Providing for Consideration of H.Res. Expressing Disapproval of the Trump Administration's Harmful Actions Towards Medicaid; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Protecting the Right to Organize Act of and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act, 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. COMER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I have heard from business owners throughout my district about the investments they are making in their businesses and hardworking employees thanks to the strong economy ushered in by President Trump. We have seen companies establish education programs, provide bonuses to their employees, and reinvest in their communities as a result of our booming economic climate. Unfortunately, the bill we are considering today would quickly erode this progress.

As was made clear during the Committee on Education and Labor hearing and subsequent markup, the PRO Act would not serve the interests of individual workers. By overriding States' choices to enact right-to- work laws meant to curtail forced unionization, codifying harmful rulemakings from the previous administration regarding the definition and classification of employees, and increasing the prevalence of worker intimidation and privacy infringement, the PRO Act is a maze of misguided and costly antiworker policies.

To correct one of the countless issues with this legislation, I submitted an amendment to strike the provisions that would legalize secondary boycotts. Unions should not be empowered to target and economically harm suppliers or business partners of a workplace they are seeking to organize.

Unfortunately, this and many other commonsense amendments were rejected by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle during markup and again at the Rules Committee yesterday.

Notably, the PRO Act federalizes California's ABC test limiting flexibility and opportunity for entrepreneurs in our modern economy and codifies the previous administration's joint employer standard that would disrupt and fatally damage the franchise model, harming thousands of small business owners across the Nation.

I recognize a business's greatest asset is its workers. For this reason, I am solidly proworker and probusiness and want to continue our strong economic growth while also protecting the freedoms of hardworking Americans.

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Mr. COMER. Thankfully, this Democratic dream will meet a rude awakening in the Senate, where it will not see the light of day, and President Trump has signaled he would veto.

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