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▶ 0:08:34the time has begun to start and we would like to set a standard right from the get-go that we'll we'll start on time except when we don't but the desire is to start on time okay I appreciate that a quorum is present the committee meets today pursuant to notice uh thank you everyone for attending the education and Workforce committee and it's organizing meeting rank ranking member Scott who I call a
▶ 0:09:04friend I can do that can I can I appreciate that because I consider him a good friend um and all of our returning members as well as new members on this committee I'm excited to work with all of you um I appreciate the fact that uh the majority of you wanted to be on this committee uh it is in my mind and I believe representative Scott's mind an
▶ 0:09:34a committee especially in the time and age in which we live right now where education and Workforce come together in such a needy way um we have challenges in our world today in keeping ahead of the game unlike any other time in history so this is a time to work together and I'm excited to work with you all of you uh I'll make an opening statement followed by the ranking member
▶ 0:10:04and without objection I ask that any other members wishing to make an opening statement submit them for the record I recognize myself now for the opening statement ranking memb Scott and I look forward to continuing this committee's Legacy of being able to disagree without disagreeable um and at that point I guess what I want to make clear is that I want firm full-throated debate to go on this committee
▶ 0:10:35whenever it's necessary and I believe that on both sides of the aisle we have a passion about issues as well as some issues that we agree totally on but those passionate issues where we have some disagreement we ought to have a full throw to debate there ought to be a creative tension in all of our minds and hearts about what we do because it means something for the future of this country but um representative
▶ 0:11:05Scott and I have talked about this already that um there have been times where we have devolved for a for a little bit of time into personality and political name calling or posturing and that's happened on both sides of the aisle and I to my best ability am going to try to ascertain when we have crossed that that line and if we hear the gavel go down is for that purpose to say hey let's get back
▶ 0:11:35let's get back to the the issue at hand uh because while we may agree or disagree the creative tension that can produce ultimate U the best result possible is important for us to have so um we will um try to keep that decorum uh that comes in place at at points points in time out of the gate uh the committee will work
▶ 0:12:06I believe to advance uh the agenda the people spoke at this last election the outcome is as it is and the agenda will be aggressive and this committee will be involved in it I think you all understand that on the education front that means pursuing policies to address outof control College cost expanding education freedom and school opportunities calling out what has been defined as woke higher
▶ 0:12:36education institutions especially those that allow anti-Semitism to run rampant and examine the crisis in our K12 education system that for too long put special uh interest on labor union leadership over the outcome of students teachers and the rights of parents in the Workforce space uh the Biden Harris Administration I believe has put American entrepreneurs at times on The Chopping
▶ 0:13:06Block which threatened economic opportunities for hardworking Americans instead of policies that benefit trial lawyers and labor union leadership special interests we will pursue legislation that unleashes Ingenuity and entrepreneurial Spirit of the American Workforce in order to do that we must bolster policies that support multiple Pathways to success bottom line we want students workers job creators
▶ 0:13:37all to have the skills they need to be competitive in the 21st century that's a high calling of this committee more than 150 million Americans have employed sponsored health insurance or ESI which Falls squarely under this committee's jurisdiction ESI is the uh is is at the Forefront of creating Innovative and market-based solutions that expand affordable health coverage for American families the committee will continue to fight for proven
▶ 0:14:07solutions to drive down health care costs like the association Health Plans act as well as legislation that improves billing and coverage transparency for employers like the policies that were incorporated into the lower costs more transparency act I look forward to the next two years together uh and to everyone on this committee while there are many challenges ahead of us there are just as many opportunities I
▶ 0:14:37look forward to leveraging the expertise of this committee's members so we can deliver for the American people before turning things over to ranking member Scott I I'd like to introduce the new Republican members I hope they're all here by now and I think they are Representative Bob and of Missouri Bob good to have you and I know you're passionate about this committee because you told me so uh representative
▶ 0:15:07Ryan Mckenzie of Pennsylvania Ryan good to have you especially in the labor space with your experience um representative Michael bomg Gardner of of Washington state I don't see him here it's a it's a longer distance from Washington State to get here um we'll see him soon and then representative Mark Harris of North Carolina Mark it's it's good to see you here as well and uh it's good to have
▶ 0:15:38another Pastor on on the team huh and and then representative Mark Mesmer of Indiana Mark good to have you with your experience coming from your legislative experience as well we welcome to the education Workforce committee thank you with that I yield to the ranking member for his opening remarks uh thank you Mr chairman and congratulations on being selected as the committee's leader for the next two years and we'd also like to congratulate the outgoing chair Dr Fox
▶ 0:16:08on her selection as chair of the rules committee uh it is a pleasure to welcome members on both sides of the a to the committee I'm particularly excited to see many new faces on our side I'd like to acknowledge our new members uh from Texas a former member of the Austin city council Greg casar from Pennsylvania lawyer former state legislator summer Lee and from New York state legislator longtime teacher John
▶ 0:16:38Manion as we formally begin our work for the 119th Congress I'd like to acknowledge the significant progress we made on behalf of students workers and families under the Biden Harris Administration the last four years we have added 16.6 million jobs to the economy setting the record for any president in a 4-year term and in fact more than any Republican president whether they served four or eight years the Biden Harris Administration also reduced
▶ 0:17:09unemployment to Historic lows saved over a million workers pensions delivered historic funding for Education improved Child Nutrition and brought the number of uninsured Americans down to the lowest level ever in the 119th Congress I remained committed to working with every member of this committee as we achieve our shared goal of ensuring that everyone across the nation has access to Quality education good paying jobs and affordable health care and we may not always agree on the
▶ 0:17:39path of achieving these goals but we can all agree in to work in good faith and use research and evidence to develop policies that will improve the lives of the people we serve in particular I'm eager to to pick up where we left off at the end of last Congress and finally pass a reauthorization of the workforce innovation an Opportunity Act our bipartisan Byam proposal will help train workers for good paying jobs and connect employers with highly qualified candidates
▶ 0:18:10it's good for workers good for employers and good for the economy so I hope we can start with that by bipartisan initiative but I want to be clear the committee Democrats will not compromise our values nor are we interested in rubber stamping the Trump agenda if the administration is determined to enact project 2025 there will be strong opposition from committee Democrats this committee holds the authority and responsibility to tackle many of the
▶ 0:18:40issues confronting our communities today first we're responsible for ensuring that all students have access to high quality public education that provides them for a rewarding career we're also responsible for building on our historic economic progress and empowering workers so that the economy can continue growing from the middle out and from the bottom up and importantly we're responsible for protecting and expanding access to Affordable Health Care regardless of which
▶ 0:19:10political par is in charge committee Democrats mission is unchanged will work to build an economy where everyone can succeed finally Mr chairman I join you in your goal of conducting the committee proceedings in a dignified manner that we can all be proud of I look forward to that and thank you Mr chairman chman are you back well I thank my friend and uh appreciate your opening statement I think there are there's a lot of creative tension opportunities
▶ 0:19:40there to to refine us all and ultimately I think there are also some some unique points where we'll agree on and can come together and I commit myself and our team to do our best to work toward Solutions um I'd now like to introduce Burgess Owens from Utah as Vice chair of the full committee U having a guy that wears a Super Bowl ring makes me feel a lot more comfortable uh with him as my vice
▶ 0:20:10chair plus his passion for this committee it's my pleasure to introduce the new chairs of our four subcommittees the subcommittee on Early Childhood Elementary and secondary education will be chaired by representative Kevin Kylie from the Third District of California um it's a distance to come from California too but he be here doing his job uh representative Uh Kevin Kylie will be the chair but representative Mary Miller who's here from the fifth district of Illinois will serve as Vice chair of the
▶ 0:20:40subcommittee the subcommittee on higher education and Workforce will be chaired by representative Burgess Owens from the fourth district of Utah and representative bum Gardner uh will serve as the sub committee Vice chair the subcommittee on Health employment labor and pensions will be chaired by representative Rick Allen who comes back to take over that subcommittee uh from times before and representative and will serve as the vice chair of this subcommittee and the subcommittee on
▶ 0:21:11Workforce protection will be chaired by representative McKenzie representative Mesmer will serve as the subcommittee's vice chair thank you for accepting these challenges and now I yield to the gentleman from Virginia Mr Scott to introduce the subcommittee's ranking members of of his committee thank you Mr chairman um I'd like to introduce the G lady from Oregon Miss banamichi will will be the ranking member of the Early Childhood Elementary and secondary education subcommittee
▶ 0:21:41General lady from North Carolina Dr Adams ranking member of the higher education and Workforce Development subcommittee gentleman from California Mr Des the ranking member of the subcommittee on health education and labor and and pensions and the general lady from Minnesota Miss Omar the ranking member of the workforce protection protection subcommittee and the gentleman from Texas Mr casar who was elected by the Democratic members to serve as Vice ranking member of the
▶ 0:22:11committee are you back thank you Mr Scott uh I welcome back all all the members on both sides of the aisle we're glad to see everyone and look forward to the work the committee will do together without objection the subcommittee assignments as set forth in the rosters made available to each of you in advance of the meeting will be inserted in the record and shall be approved I ask the
▶ 0:22:41uh committee to give me a little difference here um as we begin this this committee with great importance as I said education and Workforce that's America that's what encourages people even to come America uh to come to America to stay to work to invest their lives their families in America and um I think most of you know me to be
▶ 0:23:12a Christian conservative and Republican in that order I hope that offends no one um but being a person of faith I would like to ask for deference to begin this day alone um as we do every day in the House of Representatives with a prayer and today it's a prayer of dedication that comes from my heart for each of you as friends and as colleagues on
▶ 0:23:42both sides of the aisle whether we agree or disagree vociferously at times but nonetheless we Americans we love this country so if you'd allow me this difference in the judeo-christian um tradition to offer a a prayer uh I'd like to do that now father God I come to you today in the presence of friends of colleagues of people who represent districts
▶ 0:24:12policies agendas all of the above we come from different faiths as well but God I pray that you will somehow unite us together for a special purpose this year Democrats and Republican an from rural from Suburban from urban districts from east to west and everything in between I pray that our passion will
▶ 0:24:42overflow but our consideration our charity and may I say even our love for each other as colleagues Bound in a a struggle together for freedom and opportunity that will do good work this I pray that you will bless us with the ability to communicate and even more so the willingness and the blessing to listen and to undertake things for the better of this country
▶ 0:25:13and for an ultimately a well done it's in the name of my savior I amen thank you thank you for letting me that the committee will now proceed to consider ation of the rules for Amendment the committee print of the committee rules was made available to each of you and without objection the committee print will be considered as read and open for Amendment at any point and any Amendment
▶ 0:25:43offered shall be considered as r i now recognize myself for five minutes to explain the rules we're making some structural forms to the committee procedures while also keeping some practices that are working well most of them are in fact for example we're keeping the committee's name minus thethe hey I'm efficient okay which reflects the fact that this committee celebrates the Dignity of work the committee's name also
▶ 0:26:14recognize the full spectrum upon which the American Workforce is built independent Contracting Blue Collar work franchise ownership union membership non-union just to name a few as for changes the committee will be instituting electronic voting we're in the process of getting that so hang tight it's coming and I think that'll work with your already busy schedules in other committees because you've been brought it on to other committees because of of your character
▶ 0:26:44and your ability as well so that's something we will be working on this is quite bipartisan look at Norcross how happy he is he's always happy that's a Harley rider for you um I look forward to more effective and efficient process that will help save our members time but make us more productive I don't waste anything if I can help it and that includes time waste not
▶ 0:27:15whatnot I will now recognize Mr Scott for his remarks thank you Mr chairman the rules package we have here is a straightforward document it recognizes the majority's prerogatives and a way that frankly is no less fair to the minority than the packages that I brought forth in the 116th and 117th congresses so while we disagree on the number of subcommittees we should have and what the name should be these disagre disagreements will not stop us from having an open
▶ 0:27:45debate on the issues within the jurisdiction of this committee that said I think there is one rule that should um address that we should address that affects our ability to debate openly in the committee under the rules of the house um for the 118th Congress and regulations theto the majority established a process that made it highly unlikely that we could have a witness testify remotely before the committee these regulations remain unchanged for this
▶ 0:28:15for this Congress but understand the motivation that the Republican majority had in attempting to end all remaining vestages of how we proceeded when we were in the majority but all of the different steps we took um to limit the transmission of Co for like allowing witness to testify remotely seemed like one of the few that had obvious benefits above and beyond the pandemic prevention moreover many committees including this one utilized technology
▶ 0:28:45to allow for remote testimony even prior to covid and we were able to negotiate its use in a way that was beneficial to both the witnesses and the committee however by setting an incredibly High standard to justify remote testimony and then creating an elaborate process to approve its use the under 18th house rules made it virtually impossible to utilize remote Witnesses I'm dismayed to see that the under 19th house rules have maintained this barrier
▶ 0:29:16the rules effectively guarantee that remote testimony will be used sparingly if at all this change will continue to have profound impact on the fundamental right of the minority to call its Witnesses in the 116th and 117th Congress the ability to allow witnesses to participate without having to uproot their lives proved beneficial as we heard from a diverse set of witnesses across the country it isn't hard to imagine that the voices we silenced by not allowing remote testimony
▶ 0:29:47included teachers who may not be able to leave the classroom for multiple days to include travel to and from Washington but could easily testify online for a few hours to provide vital insight to educational uh to to an education hearing a college student balancing raising a family and going to school may be unable to secure funds to buy a last minute plane ticket to give us an accurate real world depiction of the student loan uh crisis
▶ 0:30:17a disabled worker might find it difficult to NE navigate travel necessary to make it here to Congress which itself May has not always proven hospitable to disabled individuals but Zoom makes that access uh those access issues irrelevant or a witness May test positive for covid the day of the hearing a disease that is still responsible for over 1.5% of all deaths in the United States each week the covid positive witness may be healthy
▶ 0:30:47enough to testify but responsible enough not to fly or come to the committee room where we'd all be at high risk even if um if they are local uh with the remote will the remote will the process be flexible enough to allow them to still testim testify on short notice it does not seem to be so so simply put a person with the most expertise and willingness to testify before us may be someone prohibited for any number of reasons
▶ 0:31:17for doing so and allowing for remote testimony is just one way to ensure to get the best information from the best Witnesses it was one of the stated goals of the majority aity to reopen the people's house in the 118th Congress and to hear from Americans outside of Washington DC and I don't know a better way to do that than to allow for committees to hear testimony from people who for whatever reason cannot make it to Washington we should not erect unnecessary barriers to their participation particularly
▶ 0:31:48since uh I know that working with the chairman we could negotiate a policy around remote testimony that would not only improve that that would uh only improve our proceedings so while changing the house rules is not up for debate in this committee I hope that the chair will work with me when we request a remote witness because that's the best witness for the hearing to affirmatively determine the necessary remote participation for that uh witness to affirmatively seek
▶ 0:32:18the majority leaders written approval for that witness and to permit the witnesses remote participation following the majority leaders approval however however I would urge you Mr chairman and all of my majority colleagues to take this issue back to your conference and remember the promises made to open this house to all and to recognize that we could do more in a sensible way to open the house by easing regulations on remote testimony lastly I want to emphasize that this
▶ 0:32:49issue lastly I want to emphasize an issue that this committee has traditionally been very good about regardless of who's in the majority and that is is giving ample notice for markups and hearings for this committee we've had a thoughtful and productive hear we've had thoughtful and productive hearings and markups and uh for that we need adequate time to prepare for those events when rules establish minimum notice requirements the education Workforce committee has been the model of Comedy working
▶ 0:33:19um collaboratively to ensure that all members can do their job effectively by including uh by providing additional informal notice beyond that required by the rules and I hope that practice will continue so thank you Mr chairman and I back I thank the ranking member and we will commit to Comedy it y yes though there may be some comedy as well we all need
▶ 0:33:49that uh but we will certainly we're open to suggestions along the way we'll consider them seriously uh also uh we're committing to to field hearings as as well and in some of the cases where we could get to those best Witnesses it can actually take place in the field and U so we'll we'll do our best is there anyone else who recognition if no member seeks recognition to offer an amendment then the question is now on the adoption of the
▶ 0:34:19committee rules all those in favor signify by saying I I all oppos by saying no the eyes appear to have it the eyes have it the motion is agreed to the committee rules are adopted the chair notes for the record a quorum is present I ask unanimous consent that staff be authorized to make necessary Technical and conforming changes to the committee rules without objection so ordered the committee will
▶ 0:34:49now proceed to the consideration and authorization of the oversight plan the committee print of the oversight plan has been provided each of you and without objection the committee print will be considered as R and open for Amendment at any point and any Amendment offered shall be considered as r i now recognize myself for five minutes to explain the plan as we first saw saw first in the Trump Administration career bureaucrats
▶ 0:35:19have sought to undermine the goals of the president and his cabinet secretaries we know of cases where bureaucrats have leaked sensitive information or are working with plaintiff's attorneys to skew court cases against employers the committee's oversight work recently brought to light how the employees employee benefit Security Administration EA is abusing its authority to SEC secretly share information with CLA class action law firms this is a blatant abuse of the law
▶ 0:35:50and our committee will hold epsa accountable other federal agencies should take notice uh where we can provide effective oversight over the rot within the federal bureaucracy and when necessary promote additional legal authority to deal with the bureaucratic abuse we will the president has made this a priority with the establishment of the Department of government efficiency Doge and our committee will work alongside president Trump to hold Bad actors within the federal government
▶ 0:36:20accountable and we will do our job as well I will now recognize Mr Scott for his remarks thank you Mr chairman uh committee Democrats will work to counterbalance our Republican colleagues proposed oversight plan the committee should be prioritizing building on the historic progress we've made over the last four years we must also ensure that the Department of Education is doing everything it can to make College more affordable and to reduce the burden of student loans the Biden Harris Administration
▶ 0:36:51for to provide all of those eligible student loan relief and to generally uh making paying off loans easier and more affordable committee Democrats also remain committed to monitoring how the every student succeeds Act is implemented and help our students get the support they need to succeed moreover we must continue fighting for workers right to join a union the labor movement built the middle class and today unions continue to secure higher wages better benefits
▶ 0:37:21and safer workplaces for America's workers the deck seems to always be stacked against the workers interested in organizing and that's why Democrats will continue working to strengthen federal laws that protect workers right to organize the committee Democrats will also work to maintain the separation of church and state as required by our constitution this means monitoring not only actions taken by the Biden Harris Administration but conducting uh but by conducting rigorous review
▶ 0:37:51of actions of the incoming Administration which when last in power sought to redefine the victim of discrimination to be those who seek to discriminate under the guise of religious freedom in short exercising oversight means putting people over politics not scoring political points and Democrat committee Democrats will continue working to that end a y back I thank the gentleman and I commit the people over
▶ 0:38:21politics it's there we agreed on it right um does anyone else seek recognition the question is now on the adoption of the oversight plan all in favor signify by saying I I I all oppose by saying no no the eyes appear to have it the eyes have it the motion is agreed to the oversight plan is adopted the chair notes for
▶ 0:38:52the record a quorum is present without objection I ask unanimous consent that the staff be authorized to make necessary and Technical and conforming changes the authorization and oversight plan the last thing I will say as I point above me here I've had the privilege of serving under George Miller as a chair and boy that was a learning experience I've had the privilege of serving under chair Bobby Scott that was a
▶ 0:39:22wonderful experience I've served under the chair of buck mcken John Klein and most recently a force of nature Virginia Fox and so I've had the opportunity to learn from the best I I count this as a high privilege to chair this committee this a committee with impact that the world will experience if we do it in the way and so I look forward to this this coming term and let's have at
▶ 0:39:52it put up our Dukes compete according to Market Queensberry rules or whatever else but do it for the good of the people without further business the committee stands
▶ 0:40:26adjourned e