John Boehner

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 351, I call up the bill (H.R. 742) to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to provide for the award of attorneys' fees and costs to small employers when such employers prevail in litigation prompted by the issuance of a citation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood) who has spent a lot of years trying to make OSHA work better for those in the workplace and those who employ them in the workplace. He has done a great job in bringing these four bills out of the subcommittee and to the floor today. Mr. Speaker, we are here today to help promote a climate of cooperation between OSHA and employers. The focus is on improving workplace safety. In so doing, we have the opportunity to enhance business competitiveness and further job creation. Now these bills are important and here is why. No small business should be penalized for missing a deadline because of an honest mistake. No small business should have to wait 8 years to have their case reviewed by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission simply because it cannot get a quorum. Thirdly, no small business wants to go up against an OSHA that is the prosecutor, judge and jury all in one. Lastly, no small business should be required to spend years and significant money trying to recover attorneys' fees after defending itself against a meritless enforcement action by OSHA. These OSHA reform bills can make a real difference in the lives of small businesses that face fierce competition at home and abroad. We truly do believe that these bills will help the effectiveness of OSHA and help improve the workplace safety for millions of American workers. I encourage all of my colleagues to support all four bills.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 742.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the fourth bill we will debate today is another narrowly crafted bill that addresses a specific OSHA problem. In short, we strongly believe that small businesses that face meritless OSHA enforcement actions should not be prevented from defending themselves simply because they cannot afford it. The Occupational Safety and Health Small Employer Access to Justice Act levels the playing field for small businesses and encourages OSHA to better assess the merits of a case before it brings unnecessary enforcement actions to court against small businesses. Under current law, the Equal Access to Justice Act allows small business owners to recover attorneys' fees if the owner successfully challenges a citation. However, if OSHA can establish that its enforcement action was ``substantially justified'' or the result of ``special circumstances,'' small businesses can be refused attorneys' fees even if OSHA loses the case in court. Historically, the law's ``substantially justified'' and ``special circumstances'' standards have made it easy for OSHA to prevent recovery under this broad standard, so attempts by small business owners to recover costs often exacerbate the financial harm caused by OSHA's dubious enforcement actions. Let us look at some of the facts. In 2004, OSHA cited 86,708 violations based on its nearly 40,000 workplace inspections. Yet, how many applications were filed for attorneys' fees against OSHA in 2004? That number is four. Yes, exactly four. How many were granted? Three. Three. Moreover, for the last 25 years, only 1 year has seen more than ten applications filed for attorneys' fees against OSHA. Now, when you compare that number to the more than 80,000 OSHA violations cited every year, you start to wonder. We heard testimony in our committee on this issue, and what we found is that the law's ``substantially justified'' and ``special circumstances'' standards have made it easy for OSHA to deny small businesses the ability to recover attorneys' fees. What these numbers tell us is that small businesses can already see the writing on the wall. They know that OSHA has the upper hand, and if the prospect of recovering attorneys' fees is as bleak as it appears, then why fight the citation at all? Small employers should not be forced to knuckle under to OSHA citations and settle up front when they know and believe that they are innocent. This measure simply forces OSHA to carefully evaluate the merits of its cases against small employers before they bring the case. If OSHA's case is weak, and they bring the case anyway, then the agency will have to pay attorneys' fees, and rightly so. Employers face relentless competition every day in the face of high taxes, rising health care costs and burdensome government regulations. The last thing they need is a meritless OSHA-related litigation that could take years to resolve. Last week, the Labor Department reported that more than 3.7 million new jobs have been created since May of 2003. We want to make sure that onerous government regulations do not hamstring small businesses' ability to continue to hire new workers and compete in our economy. Frivolous litigation kills jobs, and this measure will help ensure that OSHA carefully considers the merits of its case before they bring an enforcement action. The measure before us is, again, narrowly crafted and a commonsense bill that addresses a specific problem in the OSHA law. It passed the House last year and deserves the support of all of our Members. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price), a member our committee.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the third bill we will debate today is another narrowly crafted bill that addresses a specific problem we found in the OSHA law. In 1970, when it created OSHA, Congress also created the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to independently review all OSHA citations. The commission was intended to hold OSHA in check and ensure that it did not abuse its authority. Congress passed the OSHA law only after being assured that judicial review would be conducted by ``an autonomous independent commission which, without regard to the Secretary, can find for or against the employer on the basis of individual complaints.'' Congress even separated the commission from the Department of Labor. It was truly meant to be independent. The bill before us, the Occupational Safety and Health Independent Review of OSHA Citations Act, restores the original system of checks and balances intended by Congress when it enacted the OSHA law, and ensures that the commission and not OSHA would be the party who interprets the law and provides an independent review of OSHA citations. Now, let me try to put this in simpler terms. If you are stopped by a police officer and issued a citation for speeding, would you want the same police officer to be your judge and jury and decide whether you are guilty? Of course you would not. And unfortunately for small businesses today, the law is ambiguous and it is vague. Since 1970, the separation of power between OSHA and the review commission has become increasingly clouded because of legal interpretations, mostly argued by OSHA in efforts to expand its own authority. Congress intended there to be a truly independent review of disputes between OSHA and employers, and when a dispute centers on OSHA's interpretation of its authority, Congress intended the independent review commission, not the prosecuting agency, OSHA, to be the final arbiter. H.R. 741 restores this commonsense system of checks and balances. Small businesses are the real engine of job growth in this country, and we should be helping them, not hindering their progress. Last week, the Department of Labor reported that more than 3.7 million new jobs have been created since May 2003. We want to make sure that onerous government regulations do not hamstring small businesses' ability to continue to hire workers and compete in our economy. That is another reason why all of these OSHA reform bills are important. The measure before us is a narrowly crafted, commonsense bill that address a specific problem in the OSHA law. It passed the House last year and deserves the support of all of our Members. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 741, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of our time. Mr. Speaker, having been an employer, I realized early on that the greatest asset in my business were the people who work for me. And having worked every job known to man growing up, I know that the people I worked for realized that the greatest asset they had in their business were their workers. When it comes to the protection of workers, I believe that all employers are interested in trying to protect their employees. Congress, in 1970, passed the OSHA Act, putting in statute a set of laws, rules and regulations about the protection of American workers. And over the last, really the last 7 or 8 years, we have made great progress in reducing workplace accidents, illnesses and deaths, because OSHA, at the prodding of many of us, began to work more cooperatively with employers around the country. I have been to many work sites in my own district where voluntary protection programs have been instituted and have been signed off by OSHA that allow employers and their employees to work cooperatively in order to have a safer workplace. And the results, the results are pretty clear. If you look at, over the last 5 years, the rate of illness, workplace injuries, and deaths has continued to decline precipitously. We are making real progress. So I would continue to urge OSHA to work with employers and their employees to help create the safer workplace that all of us want. Now, the bill before us simply says that there ought to be this independent review of the decisions that OSHA makes, that OSHA as the policeman, as the prosecutor, as the judge and the jury, is not fair to American workers or their employers. And we believe that when Congress created OSHA in 1970, they believed, and it is clear in the legislative language and in their intent, that they believed that there would be an independent review commission making these decisions. All we do in this bill is to make clear that it is Congress's intent and that OSHA will, in fact, abide by the law as it was written. So I would urge my colleagues to support the underlying bill today.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Tiahrt).

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, today we will debate four important bills that make modest reforms to the Occupational Safety and Health Act. These measures ensure that small business owners who make good faith efforts to comply with health and safety laws are dealt with fairly and equitably by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nearly every employer recognizes that improving workplace safety is good for business, and it is good for workers. Employers are subject to fierce competition both at home and abroad and must compete in the face of high taxes, skyrocketing health costs, escalating litigation, and burdensome government regulations. These OSHA reform bills are designed to improve worker safety and enhance the competitiveness of small businesses that are the real engine of job growth in our country. The U.S. economy continues to grow, and more and more employers are continuing to hire workers each month. Last week, the Labor Department reported that more than 3.7 million new jobs have been created since May of 2003, marking 25 consecutive months of sustained job creation. But we need to make sure that onerous government regulations do not hamstring small businesses' ability to continue to hire new workers and compete in our economy. That is why these bills are so important. Madam Speaker, since Republicans assumed leadership of Congress 10 years ago, we have undertaken considerable efforts to make bureaucracy more responsive and more accountable to workers and taxpayers. Let me give just a few examples: We stopped unwarranted and invasive OSHA regulations proposed by the Clinton administration that would have held employers liable for the safety of their employees who work from home. We stopped one of the most over-reaching attempts at regulation in our Nation's history by repealing an irresponsible and unworkable ergonomics regulation that would have cost employers billions of dollars and killed millions of jobs. We have dealt with the problem of costly unfunded mandates by ensuring that Congress does not pass expensive legislation and then place it onto the backs of State and local governments. This decade of progress on regulatory reform should give every American confidence that Congress is making positive steps every year to improve government accountability. And today we want to take one more step, one more positive step to help improve workplace safety, I think a goal we all share. OSHA, under the Bush administration, has made significant efforts to supplement traditional enforcement programs with cooperative partnerships between the agency and employers. I am pleased to report these voluntary programs have proven successful in reducing workplace injuries and illnesses. In fact, if we look at this chart, workplace injuries and fatalities have declined significantly during the Bush administration. And as this chart shows, workplace injuries and illnesses have declined significantly under the Bush administration to their lowest point in history, to a rate of just five injuries or illnesses per 100 workers. Moreover, workplace fatalities have made similar declines. There has been a 5.8 percent reduction in workplace fatalities since the Bush administration took office, and that is significant progress. Why has such progress been made? Because under this administration, OSHA and employers have started to work together more cooperatively and more proactively to solve workplace safety problems before injuries and fatalities occur. A GAO report released last year said voluntary partnerships between OSHA and employers ``have considerably reduced the rates of injury and illness'' and have fostered ``better working relationships with OSHA, improved productivity, and decreased workers' compensation costs.'' We strongly support OSHA targeting the bad actors that defy the law and compromise the safety of their workers, but we also need to recognize that most employers are good actors who work hard to address job safety concerns. No employer wants to deal with unnecessary OSHA- related litigation and escalating attorneys' fees that would result from that enforcement. Most employers want to comply with the law, and the offer of assistance from OSHA is enough to provide the incentive they need to make this investment. Employers will use these resources because safety pays. The reform measures we will consider today are proposals that, while fairly modest in substance, are important to small business owners who struggle every day to comply with the complex OSHA laws and provide a safe working environment for their workers while facing an increasingly competitive worldwide economy. Employers who make good faith efforts to comply with OSHA standards deserve to be treated fairly and have their day in court, and these commonsense bills will help ensure that they receive that opportunity. The first bill on tap today, the Occupational Safety and Health Small Business Day in Court Act gives the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission additional flexibility to make exceptions to the arbitrary 15-day deadline for employers to file responses to OSHA citations when a small business misses the deadline by a mistake or for good reason. This bill essentially codifies administrative action taken by the Labor Department last year and ensures appropriate disputes are resolved based on merit rather than legal technicalities. It passed the House with strong bipartisan support last year, and it deserves every Member's support. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 739, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, let me remind my colleagues what this small, innocuous bill does. It says to the Secretary of Labor and to OSHA that the arbitrary, 15-day deadline that is in the statute for complying with an OSHA citation or to respond to OSHA can, in fact, be waived under special circumstances, if OSHA believes that the employer missed it by accident or had other extenuating circumstances, they have the option of extending the 15-day deadline. That is all this bill does. Now, some of my colleagues on the other side have suggested, well, no, they already have this authority. But the fact is, they do not. The ability of the commission to waive a deadline on a case-by-case basis when circumstances warrant it have been drawn into increased legal uncertainty by the recent decision of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Chao v. LeFrois Builder, Incorporated, and indeed, as recently as 2003, OSHA has argued that OSHRC does not have the authority to apply this rule. So we think that voluntary cooperation between OSHA and the employer community will, in fact, lead to a safer workplace. And as the chart showed that I displayed earlier, workplace injuries and fatalities have continued to decrease in each year of the Bush administration. Let us make this commonsense change to help employers and their workers achieve a safer workplace.

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Westmoreland).

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. (Mr. NORWOOD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price), a member of our committee.

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 351, I call up the bill (H.R. 739) to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to provide for adjudicative flexibility with regard to the filing of a notice of contest by an employer following the issuance of a citation or proposed assessment of a penalty by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, today I stand before you to recognize the retirement of Mrs. Kathleen Klink, Superintendent for the Lakota Local School District, and to express my appreciation for her dedication and commitment to education. For more than forty years, Mrs. Klink contributed her talents to the educational field, and for this, I offer her my utmost congratulations and thanks for her efforts. After graduating from the University of Heidelberg in Germany, receiving a masters in education from the University of Virginia and a post graduate degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Mrs. Klink began teaching in the Hamilton City Schools. From there, she traveled to Lewiston, Maine, Charlottesville, Virginia, and Wright State University in Dayton, until she arrived in the Lakota School District. Her extensive teaching career, in which she specialized in English, German, and Counseling Psychology, provided her with valuable experience and expertise. In 1981, Mrs. Klink became Assistant Principal at Lakota High School where she served for two years until taking over as Assistant Superintendent. Then, in 1994, Mrs. Klink advanced to Superintendent where she remained until her recent retirement. Throughout her professional career, Mrs. Klink received substantial recognition for her work including being named as the Ohio Superintendent of the Year, the Sam Walton Business Leader for Southeastern Butler County, and the Buckeye Association of School Administrators Exemplary Education Leader. Furthermore, she attended the Harvard Institute for School Leadership, the Ohio School Leadership Institute, and the Michael Fullan Leadership Seminar through the University of Toronto. Mrs. Klink's participation in numerous professional organizations, as well as her devoted service to community positions, exemplifies the strength of her leadership. For example, Mrs. Klink served on the West Chester Chamber Alliance Board of Directors, the Fitton Center for the Arts Board of Directors, and the Executive Board for the University of Cincinnati's Center for Economic Education. In addition, she is involved in the Ohio Association of Local School Superintendents, the Phi Delta Kappa Educational Society, and the American Association of School Administrators. Mrs. Klink's long list of publicized articles and also her guest presentations at the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, Miami University, and Mt. St. Joseph College showcase her commitment to educational success. Mrs. Klink, I offer my congratulations and gratitude for your long and successful career in the field of education. I wish you well in your future endeavors, and I hope you continue to achieve happiness and success wherever your life journey chooses to lead you throughout your retirement.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, we are here today to discuss four important bills that make modest reforms to the Occupational Safety and Health Act. These bills will help enhance business competitiveness, encourage further job creation, but most importantly, they will help improve worker safety by promoting a cooperative climate between employers and OSHA that focuses on results. Last week, the Department of Labor reported that more than 3.7 million new jobs have been created since May of 2003, marking the 25th consecutive month of sustained job creation. But we want to make sure that onerous government regulations do not hamstring small businesses' ability to hire new workers and compete in our economy. That is why these bills are important, and that is why they are on the floor today. OSHA regulations are amongst the most complex and difficult legal requirements imposed on employers today. For many employers, especially smaller employers, compliance with OSHA regulations is a challenge even with help from experts. Many smaller work sites could make significant progress in reducing injuries and illnesses if OSHA would just lend them a helping hand through cooperative partnerships. These voluntary partnerships take nothing away from strong enforcement. They supplement traditional enforcement programs to help achieve the best results. These four bills remove the arbitrary and unintentional legal traps in current OSHA law that help hamstring better trust and voluntary cooperation between the agency and employers. While fairly modest in substance, these reforms are important to small business owners who struggle every day to comply with complex OSHA laws and provide a safe working environment for their workers while facing an increasingly competitive worldwide economy. Employers who make good-faith efforts to comply with OSHA standards deserve to be treated fairly and have their day in court. These commonsense bills will help ensure they receive that opportunity. These commonsense bills passed the House last year with bipartisan support, and they deserve every Members' support today. The rule before us is a fair rule, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. BOEHNER

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the second bill we will debate is another narrowly- crafted bill that addresses a specific problem we found in the OSHA law. For nearly two-thirds of its 30-plus years of existence, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has been undermanned and unable to function properly. Now, because a quorum of two out of the three total commissioners is needed for timely decision-making, the Commission has in the past been unable to act simply because a quorum was not present. There are a number of reasons for this. The appointment process is sometimes controversial, leading to vacancies, and sometimes commissioners must recuse themselves from considering cases, meaning even if there is only one seat open, there is often no working quorum. For too much of its history, the Commission has been unable to gain a working quorum and, as a result, is simply unable to function, despite being otherwise fully staffed. The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission Efficiency Act increases the membership of the Commission from three to five members to ensure that cases are reviewed in a timely fashion. Increasing membership to five commissioners will help ensure that cases are reviewed in a more timely fashion, improving the current system of judicial inactivity that only results in government waste. In short, it will allow the Commission to complete its job by reducing the case backlogs that are as much as 8 years old. Now, the Commission's sister agency, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, has 5 panelists, and we have found has worked well in reviewing cases more efficiently. Lastly, the bill permits incumbent members whose terms have expired to stay on until a replacement can be confirmed by the Senate, and most vacancies occur during these turnovers. The U.S. economy is improving more and more, and employers are hiring new workers each and every month. Last week, the Labor Department reported that 3.7 million new jobs have been created since May of 2003. We want small businesses hiring more workers and contributing to our economy, not facing years of OSHA-related litigation if they cannot resolve it simply because the Commission has an endless backlog of cases. This bill simply ensures that OSHA cases are resolved in a timely and efficient manner, a goal that we all should support. Employers who make good-faith efforts to comply with OSHA standards deserve to be treated fairly and have their day in court, and this measure will help ensure that they receive that opportunity. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support the bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 740.