Floor Statements

Mr. President, 50 years ago, in August 1963, Martin Luther King wrote, ``Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.''

When a factory full of human beings collapses in Bangladesh, it matters in Bucyrus and Boardman and Bellefontaine. When the concrete ceiling of a shoe factory crumbles in Cambodia, it matters in Celina and Canton.

Earlier this month we observed Workers Memorial Day. We paused and remembered those Americans who had lost their lives on the job. We honor their memories by passing laws to help ensure no other child waits by the door for a mother or a father who will never return home from work.

Out of the ashes of the Triangle Shirt Waste Factory fire 100 years ago in New York City, we fought and won workplace safety reforms that have helped save countless lives decade after decade after decade in our country. Yet even though we have passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, even though we have a National Labor Relations Board, we still have a moral responsibility to be vocal about violations to worker safety wherever it happens--whether it happens in Cleveland, in Honolulu, or in Bangladesh.

We are interconnected with this world. Our economy is linked to the women and children--to the people--whose names we don't know, the workers we don't know, who sew labels we all know in our shirts and in our sweaters. American and European retailers purchase some two-thirds of Bangladeshi garment production.

That is why, Mr. President, in the aftermath of the deadly Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh and the Wing Star Shoes collapse outside of Phnom Penh, we might have expected outraged American companies to take action. That is not exactly what happened. Which member of this multibillion-dollar industry will speak out for workers who face hazardous conditions for a minimum wage--in many cases of just $38 per month--making the clothes we wear in this country?

Today, Leader Reid, Senator Harkin of Iowa, Durbin of Illinois, Levin of Michigan, Leahy of Vermont, Murray of Washington State, Rockefeller of West Virginia, and I sent a letter to some of our leading American retailers. We are urging retailers such as Walmart to sign onto a legally binding global accord to help ensure worker safety in Bangladesh. We are asking a number of the largest retailers in America to sign onto this legally binding global accord to help ensure worker safety in Bangladesh.

Remember, as Dr. King wrote some 50 years ago, injustice anywhere threatens our ability to create a more just world. Signing this accord from our retailers is one step our leading retailers can take to help us usher in a new era of justice in this new century.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I thank the Senator from California, the chair of the committee who has done an extraordinary job with Senator Vitter on this bill.

I ask unanimous consent to call up amendment No. 813.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, I am pleased to offer today, with my colleagues from Pennsylvania, Senator Toomey and Senator Casey, this amendment. As many of you know, the spread of Asian carp poses a threat to the Great Lakes' ecosystem. Because of the work of my Great Lakes State colleagues from Minnesota to Michigan, Pennsylvania, we are working to address this problem.

But it is not, contrary to what many believe, limited just to the Great Lakes. The Ohio and Upper Mississippi River Basins also face the threat of these invasive species. This no-cost amendment that Senator Toomey and I are offering would support multiagency efforts to hold the spread of Asian carp in the Ohio and Upper Mississippi Basin.

I ask my colleagues for their support.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask for the yeas and nays on the Brown amendment.

I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for up to 10 minutes.

Madam President, this past week we observed in this country Workers Memorial Day--when we pause and remember those Americans who lost their lives on the job.

For generations hard-working people have left their homes every morning or for second or third shift to earn an honest living, to provide for loved ones, to put food on the table. For generations too many would leave for their jobs but return home from work injured or in far too many cases not return home at all; they died operating heavy machinery on late-night shifts; they died working in coal mines; they died building roads and bridges; they died in far too many cases from lack of basic fire safety, ventilation systems, and lighting.

I have shared with my colleagues before that over the years many times I will wear a depiction of a canary in a bird cage on my lapel that reminds me why we honor these workers and why honoring these workers' lives matters. One hundred years ago, a mine worker took the canary down in the mine in a cage. If the canary died from toxic gas or lack of oxygen, the mine worker quickly left the mine, understanding that he had no union strong enough to protect him nor a government that cared enough to protect him.

In those days 100 years ago, when they took the canary in the mine, the life expectancy for a child born in this country was only 45 or 46 years. Today we live three decades longer because we understand everything from Medicare, to civil rights, to Social Security, to workers' compensation, to minimum wage, to prohibition, to child labor, to auto safety, to safe drinking water and clean air laws.

This pin symbolizes people who work hard and play by the rules. We have taken significant steps in this country to keep American workers safe and to provide them with fair wages and benefits. We know more work needs to be done.

Since the National Labor Relations Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act were enacted into law in the 1930s, workers in this country were guaranteed the right to form a union and bargain collectively. They benefited from a minimum wage and from overtime pay.

Today we see vicious attacks on unions and collective bargaining from State legislatures at the behest of their corporate and far-right benefactors. We see obstructionists in this body who block even the most reasonable and clearly necessary nominations to the National Labor Relations Board.

Yes, there is more work to be done. Even as OSHA--the Occupational Safety and Health Administration--works to ensure safe working conditions, job fatality rates have not changed in the last few years. More than 4,600 workers--think about that: 4,600 workers--were killed on the job in 2011. That is more than 10 a day. And 4,600 American workers went to work and didn't come home that night. About 50,000 more died from occupational disease. That is almost 1,000 a week who died because of exposure to chemicals or something that happened to them in the workplace.

Given the progress we have made over the last several decades, nonetheless, Americans live longer and enjoy a better quality of life, but there is more work to be done because too many are still denied fair wages and benefits, and, equally important, too many are still at serious risk of injury or death on the job.

Just days ago, on May 4, two workers in Ohio were killed when part of a crane fell on them at a steel mill construction site in Stark County, OH, in Perry Township. Brian Black, Mark Tovissi, and their families and all the workers of the Faircrest plant deserve better and deserve answers.

So too do workers in McLennan County, TX, where a fertilizer plant exploded recently and was a major story in the national news. That facility in West, TX, had not had a health and safety inspection since 1985. This disaster shows the tragic consequences of not conducting regular workplace inspections.

Fewer American miners died or were injured in 2012 than ever before, but in the first 3 months of 2013, 11 miners were killed in accidents that the Mine Safety and Health Administration called ``preventable.''

Stephen Koff, a reporter at the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, documented some of the problems the government has faced--the agency in charge of protecting miners' safety--the problems they have in levying fines against coal mine owners who have violated public safety rules. Yet, in an interconnected, globalized society, we can't turn away from these workplace disasters--not just in our country but overseas. The struggle to ensure that workers are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve is an international, universal, fundamental right.

We have recoiled from the stories of hundreds of garment workers in Bangladesh who died in a factory that collapsed a few weeks ago and others who died in a factory fire last year. Several brand-name retailers contract work in Bangladesh. They have a responsibility, once the label of their retail establishment is sewn into these clothes, whether they own the factory or whether they are an American retailer or an American textile maker that owns the factory or whether they subcontract to others and try to wash their hands of responsibility, they have a responsibility to work with the Bangladesh Government, to work with nongovernmental institutions, and to work with the workers themselves to improve their working environment. Anything less is unacceptable.

The United States has a moral duty to lead by example. We should examine contracts with companies that sell products manufactured by workers who have been denied in these countries--similar to the way they used to be in the United States and occasionally still are--who are denied even basic worker protections.

Let's not forget the American rescue workers who put their own lives in jeopardy to save hundreds of people over the past few weeks in Texas and in the home State of the Presiding Officer, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. First responders across our country deserve to know that we are doing everything we can to keep them and the people they protect as safe as possible. These are, generally, public employees. They generally carry a union card. While bystanders and others tend to run from disasters, they run toward those disasters.

Let us always remember those whom we have lost over the years. Whether they are public sector or private sector workers, we have lost them due to their labor. On Workers Memorial Day, particularly, remember them, but on every day.

Let us honor those workers who have died by renewing our commitment to protect hard-working American workers who get up, who go to work, who try to provide for themselves and their families.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, today I wish to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Columbus in Columbus, OH.

Since 1913, the JCC and its members have supported Ohioans through physical and mental well-being activities, early childhood initiatives, summer camps, and recreational sports programs.

I congratulate this vital organization on reaching this milestone and join many central Ohioans in expressing the deepest gratitude for JCC's service to the Greater Columbus community.

In 1913, Joseph Schonthal worked to help ensure Columbus's Jewish immigrant population had a place to come together in brotherhood.

He began providing meeting rooms for these newcomers and organizing activities for their children.

In 1918, he opened the Schonthal Center and the Jewish Infants Home of Ohio on East Rich Street in Columbus.

Nine years later, he purchased 25 acres of land in Union County for youth summer camps. In 1949, with the help of the United Jewish Fund, the JCC broke ground on its current home located on College Avenue.

Today's center is named in honor of Leo Yassenoff, the son of Russian immigrants, who made Columbus his home in 1912.

He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1916. After serving in World War I, Leo Yassenoff helped start F&Y Construction Company, which built many local drive-in theaters.

Yassenoff was a philanthropist throughout his life and donated a significant sum to the Jewish Center upon his death in 1971.

In 1983, the current home for the Columbus JCC was named in his honor.

In many ways, the stories of Leo Yassenoff and Joseph Schonthal are chapters in the larger American story--of neighbors coming together to make stronger communities.

Today, the Jewish Community Center has multiple locations throughout the Columbus Metropolitan area, which provide recreation facilities and pre-school programs.

JCC also continues to host summer camps and educate both students and adults on Jewish cultural heritage. It remains a hub for education, the arts, and spiritual well-being.

It engages the Columbus Metropolitan area as a whole; transcending issues, cultures, ethnicities, races, and religions. JCC also provides classes to immigrants and new Americans.

It works with organizations like the United Way providing services and education opportunities for those with special needs.

Throughout the past century, the JCC has grown along with Columbus and remains focused on its goal: to serve its local community.

On behalf of the people of Ohio and the United States, I thank the JCC of Greater Columbus for all their efforts and wish them another one hundred years of success. Mazel Tov!

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 1071, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 127.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 130, which was submitted earlier today.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I understand there is a bill at the desk. I ask for its first reading.

I now ask for a second reading and, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Madam President, I ask the President of the Senate be authorized to appoint a committee on the part of the Senate to join a like committee on the part of the House of Representatives to escort Her Excellency Park Geun-hye, the President of South Korea, into the House Chamber for the joint meeting at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 8, 2013.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 8; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that following any leader remarks, the Senate be in a period of morning business until 10 a.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees; further, that at 10 a.m. the Senate recess for the joint meeting of Congress with the President of the Republic of Korea until 11:30 a.m.; that when the Senate reconvenes, the Senate resume consideration of S. 601, the Water Resources Development Act, under the previous order.

Senators should gather in the Senate Chamber at 10 a.m. tomorrow to proceed as a body to the House for the joint meeting of Congress.

There will be three rollcall votes at 2 o'clock in relation to amendments to WRDA.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order.

Mr. President, on April 22, 1970--after years of planning--Earth Day activities stretched from college campuses, to city parks, to community halls across the country.

The landscape has changed since students, activists, and environmentalists celebrated the first Earth Day. That citizen call to action spurred a new season of environmental protections that have improved the health of our Nation's air, lands, rivers, and the Great Lakes.

Just several decades ago, polluted air and water threatened the public health and safety of our Nation. The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland had caught on fire and oil spills marred the beaches of Santa Barbara.

These catastrophic events served as catalysts that established the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, passed the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and formed a public and political consciousness of the need to safeguard our environment.

Today, the Cuyahoga River--44 years after the fire--is cleaner and healthier, more than 60 different fish species are thriving, and countless families are again enjoying its natural beauty.

Today, Earth Day is celebrated around the world.

Now communities across Ohio and the Nation are spurring on the next generation of environmental innovation.

Seeds planted in places such as Oregon, OH--a city just east of Toledo in northwest Ohio--are beginning to grow.

To reduce energy costs, the Oregon City School District partnered with the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority to transition away from traditional electricity to wind and solar power. Oregon City Schools set up wind turbines at Clay High School and Eisenhower Middle School. They installed solar panels on the roofs of Jerusalem and Starr Elementary Schools. And these innovative investments have paid off. In just 10 days in October, Clay Campus's wind turbine, Power Wind 56, produced 149 percent of campus energy needs. All computers, all lights, all kitchen activity, and fans on Clay Campus are now wind-powered. This includes the administration building, bus garage, and maintenance building at the stadium. Besides saving on energy costs, as of March 21, the school district is producing 800 fewer tons of carbon dioxide. This means less acid rain-causing sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide going into the air.

This innovation and activism marks tremendous progress toward a more sustainable environment.

If we fail to protect our natural resources, we risk the health of citizens, the viability of our coastal areas, and the productivity of our State's farms, forests, and fisheries. We risk our long-term economic and national security. Yet we know that choosing between economic growth and environmental protections is a false choice.

Despite our population growing by 50 percent in the past 40 years and the number of cars on the road having doubled over that same time, our air is now 60 percent cleaner than at the time of the first Earth Day in 1970.

Done right, our Nation can become energy independent, improve its global competitiveness, and create new jobs and technologies for our workforce. As we plant the seeds for economic growth--for new jobs in new industries--we are also planting the seeds for a cleaner, more sustainable environment.

The students and parents of the Oregon City School District are a reminder that taking steps to protect our air and water is something that we do every day, not just on April 22.

Earth Day reminds us of our ability and our history of innovation and perseverance to protect our environment for current and future generations.

Mr. President, I thank Senator Enzi, the senior Senator from Wyoming, for his good work on this legislation and for his always courteous demeanor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for up to 8 minutes.

Mr. President, this week Senator Durbin and I are introducing the Working Families Tax Relief Act with a majority of my Democratic colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee.

For a number of years, one area of bipartisan agreement in Washington has been on the need for comprehensive tax reform. Tax reform can clear the Code of wasteful carve-outs and special interest loopholes.

Senator Enzi was part of a bipartisan meeting that the Finance Committee is wont to do, sitting around a table talking about these issues, just last week.

We understand that comprehensive tax reform can place American companies on an even footing with foreign competitors. It can reduce the deficit. It can provide a shot in the arm to economic competitiveness and growth. On that there is agreement.

What comprehensive reform should not do--and there is general agreement on this also--is undermine the earned-income tax credit and the child tax credit. These credits are the single most effective incentive to increase low-income parents participating in the workforce and reward work and promote family formation--all goals which we, I believe, all seek. That is why support for these programs in the past has been broad-based and bipartisan.

President Reagan and former Representative Jack Kemp--the former running mate of Senator Dole in a Presidential election--were champions of the modern earned-income tax credit. When it was expanded in 1986, President Reagan said it is ``the best antipoverty, the best pro- family, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress.'' He was right.

In Ohio some 1 million households received the EITC--the earned- income tax credit--and 665,000 households received the CTC--the child tax credit--on average in the 3 years of 2009, 2010, and 2011.

That is why this week Senator Durbin and I, along with most of our Democratic colleagues, are introducing the Working Families Tax Relief Act. Our bill would make permanent the 2009 levels for the earned- income tax credit and the child tax credit. It would index the child tax credit for inflation. It would allow workers without children to access the full earned-income tax credit. It would reduce the full earned-income tax credit access age to 21. It would simplify the filing process to reduce fraud because there is some acknowledged fraud in this program, as

there is throughout the tax system. And I have pledged to many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, as this bill moves forward, to work to reduce that fraud.

The Recovery Act of 4 years ago expanded access and refundability for both the EITC and CTC. It was meant to respond to the great recession but also to ensure the country's finest antipoverty programs keep up with the times. Making these credits permanent at the current level is critical to fighting poverty.

In 2011, the EITC and CTC lifted 10 million people, including 5 million children, out of poverty. The EITC has helped nearly half a million single mothers enter the workforce. These credits do not just reward work, they provide lifelong benefits to children. We know from studies that it improves health outcomes, it increases earning potential for children in low-income families, because those families pulled out of poverty can give advantages to those children that pay off later in life they could not give to those children in those families if their incomes were below the poverty line.

Expectant mothers who receive the EITC are more likely to receive prenatal care. These are not opinions; they are fact. Newborns are more likely to experience birth indicators, such as low weight and premature birth. Behind all of these statistics are real people, people whose lives and opportunities are improved because of these credits.

Let me share a story. Michelle Eddy, a Cleveland native, is a single mother who works hard to support her two daughters. One is 9, the younger is 4. This year the Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland helped Ms. Eddy prepare her tax return. She was able to use the credits she received from Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit to pay for school supplies, uniforms, and daycare for her two daughters.

She has worked in a retail store as a shift manager for 5 years. She recently, though, started a new job as a restaurant server so she can spend evenings and weekends with her daughters. Without EITC, without CTC, she would almost certainly have to work a second job to make ends meet, leaving her children at home without her far too often. The EITC and the CTC are not what make Michele Eddy a good mother, but they enable her to be there with her children when they need her most.

Right now, some 30 percent of children under the age of 3 are in families with too little earnings to qualify for full CTC. Even worse, nearly 13 percent of children under 3 are in families with no earnings, and as such get into CTC or EITC. We know the Child Tax Credit is not indexed for inflation. By the end of the decade another 1 million children will be forced to grow up in poverty.

The CTC needs to be more robust. We need to reform the Tax Code now. I am very hopeful that Senator Baucus in his last year and a half in the Senate, with Ranking Member Hatch and leaders from that committee such as Senator Wyden and Senator Enzi and others, can reform the Tax Code, can put measures in place to prevent fraud.

As we introduce the Working Families Tax Relief Act, I remain hopeful our colleagues across the aisle will work with us to make these credits a part of tax reform.

I yield the floor.