Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMUCKER. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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Mr. SMUCKER. Mr. Speaker, I am in its current form.

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Mr. SMUCKER. Mr. Speaker, this motion to recommit ensures that nothing in H.R. 1230 shall be construed to alter the status of a truck driver who is an independent contractor if the truck driver is currently considered to be an independent contractor under Federal law.

Mr. Speaker, Democrats in Congress and in State legislatures across the country are currently working to enact an unnecessary, backward- looking, and confusing legal standard for determining employee status. Their standard would deprive millions of Americans of the opportunity to work independently and to start their own businesses.

It seems like bad ideas like this often start off in California, and the Democrats' desire to all but eliminate independent contracting is no exception. A California law, known as Assembly Bill 5, is wreaking havoc on workers in industries ranging from freelance journalism to ride-sharing and many more.

The result is heart-wrenching stories from workers whose livelihoods have been turned upside down because Democrats have pushed through a radical leftwing policy.

Interestingly, California Democrats carved out some of their favorite friends, but truck drivers were not exempted, despite their opposition, despite their rally at the State Capitol, which included blaring their truck horns and all.

Fortunately for truck drivers, a district court has recently issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the law against independent truck drivers in the State.

But it doesn't end there. Democrats right here in Congress continue this assault on independent contractors.

Mr. Speaker, 215 House Democrats have cosponsored the PRO Act, legislation that would take the text of California's anti-independent contractor law and make it Federal law, with no exemptions for truck drivers, or anyone else, for that matter.

Let me say this again. The Democrats' legislation pending in the House, on which, by the way, the majority leader promised a vote by President's Day, would impose California's anti-independent contractor law on every business in America.

Independent contracting today allows millions of American families the opportunity to live their own American Dream.

I started my own career as an independent contractor operating my own drywall company at the age of 17. The flexibility this status offered allowed me to grow the business, building a team of hundreds of employees with family-sustaining jobs over the course of 25 years.

Independent truck drivers specifically are able to invest in their own careers and work for themselves on their own schedules while powering the American economy across the country.

Mr. Speaker, according to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, there are over 350,000 owner-operator independent truck drivers in the United States. Their average net income in 2018 was well over $50,000, more than their professional employee-driver counterparts.

Last August, I participated in a ride with my constituent Randy Martin, who is owner-operator of Peachey Transport in Denver, Pennsylvania. Randy has grown a successful business hauling premier Lancaster County farm products.

He has been driving trucks since 1984 and shared with me that this career has allowed him to provide for his family while becoming a successful entrepreneur. It has allowed him and his family to achieve their own American Dream.

Randy isn't the only one. In 2017, a company collected stories from drivers on why they love trucking. One driver, Susan Couch, said:

I never knew a trucking job would become a passion and how much this career would change my life. It has allowed me to be independent and support my son alone. It has given me strength I never knew I had.

Tu Ngo told the San Francisco Chronicle that owning his own truck allows him to pursue the American Dream he was seeking when he fled Vietnam in 1982.

Eduardo Rangel values the flexibility he has to attend his young son's soccer games.

The stories are endless.

Independent truck driving provides a steady, stable, rewarding, and prosperous livelihood for thousands of American workers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support these American workers. I urge them to support this motion to recommit. A ``yes'' vote is a vote to support prosperity and to support free enterprise.

Don't let hardworking Americans become victims of a misguided labor scheme cooked up by socialist Democrats in California and right here in the U.S. Congress. Rather, vote ``yes'' to allow workers all across the country to prosper and to live their own American Dream.

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Mr. SMUCKER. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

A recorded vote was ordered.

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