“Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Mr. Secretary, for joining us this morning, most of all thank you for your leadership on behalf of American workers and their families.
“The Department of Labor exists to represent the tens of millions of families who form the bedrock of our society and the engine of our dynamic economy. It helps provide them with stability by protecting their wages, their working conditions, health benefits, and retirement security.
“The economic picture for these hardworking families is decidedly mixed. On the one hand, the unemployment rate has dropped dramatically. At the height of the recession, it peaked at 10.2 percent. Today, it is 5.5 percent.
“In each of the past 12 months, the economy has produced more than 200,000 new jobs - the longest streak of job creation in two decades.
“Yet the rewards have not been shared equally. Average hourly pay has risen only two percent per year - barely enough to keep up with inflation.
“Meanwhile, corporate profits and the stock market are at record highs. In fact, as economist Justin Wolfers and many others have noted, all of the financial gains of the recovery have gone to the richest one percent.
“This is just not good for our country. We cannot settle for an economy that benefits only Wall Street and a select few at the top; what we need to do is to build one that boosts wages and improves the lives of hardworking families. That is the recipe for true long-term growth. And that is why the Department’s mission of fighting for the working class has never been more important than it is today.
“Recently, the Department has made progress. It has been instrumental in raising the minimum wage for federal contractors and prohibiting retaliation when workers share pay information - both moves Congress would do well to emulate for all Americans.
“And it has taken steps toward requiring financial advisors to give advice on retirement savings that is in the best interests of their clients - as opposed to their own interests.
“I applaud these efforts, and I encourage you, Mr. Secretary, to press even harder over the next two years to strengthen worker protection. That brings me to the topic of today’s hearing - the fiscal year 2016 budget request for the Department of Labor.
“I am pleased to see your request for an increase of nearly $300 million for job training, including increases for state grants under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and a new program to boost registered apprenticeships.
“These investments are critical to building the high-skilled workforce that is necessary for employers to fill job openings and expand their operations in a high-tech and globally-competitive economy.
“I strongly support your request for an additional $500 million to fund career services for unemployed workers, particularly veterans. High-quality career counseling helps workers reconnect with employers. We can all agree that military veterans deserve to have a job waiting for them when they make the transition back to civilian life.
“And I am pleased to see your proposal to help states develop Paid Leave policies. At some point in our working lives, nearly all of us will need time off to deal with a serious illness or care for a child. Yet only 40 percent of American workers have access to paid medical leave, and only 13 percent can access paid family leave. It should not be like this. Paid leave should be a fundamental right for all Americans. And your proposal would move us in that direction.
“On the worker protection side, your budget includes a request for an additional 300 investigators at the Wage and Hour Division, to protect low-income workers against wage theft, and funds for the Office of Federal Contract Compliance, to address racial and gender pay discrimination. I applaud you for making this a priority.
“I also applaud you for the funding for the Women’s Bureau as well.
“I do not agree with every proposal in this budget. I am disappointed to see level funding for the Senior Community Service Employment Program, which is a great way to help low-income older Americans earn a paycheck while contributing to their communities.
“Overall, this request moves us in the right direction. The investments in this budget are necessary to help the millions of Americans who continue to be left behind in this recovery.
The problem, of course, is that you are starting from a base budget that has been cut by an inflation-adjusted $2.7 billion over the past five years.
“Around $1.2 billion has been taken from the job training programs that serve workers who have been laid off, as well as disadvantaged adults and young people. The Employment Service, which provides universal access to counseling and intensive services for job seekers looking to learn new skills, has been cut by 13 percent. Worker Protection agencies have lost six percent.
“The TAACCCT program, which helped train displaced workers for good-paying jobs in high-demand industries, has not been extended.
“Because of the sheer scale of these setbacks, the present request, for all its good points, would replace less than half of the funds the Department has lost since 2010.
“We need to do better. We need to eliminate the sequestration caps once and for all. We need to find new sources of revenue - including by shutting down tax loopholes and ending tax breaks for special interests. And we need to return to adequate levels of funding. Our nation’s working families cannot wait any longer.
“Thank you. And I look forward to your testimony and our discussion."
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
