congressional_record: CREC-1996-10-21-pt1-PgS12422-2
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| granule_id | date | congress | session | volume | issue | title | chamber | granule_class | sub_granule_class | page_start | page_end | speakers | bills | citation | full_text |
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| CREC-1996-10-21-pt1-PgS12422-2 | 1996-10-21 | 104 | 2 | IMPORTANT WORK ON BEHALF OF WORKING PEOPLE DONE BY LABOR COMMITTEE DURING MY TENURE | SENATE | SENATE | ALLOTHER | S12422 | S12422 | [{"name": "Claiborne Pell", "role": "speaking"}] | 142 Cong. Rec. S12422 | Congressional Record, Volume 142 Issue 143 (Monday, October 21, 1996) [Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 143 (Monday, October 21, 1996)] [Senate] [Page S12422] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] IMPORTANT WORK ON BEHALF OF WORKING PEOPLE DONE BY LABOR COMMITTEE DURING MY TENURE Mr. PELL. Mr. President, upon joining the U.S. Senate in January 1961, I became a member of the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee--now called the Labor and Human Resources Committee. From the beginning of my career-long tenure on the committee until today, I have had the distinct honor of serving with and learning from some giants of the Senate and have had the pleasure of working on many important pieces of legislation. When I first joined the committee on January 1961--which, according to the Official Congressional Directory for the 87th Congress, met on the second and forth Thursdays of each month--membership of the committee included Ralph Yarborough of Texas, the great Jennings Randolph of West Virginia, Barry Goldwater, Everett Dirksen and my old, dear friend Jacob Javits. The following year, John Tower joined the committee. In 1963, our current ranking member Ted Kennedy first came to the committee. Few can question the wonderful work Senator Kennedy has done for America from his post on the committee. In the years following, many outstanding members of this body joined the committee and shared their skills and insights with us. Along with those I have already referred to, I have had the pleasure of working with many whose names are well known to this day: Robert F. Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Tom Eagleton, Alan Cranston, Richard Schweicker, my partner for many years on Education matters Robert Stafford, Orrin Hatch, Howard Metzenbaum, Strom Thurmond and our current Chair, the most gracious Nancy Kassebaum. I do not believe our committee has ever been led by a more evenhanded Chair. I think it is a tribute to the committee and the importance of its jurisdiction that some of the greatest Senators of our time decided to sit on the committee. During my tenure on the Labor Committee, the committee has worked on many important issues in the areas of health, education, and labor including many directly affecting the working men and women of this country. A brief review of the achievements of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee shows that during the past 36 years, we have worked to create and improve laws of great import to the working people of this Nation. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 established broad minimum standards for the conditions under which American workers work. The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 gave the Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission much needed teeth to curb workplace discrimination. In 1974, unemployment compensation was extended to 12 million previously uncovered Americans. After five years of committee hearings and study, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act [ERISA] was enacted that guaranteed that pension plan participants would receive their promised benefits even if the pension fund was terminated. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibited workplace discrimination for workers between 40 and 67 years of age. When I joined the committee in 1961, the Federal minimum wage was $1. That minimum was increased over the years and thanks to the efforts of many on this committee, minimum wage workers in the United States will be receiving a much needed raise to $5.15 over the next 2 years. Many job retraining programs have been established to help workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. During the 104th Congress, the committee spent a great deal of time trying to unify the Federal programs into one single program better suited for the demands of today's workplace. Unfortunately, those efforts ended in failure. In 1988, legislation passed by this committee to require advance notification to workers of plant closings and large scale layoffs became law. In 1986, certain protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act were extended to disabled individuals. The above is but a thumbnail outline of the important work in the area of labor and employment done by the Labor Committee during the past 36 years. I am pleased to have been involved in such important work with a fine group of colleagues--both well-known and unsung. ____________________ |