Confirmation of Eugene Scalia

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I want to express my disapproval of the confirmation of Eugene Scalia as Secretary of Labor. America's workers are the backbone of our economy, and the Secretary of Labor should be entrusted to strengthen worker protections, support unions, and play a crucial role in ensuring a just economy. Instead, Eugene Scalia has repeatedly demonstrated that he prioritizes the well-being of corporate interests over those of workers. Throughout his career as a corporate lawyer, he fought against unions, worker safety regulations, and consumer protections rules. For those reasons, I do not believe Eugene Scalia is fit to serve as Secretary of Labor.

My grandfather was one of the first Black members of United Auto Workers at Ford Motor Company, and through him, I learned the importance of worker rights that collective bargaining provides. Through collective action, unions are able to provide workers with livable wages, safe working conditions, and access to benefits like healthcare coverage and retirement savings. Not only has Eugene Scalia represented companies in arbitrations against collective bargaining agreements, but he identifies it as one of his most significant career moments. The Secretary of Labor should be doing everything in their power to make it easier--not harder--for working people to join unions.

Eugene Scalia also represented the Chamber of Commerce in working to overturn the fiduciary rule, a commonsense step towards protecting the retirement security of countless working families. Employers trying to design a quality plan for their workers, workers starting to save, and retirees trying to avoid spending down their nest egg too quickly deserve access to quality advice, without fear that financial bias is clouding their broker's judgment. Unfortunately, that access to quality, unbiased advice was ultimately overturned, in part thanks to the efforts of Eugene Scalia.

More Federal oversight and stricter safeguards are necessary to prevent the exploitation and discrimination of working people; yet Eugene Scalia has dedicated his career to fighting against the existing safeguards. He argued that more than 30 women alleging sexual harassment and retaliation should have their claims thrown out, defended a company that refused to hire a woman because she had dreadlocks, and fought against corporate whistleblowers. He has also worked to undermine the rights and protections provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act, stating that workers with disabilities should not be provided workplace accommodations.

When I go back to my home in Newark, I see many working families struggling to make ends meet, sometimes while working two to three jobs. They often face underemployment, wage stagnation, wage theft, and a variety of other tactics meant to keep wages down and suppress worker rights. They deserve a Secretary of Labor that will fight for them. The Trump administration and the previous Secretary of Labor have been relentless in their efforts to roll back workers' rights, attack unions, and undermine civil liberties. Unfortunately, I do not have any reason to believe that Secretary Scalia will be any different. This is why I must express my deep concern and opposition to his nomination and confirmation as Secretary of Labor.

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