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.
“HONORING THE LIFE OF LEONILA VEGA” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1982-E1983 on Dec. 21, 2012.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING THE LIFE OF LEONILA VEGA
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HON. LINDA T. SANCHEZ
of california
in the house of representatives
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, on November 19, 2012, the movement to improve direct care jobs lost a fearless and spirited leader when Leonila Vega passed away after battling cancer for fourteen months. As an advocate for direct care workers--the more than four million workers who assist elders and people living with disabilities--Leonila fought to improve wages, access to benefits, and respect for the profession. Born in rural Mexico, Leonila came to the United States as a teenager eager for the opportunity to pursue an education. She taught herself to speak and read English, worked her way through college, and went on to earn a law degree. As a disability rights attorney in Wisconsin, Ms. Vega developed a reputation as a ferocious advocate for the elderly and people living with disabilities. Her cases exposed her to the plight of direct care workers--many of whom are immigrant women--and she saw firsthand the challenges they faced, working long hours for little pay and no benefits, entrusted with the lives of their clients while suffering an alarming lack of respect. Her desire to improve life for these caregivers led her to become the Executive Director of Direct Care Alliance. At Direct Care Alliance, Ms. Vega worked to eliminate the exploitation of direct care workers and its harmful effects on care quality by empowering numerous direct care workers to see the valuable role they play in society. As she said, it was her American dream to help others realize their potential. I admire Ms. Vega's work on behalf of direct care workers, immigrants and people of color, and am saddened that we have lost such a vivacious and dynamic leader.
Among the issues that Ms. Vega championed was the extension of the Fair Labor Standards Act to cover home care workers. Sadly, this essential workforce is excluded from these basic protections. Such poor working conditions hinder recruitment and retention which, in turn, negatively affect the quality of care that millions of Americans receive. Troubled by this injustice, Ms. Vega ensured that the issue remained at the center of Direct Care Alliance's agenda. I was inspired by her passion to improve direct care jobs and introduced the Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act in 2010 and reintroduced a similar bill--the Direct Care Job Quality Improvement Act in 2011. One year ago, President Obama announced the Department of Labor's proposed rule to extend minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers. Sadly, Ms. Vega did not live to see the rule finalized, but we will continue to fight to make things right for direct care workers, just as she would have done. The values that Ms. Vega fought to advance--
respect and dignity for all people--are ones that everyone, regardless of political affiliation, shares and we must work together to move those efforts forward.
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