Committee on Education and Workforce
More on Committee on Education and Workforce
January 29, 2018
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, unions empower workers with the freedom to negotiate for a fair return on their work and they provide a collective voice to advocate for policies that benefit working people.
Union workers, including those in the public sector, have more access to paid leave, medical and retirement benefits, and higher pay than workers who are not unionized. Children of union members experience more upward mobility than children of workers who are not covered with union contracts, and States with higher union density have stronger workplace protections.
There is a long history of unions helping the least powerful secure dignity on the job. This is the 50th anniversary of the Memphis sanitation workers' strike in 1968. After two workers were crushed in garbage compactors, the Memphis sanitation workers peacefully protested for better pay and safer working conditions. They sought representation from the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME. They marched with placards that simply stated: ``I am a man.''
January 29, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on the nine year anniversary of the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a law that empowers workers to recover lost wages due to pay discrimination by extending the time period in which an employee can file a claim. “Last week, hundreds of thousands of women and men took to the streets to demand equal rights, including workplaces free from discrimination and harassment. As we commemorate the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act ─ a step towards equity in the workplace ─ we must also acknowledge we still have a ways to go."
January 24, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) today requested the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to expand a previously requested investigation into the potentially illegal submission of fake comments to federal regulatory agencies. The four Democratic committee leaders made their request in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray. It follows a June request from Pallone that the DOJ and FBI investigate whether fake comments submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as part of the net neutrality public comment period violated federal law.
January 23, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), ranking member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, Congressman Keith Ellison (MN-05), vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congressman Mark Takano (CA-41), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), vice ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, sent a letter to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta requesting the DOL hold public hearings on its proposed rule to allow employers to pocket tips of workers who are paid at least the minimum wage.
January 18, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announcement on its decision to create a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the Office for Civil Rights: “Today, the Trump administration announced its decision to create a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the Office for Civil Rights. This announcement must be examined as part of the administration's broader pattern of promoting discrimination. There is no indication that patients’ access to appropriate health care will not be jeopardized. The administration has already issued a rule to allow virtually any employer or institution of higher education to deny preventive health services for women, and continues to take steps to open the door for discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community, those in interracial relationships, and minority religious groups."
January 17, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) and 153 House Democrats sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging the administration to invest in the critical infrastructure that affects every city and town in the nation – our public schools. Too many of the more than 50 million students and six million staff who learn and work in our public schools spend their days in facilities that fail to make the grade. “To address this crisis, the federal government should partner with states and territories to ensure that public schools in every community are safe, healthy, and modern – particularly in low-income and rural school districts where the need is often most profound."
January 11, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after a meeting with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to discuss priority issues for House Democrats. Today’s meeting was the first meeting between the Ranking Member and the Secretary. “My discussion with Secretary DeVos today reaffirmed for me that we share a common goal – to ensure all students are supported to achieve their full potential. Secretary DeVos and I will not always agree on the best ways to achieve that goal. But I am confident there are areas, like expanding access to quality career and technical education including apprenticeships, where we can work together."
January 11, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC – Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed S. 140 [239 to 173]. Hidden in the package of non-controversial tribal water supply and lands legislation, was the poison pill H.R. 986. “The so-called ‘Tribal Sovereignty Act’ strips hundreds of thousands of workers employed at Indian-owned enterprises—such as casinos, hotels, and mines—of their voice in the workplace and the protections under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). At issue in this bill are two solemn and deeply rooted principles. The first is the rights of Indian tribes as distinct, independent political communities. The second is the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively. Rather than attempting to balance these important principles, S. 140 simply strips workers’ of their rights to secure better wages and benefits.
January 10, 2018
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to S. 140.
As has been pointed out, buried in section 3 of this otherwise noncontroversial water and lands bill is the text of H.R. 986, the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act. This nongermane provision would strip thousands of employees of their rights and protections under the National Labor Relations Act at Tribal enterprises located on Tribal lands.
At issue in the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act are two solemn and deeply rooted principles:
First, the right that Indian Tribes possess in matters of local self-governance;
Second, the rights of workers to organize unions, bargain collectively, and engage in concerted activities for mutual aid and protection.
Rather than attempting to balance these two important principles, the bill chooses sovereignty for some over the human rights of others. I would note that the approximately 75 percent of workers employed at Tribal casinos are not members of the Tribes running the casino, but this bill would strip labor rights of hundreds of thousands of these workers as well as those who are actually members of the Tribes.
January 4, 2018
WASHINGTON – Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ways and Means Ranking Member Richard Neal (MA-01), and Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) issued the following statement after the Department of Labor issued a proposed rule to rollback health coverage protections by expanding association health plans. “Today, the Administration took further steps to undermine the health and well-being of the American people."