the knowledge and cause of social injustice and which encompass the many lessons in the life's work of Medgar Evers and Myrlie Evers-Williams;
Whereas Evers-Williams has presented the extraordinary papers in that Collection and Institute to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, where the papers are being preserved and catalogued; and
Whereas it is the policy of Congress to recognize and pay tribute to the lives and accomplishments of extraordinary Mississippians such as Medgar Evers and Myrlie Evers-Williams, whose life sacrifices have contributed to the betterment of the lives of the citizens of Mississippi as well as the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That--
(1) Congress commends Medgar Wiley Evers and his widow, Myrlie Evers-Williams, and expresses the greatest respect and gratitude of Congress, for their lives and accomplishments;
(2) the Senate--
(A) designates the period beginning on June 9, 2003, and ending on June 16, 2003, as the ``Medgar Evers National Week of Remembrance''; and
(B) requests that the President issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe the week with appropriate ceremonies and activities; and
(3) copies of this resolution shall be furnished to the family of Medgar Wiley Evers and Myrlie Evers-Williams and made available to representatives of the media.
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