Paycheck Fairness Act -- Motion to Proceed -- Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, I think what we just heard was a number of our Members have amendments they are going to talk about and offer when we get on the bill--and I assume we will at some point--so we can debate and vote on them. We are talking about an issue that is important to people across this country, and we have amendments that we think would improve, strengthen, make better the bill that is going to be on the floor that has been described as the Pay Equity Act by the Democrats.

We actually think there is a better way to do this. We think there is a way that actually would improve the wages, provide better job opportunities, and better opportunities for advancement for women.

This morning the majority leader quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson who said, ``America is another name for opportunity.'' I could not agree more with that statement. The American dream is to work hard and achieve upward mobility. Americans want good jobs, and they want to earn a fair wage. But the current Obama economy is doing everything it can to hurt the American dream.

The economy is stagnant. There are 10 million Americans who are unemployed--nearly 4 million for 6 months or longer. Household income has fallen. Right now there are 3.7 million more women living in poverty than there were when the President took office.

I will repeat that. There are 3.7 million more women living in poverty today than there were when the President took office. The median income for women has dropped by $733 since President Obama took office. That is why this body should be focused on enacting policies that lift the government-imposed burdens that impede job opportunities and economic growth.

I have offered an amendment--and I just asked unanimous consent to be able to have it debated and voted on when we get on this bill--that actually is focused on enacting policies that lift the government-imposed burdens that impede job opportunities and economic growth. It is called the Good Jobs, Good Wages, and Good Hours Act. It would help return America to a place where there are good job opportunities.

My amendment would help create good-paying jobs by reining in burdensome regulatory requirements, shielding workers from the damaging effects of ObamaCare, approving the Keystone XL Pipeline, and providing permanent tax relief to employers that are looking to expand and hire.

Republicans could not agree more that women should have equal opportunities and pay in the workplace. Unfortunately, the legislation our friends on the other side are pushing will not accomplish that goal. Their legislation would increase Federal regulations that would cut flexibility in the workplace for working moms and end merit pay that rewards quality work.

The Democrats seem to be trying to change the subject of how their ideas are actually hurting women in the workforce. Of those affected by the Democrats' ObamaCare 30-hour workweek that is reducing wages, 63 percent are women. So that policy of going to a 30-hour workweek that was defined as such in ObamaCare, 63 percent of the impact of that is being felt by women. Of the roughly 500,000 jobs that CBO projects will be lost by the end of 2016 thanks to the Democrats' 40-percent minimum wage hike, 235,000 of those--or 57 percent--would be jobs that are held by women. Disproportionately, these policies are going to hurt women.

The poverty rate for women has increased to 16.3 percent from 14.4 percent as of when the President took office. So the poverty rate is higher. We have women who are living in worse economic conditions than when the President took office. If the Democrats were truly serious about fixing that problem--if they are truly serious about helping women--they would work with us on bills to create jobs and to expand workplace opportunities for women and for men as well. That is exactly what my amendment does. It addresses the problems created by ObamaCare, it includes a provision pushed by Senator Collins that would restore the 40-hour workweek I mentioned earlier, and it will finally repeal the job-destroying medical device tax for which Senators TOOMEY, HATCH, and COATS have been tirelessly fighting.

My amendment ensures that veterans and the long-term unemployed are not punished by the costs of the ObamaCare employer mandate in that legislation. Senator Blunt has raised that issue in the Senate on behalf of veterans, and in the House a similar bill passed by a margin of 406 to 1.

My amendment also provides permanent, targeted tax relief to millions of small businesses. Small businesses create 65 percent of all new jobs. Yet this administration has done little more than punish them with more regulations and higher taxes.

The amendment also halts harmful EPA regulations until the EPA conducts additional analysis of the impact those existing rules would have on jobs.

It is time this body recognizes that the policies the other side is advancing are not achieving the outcomes they claim will occur. We need to renew our commitment to helping all Americans, including women, find job opportunities that allow them to achieve the American dream. We need to return this country to a place where America truly is another name for opportunity.

Earlier today the President and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, Karen Kerrigan, wrote an article that says this proposal I am speaking about ``offers a set of really good policy proposals to help women entrepreneurs and women in the workforce.''

That is why I sought unanimous consent to have this amendment debated and voted on, along with many of my colleagues, including the Senator from Nebraska Mrs. Fischer and the Senator from New Hampshire Ms. Ayotte, who are here to speak about amendments they want to put forward as a part of this debate. I asked unanimous consent earlier for those amendments to be considered as well and once again that has been blocked by the majority leader. That is the wrong way to deal with an issue of this consequence.

If we want to help people--if we want to create jobs and grow the economy, which ultimately helps lift all the boats, improves the standard of living for middle-class families, women and men--the best way to do that is to get a growing, vibrant economy instead of a stagnant economy, which is what we have today, with too many who have been unemployed for a long period of time.

I hope our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will come to the conclusion that if we are going to debate this issue, we need to debate it in a comprehensive way that takes into consideration all of the ideas out there, including those that will be offered by my colleagues this afternoon.

I yield the floor.

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Mr. President, the Senator from Utah has an amendment he is going to speak to in a moment. I just want to say one thing. I appreciate the observation made by the Senator from New Hampshire Ms. Ayotte with regard to this going through a regular order process. If this were a serious discussion, there would have been an opportunity to have a debate at the appropriate committee, the HELP Committee.

You just heard great presentations by the Senator from Nebraska and the Senator from New Hampshire on amendments that they would like to have considered and debated and voted on--substantive amendments that address what is at the heart of this issue. I think we all understand what this is about. I mentioned this morning on the floor the New York Times story from a couple weeks ago about what the intention is with regard to these issues. Again, this is from the New York Times story, and I quote: ``to be timed to coincide with campaign-style trips by President Obama.'' ``Democrats concede,'' the Times reports, ``that making new laws is not really the point. Rather, they are trying to force Republicans to vote against them.'' The article goes on to say--and I quote again:

Privately, White House officials say they have no intention of searching for any grand bargain with Republicans on any of these issues. ``The point isn't to compromise''. .....

That is reporting from the New York Times, and quoting a White House official with regard to this.

This is clearly designed as a political ploy, as my colleagues from New Hampshire and Nebraska pointed out. If we were serious about this, there would be an open process where we could consider amendments--amendments that improve and strengthen the legislation that is before us--and actually it would be a better approach to addressing the issue that is before us; that is, to try to create better salaries, better wages, better opportunities for women. I say that as somebody who is the father of two adult daughters who are both in the workplace. I want to see them have every opportunity to advance themselves and to maximize the potential they have. But we cannot do that if we have policies coming out of Washington, DC, that make it more difficult, more expensive to create jobs, that throw a big wet blanket on our economy, and stifle the growth we need to create those types of opportunities for all Americans.

The Senator from Utah is here. He is going to speak to his amendment. But I think it is very clear what this is about; that is, simply trying to score a political point rather than have a serious, meaningful, substantive debate about solving an issue.

I yield the floor.

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