Floor Statements
December 2, 2015
Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to endorse the conference report on S. 1177, the Every Student Succeeds Act.
We have certainly come a long way since we were on the floor debating H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, earlier this year. I had sincere objections to much that was found in H.R. 5, but thanks to the commitment to work together to try to fashion a decent bill with Chairman Kline and our counterparts in the Senate, Senator Alexander and Senator Murray, along with the many long nights from our respective staffs, we found a way to produce a conference report that balances the desire for more localized decisionmaking with the need for Federal oversight to ensure equity for underserved students.
November 30, 2015
Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Illinois and the gentleman from New Jersey for organizing this Special Order tonight. It takes a lot of work and a lot of time to organize these efforts, and I want to thank them both for the time and effort that they have put into this.
We have heard a lot about what the Congressional Black Caucus has done over the years. There are two areas that I have been personally involved in with the CBC effort in the areas of education and criminal justice reform. On both we have worked hard and achieved bipartisan support.
November 17, 2015
Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2015, legislation that would strip employees of protections afforded under the National Labor Relations Act at any enterprise owned by an Indian tribe and located on Indian lands.
At issue are two solemn and deeply-rooted principles: one, the right of Indian tribes to possess as distinct independent political communities retaining their original rights in matters of local self-government; and, two, the rights of workers to organize, bargain collectively, and engage in concerted activities for their mutual aid and protection.
November 4, 2015
Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the King amendment.
This amendment would prohibit the application and payment of prevailing wages provided under the Davis-Bacon Act for funds expended on construction projects in this bill.
Davis-Bacon sets wage and benefit standards for federally assisted construction projects to ensure that contractors compete on the quality of their work, not by undercutting wage levels in local communities. Negating the application of wage laws, as the King amendment proposes to do, often leads to shoddy construction and substantial cost overruns.
November 2, 2015
Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentlewoman for organizing this Special Order so that we can talk about many aspects of the criminal justice system.
You have asked us to talk about the militarization of communities, also what we can do to improve policing and the problem of mass incarceration. On the term of militarizing the communities, there was an amendment offered a few months ago that would have prevented the Department of Defense from giving local police departments certain military equipment.
Issues:
October 28, 2015
Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Congressional Progressive caucus for holding this Special Order on the Working Families Agenda.
Since the Republicans took over the House in January 2011, they have held hearing after hearing to make it harder for workers to form a union, they have attempted over 60 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they have been giving tax cuts to the wealthy, and all that time they have been wasting millions of dollars on the Benghazi Committee.
Enough is enough. The American people deserve better.
October 27, 2015
Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1090, the so-called Retail Investor Protection Act.
This bill puts an effective end to the Department of Labor's responsible effort to modernize a fiduciary standard under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, that was implemented 40 years ago.
As we all know, our country's retirement savings landscape has changed significantly since that time. Forty years ago, the majority of retirement assets were held in defined benefit plans and managed by professionals. Forty years ago, employer-based 401(k) plans did not exist and IRAs had just been established.
October 23, 2015
Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, today, the House will take yet another vote on the Affordable Care Act. More specifically today, we will vote on whether or not we want to support a budget reconciliation process that will seek to take away health insurance from millions of Americans--but this isn't a new exercise.
In the past 5 years, the House has voted about 60 times to repeal or to undermine the law. There have been multiple lawsuits filed, and countless attacks have been mounted--all with the same goal of turning the clock backwards on the progress we have made.
October 21, 2015
Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for giving me the opportunity to speak in honor of the recently departed Congressman William Donlon ``Don'' Edwards, a civil rights champion, supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment, defender of the Constitution.
I am proud to say that, as a freshman in Congress, I had the honor to serve with Congressman Edwards on the Committee on the Judiciary. I would just like to say a few words about his work on that committee.
Issues:
September 28, 2015
Floor Statements
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in honor of the lives of three civil rights luminaries. I thank the gentlewoman from Houston for giving us this opportunity to honor their lives: Congressman Louis Stokes, statesman and educator Julian Bond, both of whom I knew personally, and activist Amelia Robinson.
These champions of social and economic justice lived their lives just as Pope Francis challenged Members of Congress to do.
Issues: