Committee Will Continue Work to Strengthen America's Middle Class

By Betsy Miller Kittredge on 10-16-2008, 02:23 PM

In December 2006, Rep. George Miller, the new Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, announced that the Committee would be dedicated to the mission of strengthening America’s middle class. And over the past two years, the Committee has delivered on its promise. America's students, workers, and families need help more than ever during the current financial crisis, and the Committee will continue its work to strengthen the middle class. Below is an overview of the Committee’s legislative milestones in the 110th Congress.

 Affordable colleges »
The Committee has enacted three laws that together will make college more affordable and accessible for middle class students, create a more efficient, consumer-friendly, and fair American higher education system, and protect federal student loans from turmoil in the economy.

High quality education »
The Committee enacted legislation to strengthen the nation’s premiere early childhood program, giving more young children the skills they need to succeed in school and in life. The Committee also helped enact emergency aid to help Gulf Coast schools and colleges still working to recover from Katrina and Rita. In addition, the Committee took a key step toward improving learning conditions for schoolchildren by passing legislation to help schools modernize their facilities and become more energy-efficient.

A competitive workforce »
The Committee has enacted legislation that builds on the principles Democrats first laid out in their “Innovation Agenda – A Commitment to Competitiveness to Keep America Number One.” These new laws will help prepare more Americans for jobs in emerging, high-tech industries that will keep our nation more competitive and create more good-paying jobs here at home.

Fairness in the workplace »
During the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress, the House passed the first increase in the minimum wage in ten years. Since then, Committee has passed a series of key measures to strengthen workers’ rights, improve workplace safety, end discriminatory practices that have unfairly eroded workers’ pay and other benefits, and help workers balance demands of work and family.

Retirement security »
While roughly 50 million American workers now have 401(k) style retirement plans, studies show that the vast majority of these workers don’t know how much they are paying in fees to the companies that service their 401(k) plans – fees that could be eating away at their retirement savings. The Committee passed legislation to help workers better understand these hidden fees and strengthen their retirement security.

Safe children and youth »
The Committee enacted laws to protect America's children and youth, including runaway, homeless and missing children, and to increase penalties when employers violate child labor laws. The House also passed legislation to protect teens in public and private residential programs.

Accountability and responsibility »
The Committee conducted oversight over government agencies in its jurisdiction, shining a light on the Bush administration’s failures to safeguard taxpayer dollars used to fund education programs and its efforts to weaken protections for workers. In some cases, the Committee’s investigations paved the way for legislation and spurred the U.S. Department of Justice to pursue a criminal investigation.

By the numbers...»
The Committee has held 113 hearings and heard from 683 witnesses in its efforts to grow and strengthen the nation’s middle class. In the next Congress, the Committee will continue to build on this record by working to improve the lives of children, students, workers and families.

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Labor Department Not Effectively Fighting Child Labor Violations, Witnesses Say

By Betsy Miller Kittredge on 09-23-2008, 01:53 PM

The U.S. Department of Labor is failing to effectively enforce the nation’s child labor laws, witnesses told the Workforce Protection Subcommittee today.  According to a study by the National Consumers League, the number of child labor investigations decreased dramatically during the Bush administration: The number of child labor investigations conducted by the Labor Department in 2006 was at the lowest in at least a decade.  Meanwhile, research by the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, a coalition of migrant and seasonal agricultural nonprofit and public agencies, indicates that approximately 400,000 children under the age of 18 work in the fields to help support their families. While there are numerous restrictions on what dangerous job functions underage workers may perform, there are few protections if those children happen to work in agriculture.  Agricultural child labor rules have remained largely unchanged since signed into law in 1938. At that time, a quarter of all American lived on farms and the majority of the agricultural work was performed on the family farm. Unlike counterparts in other industries, minors working in agriculture are still permitted to log in more than 40 hours a week without overtime pay.

“Children at age 12 [are] not allowed to work making copies in an air-conditioned office or cleaning floors at a local store.  Yet today in America, children can legally work in harsh conditions out in the farm fields for wages sometimes below minimum wage. Exploitation of children, regardless if it’s done legally or illegally, needs to stop today.” -- Norma Flores, a former migrant farmer who began working when she was 12 years old.

“Unfortunately, all the laws and labor protections in the world won’t help if we do not adequately enforce our child labor laws.  It is clear that the Bush administration is not focused on enforcing the laws already on the books.” --  Rep. Lynn Woolsey, chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee.

“Much more can and must be done to better protect our young people from hazards and dangers they confront in the workplace. Child labor law is no longer a high priority for the Department of Labor.” -- Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League.

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