[Senate Hearing 113-686]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 113-686
HEARING FOR SECRETARY OF LABOR-DESIGNATE THOMAS E. PEREZ
=======================================================================
HEARING
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION,
LABOR, AND PENSIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
NOMINATION OF THOMAS E. PEREZ TO BE SECRETARY OF LABOR
__________
APRIL 18, 2013
__________
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COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS
TOM HARKIN, Iowa, Chairman
BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee
PATTY MURRAY, Washington MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming
BERNARD SANDERS (I), Vermont RICHARD BURR, North Carolina
ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia
KAY R. HAGAN, North Carolina RAND PAUL, Kentucky
AL FRANKEN, Minnesota ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah
MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado PAT ROBERTS, Kansas
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin MARK KIRK, Illinois
CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts
Pamela Smith, Staff Director
Lauren McFerran, Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel
David P. Cleary, Republican Staff Director
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
__________
STATEMENTS
THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013
Page
Committee Members
Harkin, Hon. Tom, Chairman, Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions, opening statement......................... 1
Mikulski, Hon. Barbara A., a U.S. Senator from the State of
Maryland....................................................... 1
Cardin, Hon. Ben, a U.S. Senator from the State of Maryland...... 2
Alexander, Hon. Lamar, a U.S. Senator from the State of Tennessee 6
Isakson, Hon. Johnny, a U.S. Senator from the State of Georgia... 20
Murphy, Hon. Christopher, a U.S. Senator from the State of
Connecticut.................................................... 22
Scott, Hon. Tim, a U.S. Senator from the State of South Carolina. 24
Baldwin, Hon. Tammy, a U.S. Senator from the State of Wisconsin.. 27
Roberts, Hon. Pat, a U.S. Senator from the State of Kansas....... 29
Sanders, Hon. Bernard, a U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont.. 32
Burr, Hon. Richard, a U.S. Senator from the State of North
Carolina....................................................... 34
Franken, Hon. Al, a U.S. Senator from the State of Minnesota..... 36
Murkowski, Hon. Lisa, a U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska.... 37
Whitehouse, Hon. Sheldon, a U.S. Senator from the State of Rhode
Island......................................................... 39
Hatch, Hon. Orrin G., a U.S. Senator from the State of Utah...... 41
Murray, Hon. Patty, a U.S. Senator from the State of Washington.. 43
Hagan, Hon. Kay R., a U.S. Senator from the State of North
Carolina....................................................... 44
Casey, Hon. Robert P., Jr., a U.S. Senator from the State of
Pennsylvania................................................... 46
Witness
Perez, Thomas E., Secretary-Designate, Department of Labor,
Takoma Park, MD................................................ 7
Prepared statement........................................... 10
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
Statements, articles, publications, letters, etc.:
Letters of support........................................... 49
(iii)
HEARING FOR SECRETARY OF LABOR-DESIGNATE THOMAS E. PEREZ
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THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:08 a.m. in
room SD-430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Tom Harkin,
chairman of the committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Harkin, Alexander, Mikulski, Cardin,
Murray, Sanders, Casey, Hagan, Franken, Whitehouse, Baldwin,
Murphy, Burr, Isakson, Hatch, Roberts, Murkowski, Cardin and
Scott.
Opening Statement of Senator Harkin
The Chairman. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions Committee will come to order.
Today, we are meeting on a hearing for the confirmation of
our Secretary of Labor-designate, Thomas E. Perez, to be the
next Secretary of Labor.
In order to start the process, I will first recognize our
two distinguished colleagues from the State of Maryland for
purposes of introduction. First I will recognize the senior
Senator from the State of Maryland, Senator Mikulski.
Statement of Senator Mikulski
Senator Mikulski. Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you very much for the courtesy of allowing me, and
Senator Cardin, to introduce one of Maryland's favorite sons,
Tom Perez, to be the President's nominee to lead the Department
of Labor.
Mr. Perez has been the Assistant Attorney General for the
United States, and has also been the Maryland Secretary of
Labor and Licensing, and also was a member of the Montgomery
County council. All three of these jobs show his expertise and
his ability to navigate some very complex situations.
We believe he is the right man for the job. Senator Cardin
and I are here to advocate that the committee send forth his
nomination for a full vote in the Senate, not only because he
is one of Maryland's favorite sons, but because we believe he
brings integrity, competency, and commitment to the mission of
the agency.
His resume is outstanding. A Harvard Law School graduate,
he served in public service at the county and State levels, and
he has the commitment to the mission of the agency.
In terms of his own personal background, it is really the
story of America. His father came to this country under very
difficult circumstances. His grandfather was one of the leaders
of the Voices of Freedom in the Dominican Republic, punished
for that, declared a persona non grata, but his father was able
to stay in this country as a legal immigrant, go into military
service, and to become a physician. And to show his gratitude
to the United States of America, worked only for the Veterans
Administration serving the country that he felt saved him and
his family.
Tom grew up with public service in his DNA. His father died
when he was a young boy, and he will tell that compelling
narrative. But through the dint of hard work, a loving mother,
and a Nation that offered opportunity, he was able to work his
way through school, get the scholarships, worked even as a
trash collector doing summer job, to be able to advance
himself. He knows what the American Dream is, but he knows what
hard work is, and he knows what an opportunity ladder we need
to have in this country. But in addition to that, he brings a
great deal of skill.
We know Tom at the Montgomery County council level, where
Government closest to the people had to really govern best, and
it is a complex, growing county filled with how you had to work
with public-private partnerships.
I admire Tom so much for when he was head of the Maryland
Department of Labor. It was there, working with the Maryland
Chamber of Commerce, a Democrat, everyone thought, ``Oh, my
God. What is this going to mean?'' They now have a letter in
the record; the Maryland Chamber of Commerce is recommending
Tom to be the Secretary of Labor. Why? Because he listens;
second, he learns; third, he brings everybody to the table for
a pragmatic, fair, and collaborative work.
He has a wonderful family that I know he will introduce,
but what he feels is that the Perez family belongs to the
American family and he wants to give of his best. So let's give
him the best shot of being confirmed as Secretary of Labor.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Senator Mikulski.
Senator Cardin, welcome.
Statement of Senator Cardin
Senator Cardin. Senator Harkin, thank you very much for the
courtesy, and I very much appreciate this hearing. Senator
Alexander, I appreciate the courtesy of being before the
committee.
I want to thank Tom Perez for his many years of public
service. I want to thank him, and his family, for his
willingness to continue to serve our country in this new
challenge as Secretary of Labor.
Mr. Chairman, I also want to acknowledge our colleagues
that are here from the House, Congressman Cardenas and
Congressman Lujan in support of Mr. Perez's nomination.
As Senator Mikulski said, we are very proud of Tom Perez
and his incredible record of service. We are proud that he is a
Marylander. We are proud of what he has been able to accomplish
in his career as Maryland's Secretary of the Department of
Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.
As Senator Mikulski pointed out, in that position, which is
very comparable to the Secretary of Labor, he received the
highest praise from the business community, the labor
community, the consumer community, all felt that he was fair,
open, and balanced in the manner in which he conducted the
important responsibilities of that office at the State level.
He also is a former Montgomery County councilperson, and
for those of you who are familiar with Montgomery County, MD,
you know there is probably no more difficult job than being a
county councilman in Montgomery County, MD. He handled that
position with incredible skill and judgment.
He is a former staff advisor to our former colleague
Senator Kennedy. So he understands the U.S. Senate. He
understands the role that the administration, a cabinet-level
position must maintain with the Congress of the United States.
But I particularly want to talk about his responsibilities
as Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division of
the Department of Justice. I want to talk about that just for a
moment because I had the opportunity to chair that confirmation
hearing when he was appointed to that position, and as the
Judiciary Committee vetted that nomination. He was ultimately
approved by the Senate by 72 to 22 votes. So he has been
through the vetting process. We know his background. We know
his commitment to fairness.
The interesting point here is he went into an extremely
challenging position. We all know that the Civil Rights
Division had major problems that were well-documented by
independent studies, and Tom Perez has turned that around. He
has an incredible record on behalf of restoring the integrity
of the Civil Rights Division reversing a lot of serious
problems. His record is clear of enforcing civil rights for all
Americans.
Let me mention a few of the record here: 194 human
trafficking cases--that is a 40 percent increase; 141
convictions of Federal hate crimes--74 percent increase.
On the housing recoveries, which I am particularly proud
about, predatory lending, I know Senator Isakson and I have
worked on this to try to make sure that we have the proper
balance here. I know what happened in my State of Maryland
where people who were qualified for conventional loans were
steered into high cost subprime products. As a result, they
lost their homes; in many cases lost their savings.
Well, Tom Perez was part of us getting Countrywide Finance
to be responsible for the damage they have caused. The largest
settlement in the history in this field, $335 million to
230,000 victims, and he has a similar record on employment
rights, and returning veterans--a 40 percent increase.
He has received high praise from Democratic and Republican
Governors in the manner in which he handled the comprehensive
settlement under the ADA on disability rights. He has an
impressive record of working together, getting things done, and
bridging the gap between business and labor, protecting the
rights of all Americans.
I am very proud to support his confirmation as President
Obama's choice to be Secretary of Labor.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Senator Cardin. And
Senator Mikulski, thank you both for being here and for
supporting this very well-qualified nominee. Thank you for your
very strong statements.
I know that you have other obligations to fulfill, Senator
Cardin and Senator Mikulski, who is chair of our distinguished
Appropriations Committee, but if that is not beckoning you, you
could take your rightful place right here for the remainder of
this hearing.
Thank you both very much. Thanks, Ben.
I understand Representative Cardenas and Representative
Lujan are here. I also was told that Representative Roybal-
Allard and Representative Hinojosa are also here. If I missed
any members of the House, I apologize, but thank you also for
being here in support of this nominee.
Let me add my voice to those of the two Senators from
Maryland.
As we have just heard, his life is the story of the
American Dream. The child of immigrants from the Dominican
Republic, he lost his father at a young age, and worked hard at
a lot of jobs to put himself through school: warehouse worker,
garbage collector, school dining halls. It is this kind of
incredible work ethic that got him through with honors at
Harvard and the Kennedy School of Government.
With such an impressive resume, Tom Perez could have done
pretty much anything with those degrees and accomplishments. He
could have made a lot of money in the private sector, but
instead, he chose to become a public servant, and has dedicated
his career to ensuring that every American has the same
opportunity that he had to pursue the American Dream.
From his early days at the Department of Justice--where he
helped prosecute racially motivated hate crimes, and chaired a
taskforce to prevent worker exploitation; to his time at the
Maryland Department of Labor that we just heard about from
Senator Mikulski and Senator Cardin, where he helped struggling
families avoid foreclosure and revamped the State's adult
education system--Mr. Perez has demonstrated his unwavering
commitment to building opportunities for all Americans. It is
this commitment to building opportunity that makes Tom Perez an
ideal choice for Secretary of Labor.
Of all the executive agencies, it may be the Department of
Labor that touches the lives of ordinary working Americans the
most on a day-to-day basis. The Department of Labor ensures
that every American receives a fair day's pay for a hard day's
work, and they can come home safely from work at the end of the
workday.
It helps ensure that a working mother can stay home to bond
with her newborn child and still have a job to return to. It
helps workers who have been laid off, veterans returning from
military service, and others who face special employment
challenges to build new skills and better opportunities for the
future.
And, the Department of Labor helps guarantee that
hardworking people who have saved all their lives for
retirement can enjoy their golden years with security and peace
of mind.
As our country continues to move down the road to economic
recovery, the work of the Department of Labor will become even
more critical. The Department will play a vital role in
determining what kind of recovery we have, a recovery that
benefits only a select few, or one that rebuilds a strong
American middle class, where everyone who works hard and plays
by the rules can build a better life for themselves and their
children.
Now more than ever, we need a dynamic leader at the helm of
the Department of Labor who will embrace a bold vision of
shared prosperity, and help make that vision a reality for
American families. I am confident that Thomas Perez is up to
this challenge.
His professional experience gives me confidence that he has
the leadership skills, management experience, and policy
expertise to be an effective Secretary of Labor. And he has
what is perhaps the best credential to lead a labor agency,
namely the fact that he has done it before in the State of
Maryland.
During his time as the Secretary of the Maryland Department
of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, he built a strong
reputation as a consensus-builder. His outstanding work in
Maryland has won him the support of the business community and
worker advocates alike.
It has been mentioned that he has the support of the
Maryland Chamber of Commerce. I just want to quote from their
letter to this committee. This is a quote from the Maryland
Chamber of Commerce,
``Mr. Perez proved himself to be a pragmatic public
official who was willing to bring differing voices
together. The Maryland Chamber had the opportunity to
work with Mr. Perez on an array of issues of importance
to employers in Maryland, from unemployment and
workforce development to the housing and foreclosure
crisis.
Despite differences of opinion, Mr. Perez was always
willing to allow all parties to be heard and we found
him to be fair and collaborative. I believe that our
experiences with him here in Maryland bode well for the
Nation.''
But perhaps even more important than his professional
background, Tom's personal background reassures me that he will
lead with heart, with compassion, and with integrity. I know he
has not forgotten what it is like to pick up garbage and to see
the dignity in every aspect of every worker's lives.
I know he has not forgotten what it is like to struggle for
opportunities. I know he has a passion for fairness and
justice, learned at the hand of his former employer--and this
committee's former chairman, Senator Kennedy--that he will
serve the Department of Labor and our entire country well in
the years ahead.
I have looked carefully, as the chairman of this committee,
in fulfilling my obligations as the chairman, I have looked
carefully into Mr. Perez's background and his record of
service. I can assure this committee that Tom Perez has the
strongest possible record of professional integrity, and that
any allegations to the contrary are unfounded.
I ask unanimous consent to include, in the record,
approximately 25 letters of support for Mr. Perez's nomination
from a bipartisan array of civil rights organizations, business
organizations, labor organizations, and leaders in government
and industry attesting to his leadership skills, policy
expertise, professional integrity, and personal character.
[The information referred to may be found in Additional
Material.]
The Chairman. As these letters and Mr. Perez's life time of
service so abundantly illustrate, he is a visionary leader who
will bring a breadth of knowledge and practical skills to the
Department of Labor. The workers, businesses, and families that
rely on the Department each and every day will be very
fortunate to have Tom Perez at the helm.
With that, I will now recognize our ranking member, Senator
Alexander.
Opening Statement of Senator Alexander
Senator Alexander. Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Perez, welcome and congratulations on your nomination.
As Senator Harkin has said, the Department of Labor is a
very important agency, with an extremely broad reach: job
training programs, keeping workplaces safe from injury, fair
employment practices, integrity of the Unemployment
Compensation Trust Fund, vast enforcement powers, working with
the President and us to find ways to help Americans get back to
work at a time when 12 million people are unemployed.
And among those responsibilities is the responsibility for
protecting the rights of whistle blowers who report violations
under 22 important statutes on topics from clean air to
pipeline safety to Sarbanes-Oxley.
Whistle blowers have been around a long time. They are
protected by the False Claims Act, which started with President
Lincoln. Senator Grassley amended it in 1986, led an effort to
do that, and since 1986, use of the False Claims Act has
returned $35 billion in taxpayer dollars by pursuing 8,500
whistleblower claims. And in 90 percent of the cases where the
Government joins in with the whistleblower, they win.
That is why the allegations, which have been made in a
report that was issued this week about Mr. Perez's interference
with decisions not to intervene in a whistleblower case, are of
concern.
On April 15, the House Oversight Committee, the House
Judiciary Committee, and Senator Grassley's staff released a
report detailing, in their opinion, how Mr. Perez intervened
with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and with
the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, and persuaded
them to drop support for a whistleblower case.
The case could have returned, so the report says, up to
$200 million in misspent funds to the taxpayers. And in
exchange for that, Mr. Perez, according to the report, helped
to convince the city of St. Paul to drop a Supreme Court case
that he feared would limit the application of the disparate
impact theory, a legal theory that Mr. Perez admires. The
report concluded that this was a quid pro quo between the
Department of Justice and the city of St. Paul, engineered by
Mr. Perez.
The report said that in the whistleblower complaint, the
Department of Justice gave up an opportunity to return as much
as $200 million to taxpayers. The report said the consensus of
the Federal Government to switch its recommendation, and to
decline to intervene in the whistleblower case, was directly
the result of Mr. Perez's intervention.
Another report released in March 2013, by the Department of
Justice Inspector General, found harassment of employees based
on political views and a lack of professionalism among some
division employees. So the House Oversight and Judiciary
Committees, and Senator Grassley are still investigating these
actions. They are still seeking some information.
Mr. Perez, we met, and I will be asking you this when
question time comes. There is an outstanding subpoena for e-
mails that the Oversight chairman and Senator Grassley believe
has been complied with only partially.
There are two witnesses from the Housing and Urban
Development Department who can shed light on the St. Paul
transaction, and they have not yet been made available for
interviews to the House committees even though the request was
made October 26.
And then I have an outstanding request for copies of
transcribed interviews, gathered during the Department of
Justice Inspector General investigation that resulted in the
March 12 report. All of these could be produced, I would hope,
within a matter of a few days. All of them are essential to
doing our job of advise and consent.
I look forward to further questions, and an opportunity to
ask Mr. Perez about these items.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Alexander.
Again, welcome, Mr. Perez. Your statement will be made a
part of the record in its entirety. I would ask that you
proceed as you so desire. Usually we allot 5 minutes, but in
terms of nominees for the heads of agencies and departments,
you can take up to 10 minutes, if you would like, to address
the committee.
Thank you, Mr. Perez.
STATEMENT OF THOMAS E. PEREZ, B.A., M.P.P., J.D., SECRETARY-
DESIGNATE, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, TAKOMA PARK, MD
Mr. Perez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member
Alexander, and other members of the committee.
If I could first begin by introducing my family, I would
welcome that privilege of doing so. This is my wife of almost
25 years, Ann Marie Staudenmaier, who is a very accomplished
public interest lawyer in her own right, and former Legal Aid
lawyer. And I know the first African-American appointed to the
bench in Tennessee by Senator Alexander was a former Legal Aid
lawyer. So I appreciate your commitment to Legal Aid lawyers.
And these are my three children. My oldest, Amalia, is a
junior in high school. My middle child, Susana, is a ninth
grader, and my little guy, Rafael, is a fifth grader, and they
are honored to be here today.
The Chairman. He looks like a big guy to me.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Perez. Yes. He is a big guy and it has been a privilege
coaching all of the kids in various sports. He is a pretty good
baseball player, not to mention soccer and a few other things.
Thank you for your courtesy in allowing me to introduce my
family.
And thank you for the opportunity to appear today. I have
had the pleasure of meeting with most of you, and hearing your
ideas and suggestions about the Labor Department. I am eager to
continue those conversations today and hopefully for the next
several years, if I am confirmed by the full Senate.
Thank you, Senator Mikulski and Senator Cardin for those
kind introductions, and for your service to our beloved State
of Maryland and to America.
I am very deeply grateful to the President for the
confidence he has shown in me with this nomination. I share the
President's vision of a growing economy powered by a rising
middle class, with ladders of opportunity available to everyone
willing to climb them. The mission of the Department of Labor,
now more than ever, is the mission of America.
Let me also thank Secretary Hilda Solis for her commitment
to workers and her stewardship of the Labor Department. Since
her departure, Acting Secretary Seth Harris has led the
Department with energy, expertise, and excellence. It would be
an honor to build upon their legacy of great work.
Before I continue, as I said before, I want to thank my
family. They have been a rock for me. You cannot go into public
service in the way I am if you don't have the whole family
onboard. You all appreciate that, given the sacrifices that you
make every single day, and my family has done the same, and I
am most grateful.
My family story is a quintessentially American story of
immigrants looking for a better place to live, to raise
children, and to access opportunities.
My mother arrived here in the 1930s when her father was
appointed Ambassador to the United States from the Dominican
Republic. A few years later, my grandfather was declared non
grata after speaking out against the dictator's human rights
abuses.
My father also fled the ruthless regime, came to America,
fell in love with this Nation, served with distinction as a
legal immigrant in the U.S. Army, got his U.S. citizenship the
first day he was eligible, and followed his career in the U.S.
Army by becoming a physician at the V.A. Hospital in Buffalo,
NY. The weather was very similar in Buffalo to the Dominican
Republic, as you can imagine, and that is what attracted my
family to Buffalo, NY.
My dad died when I was 12 and it left a deep, personal
void, and also a financial strain for our family. But we pulled
through and we pulled through because my mother was a rock, my
four older siblings were always there for me, and we lived in a
place like Buffalo where neighbors always looked after
neighbors.
I was also fortunate that the Federal Government invested
in my future. With the help of Pell grants, work study jobs,
and other scholarships, I was able to get a first class
education that led to a career in public service. At the local
level, as a member of the Montgomery County Council, at the
State level with the Department of Labor, and at the Federal
level as a career prosecutor, a Senate aide, and most recently,
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.
While I am currently a political appointee in the Civil
Rights Division, I spent the bulk of my 13-year tenure there as
a career criminal prosecutor. I have had the privilege of
working at the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division,
under four Presidents: Ronald Reagan, George Herbert Walker
Bush, Bill Clinton, and now President Obama.
So much of what the Division does is nuts and bolts law
enforcement that may not make the headlines, but is critically
important to making communities safer and ensuring a level
playing field. From combating human trafficking and hate
crimes, to protecting the rights of service members and people
with disabilities, I am very proud of our accomplishments over
the last 4 years.
I had the privilege of working for Senator Edward Kennedy,
whose bipartisan leadership of this committee together with
Senators Alexander, Hatch, Enzi and so many others, made a
difference in the lives of so many people.
From Senator Kennedy, perhaps more importantly than any
lesson, I learned the lesson that idealism and pragmatism are
not mutually exclusive. Government works best when people of
good faith come together, guided by conviction, but prepared to
seek principled compromise for the good of the Nation. These
are the principles that underlie Senator Enzi's 80/20 rule, and
so many other statements of support for the notion of seeking
common ground that I have heard on this committee and
elsewhere.
There is so much that unites us, and so much of it falls
under the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor. I believe we
can all agree on the need to create jobs and strengthen the
middle class; to invest in human capital and to build a
competitive workforce for our businesses to grow; to give
everyone a chance to retire with dignity; to offer workers a
fair wage and safe working conditions; and to find a place for
our Nation's veterans in a civilian economy.
At Secretary Solis's confirmation hearing in 2009, Senator
Enzi said, ``The successful stewardship of the Department of
Labor requires the ability to work constructively with many
stakeholders.'' I could not agree more, and indeed, that has
been the approach I have taken throughout my career.
At the Department of Labor in Maryland, I am especially
proud of our efforts to make our workforce more demand-driven,
responsive to the needs of employers and workers alike. We made
room for everyone around the table, and we embraced the input
of everyone who had skin in the game.
In all of these capacities, I have always tried to listen
more than I talk. To approach contentious issues with an open
mind and basic respect; to build broad coalitions of business
leaders, labor unions, and others in pursuit of constructive
solutions to tough problems, and I will continue to do so if
confirmed.
This year is the Labor Department's 100th Anniversary. In
March 1913, the Department first opened its doors, in the words
of its charter,
``To foster, promote, and develop the welfare of
working people, to improve their working conditions,
and to enhance their opportunity for profitable
employment.''
Perhaps more than ever before, Americans are depending on
the Department to continue to fulfill this historic and
critical mission.
Let me briefly discuss my thoughts about priorities for the
Department, if I have the privilege of being confirmed.
As our Nation continues to emerge from one of the worst
recessions in our history, I see an opportunity to take the
same collaborative and bipartisan approach I have applied
throughout my career to reauthorize the Workforce Investment
Act. I applaud the bipartisan efforts of this committee to
reauthorize WIA, and I look forward, if confirmed, to working
with you on this critical task.
I learned many lessons about job creation and workforce
development during my tenure in Maryland. Perhaps most
importantly, businesses will always be the primary generator of
good jobs, and we cannot have a strong economy unless industry
is not just surviving, but thriving.
At the same time, Government can be an active partner and a
force-multiplier. The Department of Labor can work with key
stakeholders to ensure that businesses have access to an agile
and skilled workforce, and that the ladder of opportunity is
available to any person wishing to maximize their own gifts and
talents, and earn a decent living.
The Department must also continue to perform its critical
tasks of ensuring a safe and equal opportunity workplace. Job
safety and job growth are not mutually exclusive; it is not
necessary to choose between one or the other.
Pension security is also an important Labor Department
priority, as is the evenhanded enforcement of wage and hour
laws. If an employer does not comply with overtime laws, or
pays workers under the table, for instance, that employer is
not simply violating the law and harming workers, but is also
creating an unlevel playing field for the vast majority of
employers who play by the rules.
The President has asked all of us to consider three
questions in all of the decisions we make: how do we make
America a magnet for jobs? How do we equip our people with the
skills they need to succeed in those jobs? And how do we ensure
that an honest day's work leads to a decent living? These
questions are at the core of the mission of the Department of
Labor. And if confirmed, you have my word that I will keep them
there.
With that, let me once again thank the committee for your
consideration of my nomination and for your unwavering courtesy
throughout my visits with all of you.
I look forward to your questions today and beyond. Thank
you very much, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Perez follows:]
Prepared Statement of Thomas E. Perez, B.A., M.P.P., J.D.,
introduction
Good morning. Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Alexander, and other
members of the committee--thank you for this opportunity to testify
today. I've had the pleasure in the last several weeks of meeting with
most of you, hearing directly about your ideas and your priorities
regarding the state of our economy, our workforce, and other challenges
facing the Department of Labor. I am eager to continue those
conversations today and hopefully for the next several years, as I will
seek further counsel from all of you if I am confirmed by the full
Senate.
I want to thank my Senators, Senator Barbara Mikulski and Senator
Ben Cardin, for those kind introductions and for their tireless work on
behalf of our beloved State of Maryland.
I'm deeply grateful to President Obama for the confidence he's
shown in me with this nomination to be the U.S. Secretary of Labor.
It's been a privilege to serve his Administration, and I hope to
continue doing so in a new capacity. I share President Obama's vision
of a growing economy powered by a rising middle class, with ladders of
opportunity available to everyone willing to climb them. The Department
of Labor plays a critical role in ensuring people have the skills to
succeed in a 21st century economy, and that an honest day's work in a
safe working environment leads to a decent living.
I also want to thank Secretary Hilda Solis for her service, for her
deep commitment to American workers and her stewardship of the Labor
Department. Since her departure in January, the Department has been led
with great energy and expertise by Acting Secretary Seth Harris. It
would be an honor to take the baton from them and build on their legacy
of excellent work. The mission of the Department of Labor, now more
than ever, is the mission of America.
Before I continue, I also want to thank my wife and my three
children for their ever-present patience and support. A life dedicated
to public service is only possible when everyone is onboard. Ann Marie
Staudenmaier, my wife of almost 25 years and an accomplished public
interest lawyer, and my children, Amalia, Susana and Rafael, have been
my foundation on this incredible journey. I am eternally grateful for
their sacrifice and partnership.
family: a legacy of public service
Let me take a moment to introduce myself to you--to give you a
window into my background and my personal history, and how I came to be
here today.
My family's story is similar to so many American stories--stories
of immigrants looking for a better place to work, to raise children, to
access opportunities. Both of my parents came to this country seeking
refuge from a repressive regime in the Dominican Republic. My mother
arrived in the 1930s when her father was appointed Ambassador to the
United States, and then stayed after he was declared ``non grata'' for
speaking out against the dictator following the brutal massacre of
thousands of Haitians. My father fled the same ruthless regime later
and came to this country seeking a better life. He developed an
immediate and deep gratitude for the freedom he found here, and gave
back by serving with distinction as a physician in the U.S. Army,
followed by a career at the Veterans Administration hospital in
Buffalo, NY. My father never got rich working at the VA hospital, but
the non-monetary rewards were priceless. In my current job, we have
dramatically expanded our work on behalf of servicemembers. Whenever I
am working on these cases, I think of my father.
My parents taught my four siblings and me to work hard, aim high,
give back and to never forget our responsibility to help pave a path of
opportunity for those less fortunate. They also taught us that
education was the great equalizer--each of my four siblings would go on
to become doctors.
To grow up in Buffalo is to be part of a city that is remarkably
resilient, and has seen its share of hard knocks. It's one of those
places we can't ever afford to give up on, that we must lift up and
help succeed in the 21st century economy.
My father died suddenly when I was 12, leaving a deep personal void
and also a financial strain on my mother and our family. But we pulled
through in large part because my mother was a rock, my siblings always
looked after their kid brother, and we lived in a place where neighbors
looked after neighbors. There was no shortage of role models, mentors
and support. I was fortunate to have a kind of surrogate dad--my best
friend's father--a man of enormous character and wisdom. Though he
never finished high school, he passed on to me the life lessons you
don't find in a textbook, lessons about the dignity of work, and the
importance of treating people fairly.
I was also fortunate that the Federal Government invested in my
future. With the help of Pell grants, work study jobs, and other
scholarships, I was able to attend Brown University, Harvard Law
School, and the Kennedy School of Government. My parents always taught
us that to whom much is given, much is expected. With the support of my
wife and family, I have been fortunate to dedicate my entire career to
public service--at the local level as a member of the Montgomery County
Council, at the State level as Maryland's Secretary of Labor, Licensing
and Regulation, and at the Federal level as a career prosecutor, as an
aide to the late Senator Edward Kennedy, and most recently as the
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.
professional experience: collaboration, consensus-building, common
sense and results
While I am currently a political appointee in the Civil Rights
Division of the Justice Department, I spent the bulk of my 13-year
tenure there as a career criminal prosecutor. I have had the privilege
of working under four Presidents--Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill
Clinton, and now President Obama. One of my mentors and supporters is
John Dunne, who served as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights
under President George H.W. Bush, and who taught me so much about
public service and the effective stewardship of the Division. He taught
me that so much of what the Division does is nuts-and-bolts law
enforcement that may not make the headlines, but is critically
important in making communities safer and ensuring a level playing
field.
I am proud of the accomplishments of the Division. We have
increased the number of human trafficking cases by 40 percent during
the past 4 years, including a record number of prosecutions in 2012,
and we dramatically stepped up our hate crimes enforcement.
In the past 4 years, the Division has done more work on behalf of
servicemembers than ever before. We recovered more than $50 million for
servicemembers whose homes were improperly foreclosed on while they
were deployed, and these recoveries go directly to the servicemembers.
We have taken significant steps to ensure that military voters are able
to vote and have their vote counted, and in the past 4 years, we
increased the number of cases filed to protect the employment rights of
servicemembers by 44 percent.
Our work on behalf of people with disabilities in the past 4 years
has been groundbreaking. We worked collaboratively with Governors in
four States--Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina and Delaware (two
Republican Governors and two Democrats) to expand opportunities for
people with disabilities to live and thrive in their communities. I
applaud the leadership of Governors McDonnell and Markell from Virginia
and Delaware, respectively; and former Governors Sonny Perdue and
Beverly Perdue of Georgia and North Carolina, respectively.
In addition to enforcement, mediation, education, technical
assistance and voluntary compliance are important components of our
civil rights work as well.
From 1995 to 1998, I had the opportunity to work for Senator Edward
Kennedy, whose leadership of this committee in particular was
responsible for so much bipartisan consensus that made a powerful
difference in the lives of so many Americans. I learned so many lessons
from Senator Kennedy, perhaps the most important of which was that
idealism and pragmatism are not mutually exclusive. They are both
critical ingredients in any recipe for sound policymaking. Government
at all levels works best when men and women of good faith and integrity
come together, guided by conviction but prepared to seek principled
compromise for the sake of progress and the good of the country.
These are the principles underlying Senator Enzi's ``80/20 rule''
and his success in working with Senator Kennedy. These are the
principles that enabled Senators Kennedy and Hatch to forge bipartisan
consensus on hate crimes, children's health insurance, and so many
other important issues. We ought not make the perfect enemy of the very
good. There is so much that unites us--Democrats and Republicans;
President Obama and the Congress. And in fact so much of what unites us
falls directly under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Labor.
I am confident that we can all agree on the critical need to create
jobs to build a stronger middle class; we can all agree that we need to
invest in human capital to build a skills infrastructure and a
competitive workforce for our businesses to grow; we can all agree that
everyone should have a chance to retire with dignity and a measure of
economic security; we can all agree that workers deserve a fair wage
and safe working conditions; we can all agree that we must find a place
for our Nation's veterans in the civilian economy; we can all agree
that historically marginalized populations, including people with
disabilities, have so much to contribute and need to be brought into
the economic mainstream.
At the confirmation hearing for then-nominee Hilda Solis, then-
ranking member Enzi stated ``the successful stewardship of the
Department of Labor requires the ability to work constructively with
many stakeholders.'' I couldn't agree more. And indeed, it is that
approach that I have taken throughout my career.
As an elected member of the Montgomery County Council, I worked
with people from both parties and stakeholders of all stripes--small
businesses and developers as well as the civil rights community and
many others.
As Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, I focused on
workforce development, workplace safety, wage enforcement, and
unemployment insurance, among many other functions. I am especially
proud of our work to re-engineer our State workforce system to make it
more demand-driven, responsive to the needs of employers and workers
alike. We made room for everyone around the table and embraced the
input of everyone who had skin in the game--including businesses and
community colleges, which are such a critical engine of workforce
innovation.
We were successful in Maryland because we abandoned the ``train and
pray'' practice. It is wasteful and inefficient to provide workers with
skills training and then pray that a suitable job exists. Instead, we
must train people for jobs that we know exist, and forging industry
partnerships enables us to match skills training with actual need. And
we must measure our success by results and outcomes--did people get
good jobs and did employers thrive?
In all these capacities, I've always tried to listen more than I
talk; to approach contentious issues with an open mind and basic
respect; to build broad coalitions of business leaders, labor unions
and others in pursuit of constructive solutions to tough problems, and
to disagree without being disagreeable.
dol: a steadfast mission amid a century of change
This year, the Labor Department marks its 100th anniversary. In
March 1913, the Department first opened its doors to--in the words of
its charter--``foster, promote and develop the welfare of working
people, to improve their working conditions, and to enhance their
opportunities for profitable employment.'' Still today and in fact more
than ever before, Americans are depending on the Department to continue
to fulfill its historic mission. We read each month about the Nation's
unemployment rate--but you and I know they are more than just numbers
in the newspaper. They are single mothers trying to put food on the
table, or young adults trying to break into the workforce. They are
middle-aged, laid off workers trying to gain new skills for the modern
economy, or returning veterans trying to take what they've learned
protecting our Nation and put it to use here at home. They are people
with disabilities, long-term unemployed and others all too frequently
left behind.
They are the backbone of our Nation, and they are the people who
will populate our workforce and propel our Nation forward. A workforce
development system must serve a dual mission--to help individuals gain
the skills needed to build meaningful careers, and to help ensure those
skills are the ones our employers needed to grow and thrive. We must
have demand-driven workforce development strategies. Programs to train
widget makers are useless if there is no demand in our economy for
widgets. We must understand the needs of employers, not only today, but
10 years down the road.
As our Nation continues to emerge from one of the worst recessions
in our history, I see an opportunity to take the same collaborative and
bipartisan approach I have applied throughout my career to reauthorize
the Workforce Investment Act. I applaud the bipartisan efforts of this
committee to reauthorize WIA, and I look forward, if confirmed, to
working with you on this important task. I learned many lessons about
job creation and workforce development during my tenure in Maryland.
Perhaps most importantly, businesses will always be the primary
generator of good jobs, and we can't have a strong economy unless
industry is not just surviving, but thriving.
At the same time, government can be an active partner and a force-
multiplier. The Department of Labor can work with State and local
partners, businesses, community colleges and other educators, workers,
unions, and other key stakeholders to ensure that businesses have
access to a strong, agile and skilled workforce, and the ladder of
opportunity is open for any person wishing to maximize their own gifts
and talents and earn a decent living.
The Department must continue to perform its critical tasks of
ensuring a safe and equal opportunity workplace. Job safety and job
growth are not mutually exclusive, and it is not necessary to choose
between jobs and job safety.
Pension security is also an important Labor Department priority, as
is the evenhanded enforcement of wage and hour laws. If an employer
does not comply with overtime laws, or pays workers under the table,
that employer is not simply violating the law and harming workers, but
also creating an unlevel playing field for the vast majority of
employers who play by the rules.
I share President Obama's vision of a growing economy powered by a
rising middle class, with ladders of opportunity available to everyone.
The President has asked us all to consider three questions in all of
the decisions we make: How do we make America a magnet for jobs? How do
we equip our people with the skills they need to succeed in those jobs?
And how do we ensure that an honest day's work leads to a decent
living?
These questions are at the core of the mission of the Department of
Labor. If confirmed, I will keep them there.
With that, let me once again thank the committee for your
consideration of my nomination. I look forward to your questions.
The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Perez and welcome to your
family also. I am glad they are also here today.
We will now begin a round of questions.
Mr. Perez, I am sure you will have many priorities when you
get to the Department of Labor. But if you could just choose
one, what would your very top priority be?
Mr. Perez. Jobs, jobs, and jobs. I believe it is critically
important to get Americans back to work and I believe the
Department of Labor can play a critical role.
As I mentioned before, the President asked those three
questions, and one of them is, how do we equip our people with
the skills necessary to get those jobs, those good paying jobs?
And I believe that the Workforce Investment Act, for instance,
presents a real opportunity for us to work in a bipartisan
fashion so that we can build a workforce system that is truly
demand-driven, and truly meets the needs of workers across the
Nation.
The Chairman. Well, I am hopeful we will get the Workforce
Investment Act through, out of this committee, very shortly.
Mr. Perez, concerns have been raised about the global
resolution of two cases between the Justice Department and the
city of St. Paul in cases called Magner and Newell. Now
frankly, I am surprised by this. Lawyers make strategic
judgments all the time about what cases should be appealed; and
given the stakes in this matter, the importance of strong
enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, I think it is clear the
Department made the right call. I have gone through these cases
with my staff. As a lawyer, along with lawyers trained on my
staff, we went through every bit of that. I think the evidence
clearly shows that you acted ethically and appropriately at all
times. Nevertheless, I would like to ask a few questions to
clarify what took place.
First, isn't it true that applying the disparate impact
principle, the Civil Rights Division under your leadership has
reached settlements totaling over $600 million with lenders who
violated the Fair Housing Act?
Mr. Perez. Yes, sir.
The Chairman. When you first reached out to the city of St.
Paul to make sure the city was fully aware of the potential
consequences of an adverse ruling from the Supreme Court, isn't
it true that you were not aware of the Newell matter, and it
was the city of St. Paul, not you, that first raised the
possibility of linking the two cases?
Mr. Perez. That's correct, sir.
The Chairman. When the attorneys for the city brought up
the Newell case and suggested linking the two, you and your
staff consulted with both ethics and professional
responsibility experts at the Department of Justice.
What was their counsel?
Mr. Perez. Their counsel was that because the United States
is what is called a unitary actor that it would be permissible
for one person to have discussions with the city on multiple
issues, as long as the Civil Division approved, and as long as
the Civil Division made all of the decisions relating to what
became the Newell matter. And that's precisely what happened in
this case.
All decisions relating to the Newell matter were made by
people in the Civil Division.
The Chairman. Ultimately, the Department of Justice decided
not to intervene in Newell.
Now, to be clear, that decision was made by career
attorneys and experts on the False Claims Act under the
direction of Mr. Tony West, the Civil Division head. Mr. West
retained the authority to make that decision, not you.
Is that correct?
Mr. Perez. That's correct, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. While staff at Housing and Urban Development
and the U.S. Attorney's Office initially recommended
intervention, decisionmakers in those offices have said in
transcribed interviews that they always viewed Newell as a
close call.
At the same time, the person who led the consideration of
the case in the Civil Division was a very senior career
attorney and expert on False Claims Act, a Mr. Mike Hertz.
Do you know what Mr. Hertz's view of the Newell case was?
Mr. Perez. Mr. Hertz was the Department's pre-eminent
expert in the False Claims Act, and a senior attorney in the
Civil Division. And after having met with the city, and heard
their presentation, and reviewed the totality of the evidence
in the case, it's my understanding that Mr. Hertz had a very
immediate and visceral reaction that it was a weak case, and a
weak candidate for intervention.
The Chairman. At any time, did you pressure career or
political staff at HUD, the U.S. Attorney's Office in
Minnesota, or the Department of Justice regarding their
decision concerning whether to intervene in Newell?
Mr. Perez. Absolutely not, sir.
The Chairman. Isn't it true that counsel for St. Paul
wanted the Department of Justice to intervene in Newell and
then move to dismiss it, thus killing the case against it, and
that the Department of Justice, and you, adamantly rejected
this offer? So Newell himself was still allowed to have his day
in court. Is that true?
Mr. Perez. That's correct, sir.
The Chairman. And so, to summarize, St. Paul, not you,
first raised the idea of linking the cases.
You and your staff consulted with both ethics and
professional responsibility experts at the Department of
Justice.
Those experts made clear that it was appropriate to advance
a global resolution of the two cases as long as the Civil
Division retained authority over the Newell matter, which it
did at all times.
Fourth, senior career Civil Division attorneys believed the
Newell case lacked merit, and the lack of merit to that case
was the primary reason for the Civil Division's decision not to
intervene.
And five, you agreed with the decision that the Department
of Justice could not agree to the city's proposal to intervene
and dismiss because it improperly foreclosed Mr. Newell's day
in court.
So again, based on these facts, Mr. Perez, I do not know
what the controversy is. As I said, we have gone through this
with a fine-tooth comb, with our lawyers, with our staff, and
everything I can see is that you acted appropriately and
ethically to advance the interests of the United States.
I want to thank you for helping to clarify those issues in
this line of questioning.
Mr. Perez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. I now yield to Senator Alexander.
Senator Alexander. Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Perez----
Mr. Perez. Good morning, Senator.
Senator Alexander [continuing]. Welcome again, and welcome
to your family. It reminds me of 22 years ago, I sat where you
sat, and my family sat where they are sitting. I was nominated
by the first President Bush to be the Education Secretary.
Senator Metzenbaum from Ohio said to me, ``Governor
Alexander, I've heard some very disturbing things about you.''
All the media was here. ``But I won't bring them up here.''
[Laughter.]
And Senator Kassebaum turned around to him and said,
``Howard, I think you just did.'' You know, I mean, ``Why did
you bring it up?''
I won't do that to you. But I would like to go back over
what Senator Harkin just went back over, and see if I can
summarize it in this way, and give you a chance to explain it
in however way you want to.
You are the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights,
not in the Civil Division, correct?
Mr. Perez. That's correct, sir.
Senator Alexander. And what you saw was a case headed, not
just headed to the Supreme Court, but in the Supreme Court,
which the Supreme Court had agreed to hear that you feared
might limit the disparate impact theory of law, which you
admire and rely on in many of your cases.
That's correct, isn't it?
Mr. Perez. It's a theory of law that every circuit that has
ruled on it has ruled is a viable theory.
Senator Alexander. But you were worried that the Supreme
Court might limit it, were you not?
Mr. Perez. Sure. I was. Bad facts make bad law, and I
thought that this case was a poor vehicle for raising the broad
issue of whether----
Senator Alexander. You didn't want the Supreme Court to
take the case. You thought it would be better if they didn't.
Mr. Perez. I thought it was a poor vehicle for the Supreme
Court to address the broad issue of the viability of disparate
impact theory. And so I reached out to the city to make the
point that in the vast majority of cases, the application of
disparate impact theory actually works to the benefit of people
that Mayor Coleman and others in the city are trying to serve.
Senator Alexander. Yes, why is that your business?
Mr. Perez. Oh, I think it's our business, sir, because it--
--
Senator Alexander. And you are not party to the case,
correct?
Mr. Perez. There are a number of cases that we're not party
to that----
Senator Alexander. But you are not a party to that case.
Mr. Perez. The Department, in Democratic and Republican
administrations, files amicus briefs and has involvement in
cases that they're not parties to.
And in addition, Senator, with all due respect, the
Department of Justice is really a guardian of the Fair Housing
Act.
Senator Alexander. The Department of Justice is a guardian
of taxpayers as well, is it not?
And wasn't it possible--under the case that you then helped
to persuade the Civil Division to drop, or to decline to
pursue--that the Department of Justice was unable to help get
up to $200 million that might have been of benefit to the
taxpayers?
Mr. Perez. I totally agree with you that the Department of
Justice is also an important guardian of the False Claims Act.
And as I understand the statistics from the last 4 years,
there have been $30 billion recovered since 1986 under the
False Claims Act, $13 billion of which was recovered in the
last 4 years, the largest 4-year period of recovery. The value
to the United States of a losing case is zero.
The judgment of Mr. Hertz, and the career people in the
Civil Division, was that this case was a weak candidate for
intervention and that--and in fact, when----
Senator Alexander. I don't have but a minute and a half
left. Let me finish my summary, and then I will give you a
chance to respond, if I may, when that is through.
Mr. Perez. Sure.
Senator Alexander. Here is how it looks to me. You are in
one division of the Department of Justice. You see St. Paul
heading toward--in the Supreme Court with a case that you are
afraid will produce the wrong result.
And so you--to me, it is an extraordinary thing that you
would then become involved with the city of St. Paul, with
another division of the Department of Justice, and with the
Department of Housing and Urban Development, which had
originally recommended that the whistleblower case be taken by
the Department of Justice.
And the end result, after you are involved with all of
this, is the Department of Justice declines to become involved
in the whistleblower case.
We know that 90 percent of the time when the Justice
Department does get involved, the case succeeds. So it declines
to become involved. The case does not collect the money. St.
Paul agrees to withdraw the lawsuit that might produce the
result you don't like.
That seems to me to be an extraordinary amount of wheeling
and dealing outside the normal responsibilities of the
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. It seems you have
a duty to the Government to collect the money, a duty to
protect the whistleblower who is kind of left hanging in the
wind. And at the same time, it seems to me, that you are
manipulating the legal process to try to get the result you
want from the Supreme Court in a way that is inappropriate for
the Assistant Attorney General of the United States.
Mr. Perez. Senator, with all due respect, I would disagree,
and note that the decisions made in this case were in the best
interest of the United States.
The senior career people in the Civil Division kicked the
tires on this case. They looked at it very carefully. They made
a very considered judgment that it was a weak case. They
affirmatively rejected a request from the city of St. Paul to
dismiss the case so that the relater would not have had his day
in court. That decision preserved the relater's day in court
and that relater was able to move forward.
The judgment that it was a weak case was a judgment that
was not made by Tom Perez. It was made by seasoned people in
the Civil Division. And the first thing I did, as I noted
earlier and as Chairman Harkin has noted, is that we received
ethics and professional responsibility guidance.
The U.S. Department of Justice does get involved in a lot
of different things, and it was in the interest of justice, and
it was entirely appropriate to do so in the opinion of our
professional responsibility people and others. And I believe
that the resolutions reached in this case were, in fact, in the
interest of justice.
Senator Alexander. Mr. Chairman, my time is expired.
The Chairman. Thanks, Senator.
I will also keep noting that Mr. Newell, in fact, did have
his day in court, and it was the court that dismissed the case.
Mr. Perez. That's correct, sir.
The Chairman. Senator Mikulski.
Senator Mikulski. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Perez, I know that in this confirmation hearing and
throughout the process, there will be a couple of these cases
that come up. I believe my colleague, Senator Cardin, who is a
lawyer, addressed these. I believe the questions that just
occurred, both Senator Harkin and Senator Alexander, hopefully
will deal with this.
But Mr. Perez, you are here to be the Secretary of Labor.
You're not up to be the Attorney General of the United States.
You're not up for a judicial appointment, yet. Who knows what
the future will hold.
Mr. Perez. Appreciate your confidence, Senator.
Senator Mikulski. But the President wants you to do this
job now and this job now is the Secretary of Labor, where while
we are talking about reducing the public debt, we have another,
enormous deficit, and that is called the jobs deficit. Your
priority was jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs.
I will come back to my introduction, which was to emphasize
the partnerships that you formed at the Maryland Department of
Labor. When you took that job, business took a deep breath.
They thought are you a lefty Democrat from a very blue county,
Montgomery; from Tacoma Park where you live, which is known as
a community of grassroots activists, which we dearly love. So
they wondered about you.
For this confirmation hearing, they have written a letter
of endorsement about you. Tell me what you did at the
Department of Labor that helped with our job creation. And
remember, as you know, Maryland is several counties: a robust
corridor; but the end of manufacturing, the struggles in our
mountain counties which has an Appalachian demography; the
Eastern Shore which again, jobs are leaving.
So tell me what you did to work in public-private
partnerships or how you implemented the Workforce Reinvestment
Act where we have lots of government, we have lots of community
colleges, but we were looking for lots of outcomes. Tell us
what you actually did do so that we see what is the prelude
when you were a secretary of labor at a State level, not when
you were an attorney general.
Mr. Perez. Senator, I listened. I traveled around the
State. My car currently has 193,000 miles on it, much of which
came from my tenure at the Department of Labor, Licensing, and
Regulation.
I learned a lot through those travels and through those
listening tours. And what I learned was that our system was
fragmented. It wasn't serving the needs of business, and it
wasn't serving the needs of workers who wanted to up-skill and
get a decent job so they could feed their family. I learned
that we could do better.
So what we did was a rather dramatic re-engineering of how
we deliver workforce services. And it was premised on the
following principles.
No. 1, it needed to be demand-driven. You can't have a
training program to make widgets if there's no demand for
widget-makers. We listened to employers.
We built a big table. We had all the stakeholders around
the table, whether it was----
Senator Mikulski. What does the word ``stakeholder'' mean?
I hear it so much, it gets on my nerves. What does stakeholder
mean?
Mr. Perez. It means we listened to all people who had skin
in the game. It means employers.
It means community colleges who are the engine of
innovation around this country. They can act deftly, as you
well know, to create jobs so that Wor-Wic Community College--
when there was demand for--they needed truck drivers who had a
Commercial Driver's License, CDL. Ray Hoy out there creates a
program so you can get a certificate and get a good paying job.
We listened to businesses. We listened to educators. We
listened to learners describe the challenges they have, and so
many people are struggling to make ends meet.
So in that sector strategy approach, understanding what the
manufacturing sector needed, understanding what the health care
sector needed, understanding what the hospitality sector
needed, we were able, then, to devise a program. And we were
able to integrate the program and align it better, adult
education, workforce development----
Senator Mikulski. Well, where there was conflict, because
you heard the same things I heard, Government doesn't listen.
They want one-size-fits-all regs. They ask too much of the
smaller businesses, et cetera.
How did you handle that?
Mr. Perez. We communicated. We made sure we understood
every perspective. And you know far better than I will ever
know, the challenges confronting people in Garrett County, MD
and the western part of the State is different from the
challenges on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, are different from
Baltimore City or Prince George's County.
By communicating and coming together, we recognized that
you can't have a one-size-fits-all solution to workforce
development. You need----
Senator Mikulski. How would you implement this, then, as
Secretary of Labor?
Mr. Perez. I would take the same approach process-wise.
Making sure we have all the stakeholders around the table. I
would make sure that whatever approaches we take are demand-
driven because our system works best when we are responding to
the needs of businesses.
We knew, talking to Johns Hopkins Hospital, how many
phlebotomists they thought they might need, how many physician
assistants, and then you build programs around that.
It is demand-driven: listening to sectors, listening to
workers, people who want to upscale and devising those programs
that are truly integrated so that they work for businesses and
workers alike.
Senator Mikulski. Well, if you can do that at the
Department of Labor with all of the other things that will be
coming your way.
For example, should we pass immigration reform, which I
hope we will? You will be one of the prime implementers of
that, and so on. If you can bring that approach, I think, the
committee, on a bipartisan basis, would have great confidence
in that.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Mr. Perez. Thank you, Senator.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Mikulski.
In order now, that I have would be: Senator Isakson,
Senator Murphy, Senator Scott, Senator Baldwin, Senator
Roberts, Senator Sanders, Senator Burr, Senator Franken, and
Senator Whitehouse.
Senator Isakson.
Statement of Senator Isakson
Senator Isakson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Perez, thank you for today and thank you for our
meeting a couple of days ago.
Mr. Perez. Thank you, Senator. I very much enjoyed it.
Senator Isakson. I want to go back to the St. Paul issue
because it's been said that that is an issue when you were at
DOJ. You are now talking about being Secretary of Labor to kind
of dismiss the value of that decision or people's opinions of
that decision that you made one way or another.
But I want to point out, Senator Murray and I, and I think
now Senator Casey and I, Casey is the chairman, I am the
ranking member of the committee that oversees OSHA, MSHA,
community safety, Chemical Safety Board, and all the
enforcement agencies over business and the people that comply
by rules of the Government. So it is very important to
understand the theory about which you might apply to the
administration of those laws.
So I want to ask you a couple of questions. I want to read
a quote that was in this morning's ``Wall Street Journal'' and,
first of all, make sure it is an accurate quote and give you a
chance to tell me that. And the quote is,
``I was concerned because I thought that the Magner
was an undesirable factual context in which to consider
disparate impact. And because bad facts make bad law,
this could've resulted in a decision that undermined
our ability and the city of St. Paul's ability to
protect victims of housing and lending
discrimination.''
Is that an accurate quote?
Mr. Perez. Yes, sir. It is.
Senator Isakson. OK. You have indicated disparate impact is
a theory.
Is that correct?
Mr. Perez. Disparate impact is both a theory that has been
accepted by every circuit in the country that's ruled on it,
and every circuit but one has done so.
And disparate impact is a theory that helps, for instance,
the 80-year-old woman from Baltimore City who had a 714 credit
rating and impeccable credit credentials who was steered into a
subprime product and unnecessarily so. Disparate impact is
about helping real people like that 80-year-old African-
American from Baltimore City.
Senator Isakson. Don't run the clock on me, because I
wanted to finish.
Mr. Perez. No, I didn't mean to, sir.
Senator Isakson. OK. Is a fact an absolute?
Mr. Perez. I'm not sure I understand your question.
Senator Isakson. Is a fact an absolute? I mean, when
somebody states a fact and you determine the fact is correct,
is that an absolute? Disparate impact is an accepted theory. Is
a fact an accepted truth?
Mr. Perez. Again, you apply the facts to the law in any
case that you would have. And so whether disparate impact
applies will depend on the application of the facts to the
case.
In the Magner case, for instance, I didn't think disparate
impact applied because they didn't meet the threshold
requirements.
Senator Isakson. OK. My point is this, if you want to apply
theory for enforcement either in the Civil Rights Division of
the U.S. Department of Justice or as the Secretary of Labor, it
is very important to understand from whence you come.
Because there are, for example, when MSHA goes in a mine in
West Virginia, or a mine in Georgia, a service mine in Georgia,
or a mine in the West, and they find one incremental violation
and take it to apply to a theory to then bring the hammer down
on a business that the facts don't think they should have
happened. That is an overactive enforcement of regulatory law.
That's why this disparate impact, that's why this Magner
case, that's why it is so important in St. Paul because it
depends on--if you have a theory that you want to justify with
facts, and you pick the facts to justify it, or don't determine
you can find the facts to justify it, then that is not running
a department, in my way of thinking, as a way it should be run.
And in this quote, where you said, ``There was an
undesirable factual context in which to consider disparate
impact,'' that means the facts didn't support the theory in
that case. And that is a subjective determination about how the
facts would line up against a theory. And I think that is an
overreach in terms of what a secretary of a department in the
U.S. Department of Labor should do.
Mr. Perez. Senator, if confirmed, I will apply the facts to
the law.
In the Magner case, my assessment and the Department's
assessment is that applying the facts to the law, they weren't
entitled to the protections of disparate impact.
In the Mine Safety and Occupational Safety and Health, you
have my word that if confirmed, we will conduct fair analyses.
We will conduct fair investigations and we will listen and
learn from all the stakeholders throughout those
investigations.
Senator Isakson. Very quickly before I run out of time, you
said the President told you, and you acknowledge in your
testimony, that the most important thing is jobs for Americans.
Is that correct?
Mr. Perez. Jobs is a top priority for this Nation.
Senator Isakson. And empowering the middle class, correct?
Mr. Perez. Yes, sir.
Senator Isakson. And we have already talked about this in
our private meeting; I want to just make it public because this
is such an important issue with me.
The previous Department of Labor, under which you were not
working, tried to bring forth a fiduciary rule which, if it had
been implemented, would severely have impacted the ability for
a middle-class American to seek out and get advice on saving
for their future, planning for their own retirement. You and I
talked about this in our meeting.
I want you, in this meeting, to tell me that you will do
everything you can to not perpetrate a rule regarding
investment in savings and retirement on employees that would
restrict the right for an average American, a middle-class
American, to get objective advice because of the termination of
a fiduciary rule that changes and drives those people out of
business.
Mr. Perez. I remember our conversation, Senator, and I
think we have a shared interest in ensuring retirement
security. And I mentioned to you, and I've had this
conversation with others, that if confirmed, I certainly want
to listen and learn more about the concerns.
And by the way, there have been concerns that have been
expressed by Republicans and Democrats alike, and I look
forward to listening and learning, if confirmed, from you and
others about the particulars, because we want to make sure that
we hear all the voices, and do our best to appreciate that.
Senator Isakson. Thank you.
My time is up, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Isakson.
Senator Murphy.
Statement of Senator Murphy
Senator Murphy. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Perez. Good morning, Senator.
Senator Murphy. Good afternoon. Good morning. I thought you
were an extremely well-qualified nominee to begin with before
this hearing, but as the proud husband of a Legal Aid lawyer, I
have new reason to admire your service and your family's
service. My wife's work surrounds standing up for the civil
rights of disabled children in school systems, and so I
particularly appreciate the work of the Division on Educational
Rights.
It is perfectly within the realm of the duties of the
Attorney General's Office to try to make sure the Supreme Court
has the right case before it to decide a controversial issue.
I would just like to put into the record something that
Senator Harkin referenced, which was your correspondence with
the Civil Rights Division's ethics officer in which you very
plainly said a question and very plainly got a response back.
The response back that you received was,
``You asked me whether there was an ethics concern
with your involvement in settling a Fair Lending Act
challenge in St. Paul that would include an agreement
by the Government not to interfere in a False Claims
Act involving St. Paul. Having reviewed the standards
of ethical conduct and related sources, there is no
ethics rule implicated by the situation and therefore
no prohibition against your proposed course of
action.''
I would like this in the record.
Now I would like to get back to what we really should be
talking about here which, as Senator Mikulski said, is job
creation. That's why you are here. It is to help our
constituents get back to work, and I would hope that that would
be the focus of this hearing.
So I want to talk about what I consider to be one of the
most important programs that you are going to be overseeing,
one that's had a little bit of trouble recently, and one that
you will be charged with getting back on its feet, and that is
the Job Corps program.
The Job Corps program is one of the most successful
programs of the agency. It takes kids off the streets who are
in dire circumstances, gets them into a program that gets them
a GED, gets them job skills. And the program that we run in
Hartford gets nearly two-thirds of those kids back employed in
the workforce. It's run into some trouble recently.
I wanted to pose the question to you to understand your
commitment to that program, and your commitment to making sure
that we don't have any more situations as we have had with
these programs, in which we have to do enrollment freezes, and
keep kids out of a program that has been transformational to
the lives of a lot of the most at-risk kids in our communities.
Mr. Perez. I totally agree, Senator, that the program has
been transformational across this country. And I further agree
that the Department of Labor can, must, and will do better.
The issues that came up, and I've had this discussion in
almost all of my meetings with Senators about this Job Corps
issue. I have said to everyone that you have my absolute
commitment, that if confirmed, making sure the Job Corps is
firing on all cylinders will be a top priority.
There are three things that need to be done:
accountability, making sure we have accountability for systems
in place. Procurement, making sure that when the procurement
systems are in place, that they are working effectively.
Then also, making sure we're measuring outcomes. We don't
simply want to measure the number of people that have gone
through the program. We want to measure what the program has
done for them, and we want to do that effectively so that we
can demonstrate that the taxpayer is getting a return on
investment.
Senator Murphy. I appreciate that. You've got clear
measurements here that we can monitor. We know exactly how many
kids get job placements. We know exactly how many get
certificates or degrees. And so as stewards of the taxpayer
dollar, we certainly appreciate that that will be a big part of
your advocacy.
I hope that just for the last remaining minute, you could
talk a little bit more about the work that you did in Maryland
to try to essentially connect employers with the job skills
that they need. I think we have done a particularly bad job of
that in this country.
I talk to factories over, and over, and over again in
Connecticut who tell me that they continue to have job
openings, but can't find anybody to do it.
We seem to just have a fundamental disconnect between the
training institutions, our institutions of higher education,
and especially a lot of the smaller and medium-sized employers.
Big employers do maybe get in and run a training program, but
the small- and medium-sized employers, the small factories that
make up the industrial belt of Connecticut have a hard time
getting the workers that they need.
From their perspective, can you talk a little bit about how
we can make sure that those smaller guys have the training
programs in the communities that they need?
Mr. Perez. Right. I totally agree. We can and must do
better in terms of building a workforce system that's agile,
responsive to the needs of large employers and small employers
alike, and that's what we tried to do in Maryland.
One of the biggest things we did was to combine adult
education and workforce development. As you know, at a Federal
level, the workforce development is run at DOL; adult education
is run at the Department of Education. We found that to be
unwieldy at a State level and so, we combined the forces
because there's an overlap between the populations that you're
serving.
And by bringing them together, we're better able to meet
the needs of small- and medium-sized employers where we can ask
them, ``What do you need?'' and then we can devise programs
that are better suited to meeting those particular job demands.
Senator Murphy. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Murphy.
Senator Scott.
Statement of Senator Scott
Senator Scott. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Perez. Good morning, Senator. Thank you for meeting
with me on such a busy day yesterday.
Senator Scott. Absolutely. Enjoyed it very much. We both
served on county councils, so I know that we both----
Mr. Perez. Rubber hits the road.
Senator Scott [continuing]. Understand that we have to get
things done.
I know that you said during our meeting that you would
spend your first 100 days or so doing a listening tour,
understanding that the No. 1 priority in our country is jobs,
jobs, and jobs. That you would spend the first 100 days
listening to those of us around the table here, other Senators,
Members of Congress, as well as people within your Department.
Do you plan to honor that commitment?
Mr. Perez. Absolutely, sir.
Senator Scott. Excellent. Thank you very much.
One of the things that I have heard said about you
consistently here, which is really good news from a perspective
that you are fair, and balanced, and open.
And I will tell you that my State has really experienced
very little fairness, and openness, and a balanced approach
from different agencies and departments within the Federal
Government and that gives me reason to pause.
So, my questions are more about your management style and
what we can expect out of you going forward because we have
great concerns when we look back at things like the NLRB that
we discussed yesterday. I understand that it's not in your--
would not be in your purview, but you have had an impact on my
State as well.
When we think about the case of the NLRB v. Boeing, one of
the things that we did not experience as South Carolinians was
an open environment, fairness, or anything that looked like a
balanced approach to figuring out the direction of the NLRB.
It seemed to us that without any question, that the NLRB
made a decision to eliminate, destroy, take away 6,000 jobs
from our State. Without any question, they were willing to
destroy a $1 billion investment in South Carolina. And they
were absolutely looking to pick winners and losers.
And there are two cases that come to mind from my
perspective as a South Carolinian that I question your
management style going forward that comes out of the Department
of Justice. And it goes to the heart of what seemed to be a
politically charged environment that seems to lead to cases and
directions in the DOJ.
The Inspector General said, without any question highly
critical, that the politically charged atmosphere and
polarizing--with polarization within the voting section
increases backlog request in voting section. And the
dysfunctional management chain under your leadership also
states that the voting sections handling the New Black Panther
case under you risked undermining confidence in the non-
ideological enforcement of the voting rights laws.
So what we experienced, of course, through those voting--
voter's I.D. case was something that was akin to that
management style that we find distasteful. It gives me great
concern as I think of the comments of the Inspector General, as
well as the experience that we've had.
Now, we all understand that South Carolina has been treated
unfairly in many ways as it relates to the voting rights law.
We look at the fact that in our delegation, when the case was
brought against our voter I.D. law, that one-third, one-third
of the congressional delegation of South Carolina were African-
Americans, highest percentage in the country, I believe.
Their overall delegation today is still at 22 percent, the
highest diversity, from an African-American perspective, in the
country outside of Georgia, puts us No. 2.
What we experienced was in a place where 90 percent of
African-American voters, 91.6 percent of white voters had valid
I.D.'s already. That in nine other States where three States
were pre-cleared; six did not have to go through the process
that your Department decided to challenge our voter's case,
voter's I.D. case.
We find that the cost to our State, $3.5 million, we find
that alarming as I look at your management style. It seems to
have a political perspective, a political bias in the
management style that seems not to be open, and not to be
balanced, and certainly not to be fair.
As we went through the case, it seems that even at the end
of the case when the ruling was in our favor as a State, only
we had to spend $3.5 million, but in January 2013, the DOJ
shows up once again and even after losing that case, it seems
like the political vitriol was so high that they decided to
come to Branchville. You guys came to Branchville, SC,
population 800 people.
And you spent thousands of dollars looking at the voting
procedures as it relates to our voter I.D. law and without any
question, we had already won the case. And yet even in spite of
the victory we won in courts, the DOJ comes back to our State
with a political bias from my perspective, to take a look at a
very small 200-person turnout case.
My question is: is there, in fact, the ability to have a
open, balanced, fair approach in the Department of Labor when,
in fact, it seems like to me, it so consistently has been a
politically charged environment in the Department of Justice?
Mr. Perez. Senator, I have always adopted a management
style that is open, inclusive, that recruits the right people,
gives them the authority to move forward, and applies the facts
to the law in an evenhanded fashion. So I respectfully disagree
with your characterization of what we have done.
I would note in connection with the New Black Panther Party
matter that you referred, not one but two different entities,
the Office of Professional Responsibility and the Office of the
Inspector General----
Senator Scott. As to the voter's I.D. case, how would you
look at the three States that were pre-cleared without any
question? New Hampshire's law is very similar to ours.
Mr. Perez. Senator, we did pre-clear New Hampshire and we
did pre-clear Virginia.
Senator Scott. But not ours.
Mr. Perez. Let me quote from the decision of the court in
the South Carolina matter which--and this was an opinion
written by Judge Bates an appointee of----
Senator Scott. The decision was, in fact, in the favor of
South Carolina. So since we are out of time my only question to
you is can we expect a more open, a more fair, and a more
balanced approach from you as the head of the Department of
Labor?
Mr. Perez. Sir, I believe that I have been always open and
fair, and I will continue to do so, and I will----
Senator Scott. We would of course disagree with you--so we
can or cannot expect a more open, fair, and balanced approach?
Mr. Perez. You will always have a person who has an open
and balanced approach. And I will continue to apply the facts
to the law, and I will continue to do so----
Senator Scott. If we can--we are out of time. So the fact
of the matter is the facts of the law led to the conclusion
that South Carolina's voter I.D. law was, in fact, legal. That
our approach to that law was fine.
The fact that you came in afterwards in January 2013 to
take a second look at something that had already been decided,
but the fact of the matter the--that the statement that you had
made.
The fact of the matter is that South Carolina has been a
State on the fast track to creating racial parity, on the fast
track to making sure that all of our citizens have an
opportunity to participate in the process of voting. And I just
want to make sure that your approach at the DOL will be one
that is fair, open, and in fact, balanced.
Mr. Perez. And as the court managed to----
Senator Scott. My time. I am done. Thank you very much.
Mr. Perez. Senator, I just wanted to quote from the court
opinion in the South Carolina case because the question was
whether our actions there were appropriate.
This is the court opinion written by Judge Bates, an
appointee of President George W. Bush who said,
``To State the obvious, the Act passed by South
Carolina as now pre-cleared, is not the Act enacted in
May 2011. It is understandable that the Attorney
General of the United States would raise serious
concerns about South Carolina's voter photo I.D. law as
it then stood.''
That's not Tom Perez speaking. That's the opinion of the
court in the voter I.D. case.
And there's every expectation after you reach an agreement
that you will go and conduct monitoring. We do that in every
case in which we reach an agreement, and that's why we were
there in January.
Senator Scott. Mr. Perez, I am looking forward to having
the opportunity to see a fair, balanced approach come to our
State and that is one of the reasons why I took very seriously
the Inspector General's comment as it relates to a politically
charged atmosphere and polarization within the voting section.
Thank you.
Mr. Perez. Thank you for your time, sir. And again, thank
you for meeting with me.
The Chairman. Senator Baldwin.
Statement of Senator Baldwin
Senator Baldwin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member
Alexander for holding this important hearing.
And thank you----
Mr. Perez. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Baldwin [continuing]. Mr. Perez, for being here. I
have to say, it was wonderful to hear about your youth in New
York and your adulthood in Maryland. I have to say you got
special extra credit points for a Wisconsin connection even if
it's through marriage.
Mr. Perez. That's right. Got married in Milwaukee.
Senator Baldwin. Yes, indeed. I also, in a serious vein,
want to thank you for your public service for many years.
I believe that you will be a very strong advocate for
workers. Not only have you been a strong advocate for a strong
workforce, I have confidence in your ability to assist our
country in its economic recovery.
We have heard a lot about it already this morning, the
numerous experts from across the political spectrum who have
stated that the workforce faces a large skills gap. And we
certainly live in the 21st century, and we need to prepare our
workforce for a 21st century economy.
So once confirmed, I look forward to working with you on
these challenges to ensure that the Department of Labor is
using all of its available resources to close those skills gap,
and to lower the unemployment rate.
You've already entertained a couple of questions on the
skills gap. I am not going to repeat those, but only note this
to emphasize my very strong interest in this issue as it
concerns my home State of Wisconsin.
A couple of questions for you, though. While our economy is
continuing to recovery, one troubling spot is the stagnant
wages in our country. According to a recent article in ``The
New York Times,'' wages have fallen to a record low as a share
of America's Gross Domestic Product. Wages have been on the
slide or stagnant since 2001.
I would say in my home State of Wisconsin over a similar
time period, worker compensation in its totality has not even
come close to keeping pace with the sizable increase in worker
productivity.
What will you do to promote better wages for the American
workforce?
Mr. Perez. That's a critically important question, and as I
noted in my opening remarks, it's one of the critical questions
that the President is asking every single day. How do we make
sure that hard work, the dignity of work, pays off in a decent
living?
The most important family value, I think, or one of the
most important is the value of time with your family. And I
have spent so much time with so many people working two, three
jobs because they can't make ends meet.
The American Dream is always about making sure that the
next generation does better than the preceding generation. And
the ladder of opportunity, the rungs are seeming further and
further between for all too many people trying to climb that
ladder of opportunity.
That's why I think we need to come back to the demand-
driven, agile approach that is really, got to be the linchpin
of a workforce development strategy. Understanding what we
need. Understanding what the business community, who are the
job creators, need; understanding the specific challenges
confronting workers.
In Washington State, when I was meeting with Senator
Murray, we were talking about a very innovative program there
that brings together both adult basic education training along
with the workforce training. So that by the end of the program,
you've developed those basic skills, but you've also developed
the specific skills necessary to be a phlebotomist, or whatever
that job is.
The more that we can develop those agile systems that are
truly responsive to employer needs, and worker demands, the
better we can do.
Senator Baldwin. Thank you. I was just visiting northern
Wisconsin Technical College, Nicolet College, that is doing
that same embedding of the basic skills----
Mr. Perez. Right.
Senator Baldwin [continuing]. In their training, workforce
training. I have limited time left.
I want to have you address the growing unemployment problem
for persons with disabilities. I think it's extremely important
to make sure we're doing all we can to support all Americans
including those who have a disability.
Can you tell me a little bit about how, under your
leadership, the Department of Labor would work to decrease
unemployment for persons with disabilities?
Mr. Perez. I so appreciate that question because we have
spent so much time in this job and when I was with the State of
Maryland increasing opportunities for people with disabilities.
And I know Chairman Harkin, this is in his DNA as much as
anyone across this country.
I was the lunch speaker at an event recently in Maryland
sponsored by the Maryland Chamber that was honoring employers
who are doing so much work in the disability context. Much of
this is understanding the needs of people with disabilities,
and I think we can do much more.
How many people do you meet who say, ``I want to be a
taxpayer. I want to pay more taxes.'' Part of the challenge is
making sure that we understand some of the barriers:
transportation.
For instance, there are a number of employers in Maryland
who enable people to work from home. Well, why not hire
somebody with a disability? You can save the commuting time and
you will find that you have a remarkable employee.
There are so many. We are doing a number of cases right now
working with States to ensure that people with disabilities can
get jobs that pay a decent wage. We're working with the State
of Oregon, for instance, on this issue. We're working with
another State on this issue.
I think the Department of Labor and the Department of
Justice can be critical players. But the Department of Health
and Human Services has to be at the table because we want to
make sure, for instance, that if they are on Medicaid or some
other form of benefit that enables them to get health
insurance, that getting a job isn't a Pyrrhic victory. You get
your job, but you lose your health care.
That's why we need to bring everybody around who has skin
in the game in the Government to the table. I think we can do
it, but the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is
unacceptably high, and unnecessarily so.
Senator Baldwin. Thank you.
The Chairman. I certainly agree with that. In our next
round, I will have a certain question about that.
Senator Roberts.
Mr. Perez. Good morning, sir.
Statement of Senator Roberts
Senator Roberts. Good morning. How are you, Tom?
Mr. Perez. I'm doing very well, Senator. Thank you for your
courtesy.
Senator Roberts. Tell your son to stay loose at the plate
and choke off on the bat.
Mr. Perez. Thank you. He had three triples his first game.
Senator Roberts. That's good advice for you too, sir, if
you are confirmed Secretary of Labor.
You have indicated the President's comment and you agree
with this philosophy, how do we make America a magnet for jobs?
How do we equip our people with the skills they need to succeed
in those jobs? And how do we ensure an honest day's work leads
to a decent living? It is the ``we'' part of it that causes me
some concern, not a lot of concern, but some concern.
I suggest with some temerity that every American should
have the opportunity and freedom to climb the ladder of success
to achieve the American Dream; their American Dream. And
nothing manmade or Government-made will stand in their way. It
is the Government that I am worried about in terms of over-
regulation, regulations that don't make sense.
Regulations that the President has indicated in his
Executive order 13563 and he said,
``A review of regs currently on the books to
determine if they are obsolete, and necessary, and
justified, excessively burdensome, counterproductive,
or duplicative of other Federal programs.''
And the President said, ``Some of them are just plain
dumb.''
I had a very good conversation with the President last
week. He indicated that he thought every agency was doing just
that. My understanding is that the Department that you expect
to head or hope to head has put forth a plan--they needed to
put forth a plan 2 years ago, because this was a 2011 Executive
order--but to put forth a plan to comply with the Executive
order.
How do you propose to ensure compliance with this Executive
order? I think the obvious answer is just to say, ``Yes, I will
comply with it,'' and we can get onto other things, but.
Mr. Perez. Yes, I will comply with it.
Senator Roberts. Thank you.
Mr. Perez. And I will do so by listening to you and others
to hear your specific----
Senator Roberts. Do you know any regulation on the books
within the Department of Labor that would fit this description?
Or do you think that every regulation that the Department has
issued to date and that you are proposing, is fine and dandy?
Mr. Perez. I would want to take a very careful look and I
take the Executive order seriously.
Senator Roberts. Good. That's the answer I want. I want you
to take a very careful look. And the reason I want to have you
take a careful look, after an awful lot of letters from those
who are privileged to represent farmers and ranchers, both
House and Senate. Thousands of public comments from farm
families when we could have a comment period in regard to a
regulation, as opposed to an interim final rule, or an
Executive order, or sub-regulatory guidance, all of which have
led to the deluge of regulations that are causing problems out
there in America, and that affects jobs big time.
But we wrote a lot of letters and a lot of folks in rural
communities wrote a lot of letters, Youth in Agriculture,
Educational Leadership, folks like the 4-H, and the FFA. The
Department of Labor finally went through the proposed rule on
so-called child labor regulations with the promise that such a
far-reaching rule would not be pursued for the duration of this
administration.
Should you be confirmed through the Senate, do you plan to
uphold that promise? And the answer is yes.
Mr. Perez. I look forward, certainly, to learning more
about that issue. I have been just getting up to speed on that,
and I would certainly honor----
Senator Roberts. Well, now----
Mr. Perez [continuing]. Whatever commitments have been made
previously.
Senator Roberts [continuing]. We have just gone through a
whole situation with the Senator from South Carolina. All I
need is a yes----
Mr. Perez. OK.
Senator Roberts [continuing]. As a promise that would not--
--
Mr. Perez. Sir----
Senator Roberts [continuing]. Put forth this Katrina of
regulations in regards to agriculture.
Mr. Perez. Senator, just to be clear, it's my understanding
that DOL withdrew the rule and it's my further understanding
that there is no intention to pursue the rule.
Senator Roberts. Right. Good answer. Let me just say that
the traditional regulatory process described in the
Administrative Procedure Act, and statute, and Executive order,
calls for notice comment 60 days before any of these
regulations are put out.
But as I have indicated, we are now into a new world of
sub-regulatory guidance. Agency after agency goes through
things where you have to get on their Web site, and then you
have an e-mail, or a bulletin, or FAQ's, Frequently Asked
Questions.
Mr. Perez. Asked questions.
Senator Roberts. I love that acronym. And then the
aggrieved party, be it a small business, be it in agriculture,
be it in health care, now I could just go down the line. They
are not even aware of it.
I am very hopeful if approved, you will commit to ensuring
that this traditional 60 days? And then if something is wrong
and somebody suggest to you that we can tweak this, we can
change it, or maybe even get rid of it, that they will have
another 60 days to comment.
So we have this transparency and we have the opportunity
for people to comment on any regulation that you would propose.
Mr. Perez. I'm a strong believer in transparency and you
certainly have my commitment, if confirmed, that we will follow
all of the protocols so that we can ensure that every voice is
heard in a reasonable way.
Senator Roberts. Thank you, Mr. Perez. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
I want to inform Senators, there are two votes starting at
noon, they are both 10 minute votes. One of them is the
amendment that Senator Alexander and I have, but if we each
take 5 minutes, we will run 5 minutes over. So I hate to say
this, but I am going to try to keep people to 5 minutes.
Senator Sanders is next.
Statement of Senator Sanders
Senator Sanders. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and
welcome----
Mr. Perez. Good morning, sir.
Senator Sanders [continuing]. Mr. Perez. Let me just start
off. I want to get to the work that we hope that you will be
doing as Secretary of Labor.
But getting back to the Civil Rights Division, there has
been some suggestion that you have not done your job in
bringing revenue into the Federal Government. That you may have
quote-
unquote ``lost'' the Government some $200 million.
My understanding that in terms of the disparate impact
theory, you have brought in many, many hundreds of millions of
dollars to the Federal Government from companies like
Countrywide, or Wells Fargo who have, in fact, discriminated
against African-Americans and Hispanics.
Can you talk a little bit about the money that the Civil
Rights Division has, in fact, brought in, in the combat--as we
combat racial discrimination?
Mr. Perez. The money that we've recovered, and we recovered
more money in 2012 in the fair lending context under the Fair
Housing Act than in the previous 23 years combined. That money
goes to victims and communities directly.
Similarly, Senator, and I know you care deeply about this
as chair of the Veteran's Committee, we have done more work on
behalf of service members than ever before. We've recovered
over $50 million on behalf of service members who were
wrongfully foreclosed.
They're deployed in Iraq. They sustain an injury, and
meanwhile at home, they've been wrongfully foreclosed on. So
we've recovered more than $50 million going directly to the
service member.
Senator Sanders. Thank you very much for that. But in other
words, you have been aggressive in protecting the citizens of
our country in terms of justice and fair remuneration.
Mr. Perez. I believe we've been fair and aggressive.
Senator Sanders. Let me ask you another question, which
doesn't get a lot of attention. One of the least sexy divisions
of the Department of Labor is the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Now, why is that important? It is an important division
because we cannot do our job unless we have a good, factual
understanding of, in fact, the State of the economy among other
things.
If you go to the front pages of newspapers today, they will
tell us that unemployment is 7.6 percent. On the other hand,
within the Department of Labor, you have another index called
the U6, which tells us that if you look at people who have
given up looking for work and people who are working part-time
when they want to work full-time, real unemployment today is
somewhere around 13.8 percent, which puts us at a very
different situation: 7.6 is bad, 13.8 is horrendous. It might
lead us to take some more bolder action in terms of job
creation.
Why in your judgment and what can you do about putting more
emphasis into the U6 definition of unemployment rather than
what we currently use?
Mr. Perez. Unemployment is unacceptably high regardless of
what metric you use, and we need to take every step possible to
address that.
In addition, Senator, the number of people, labor force
participation is at one of the lowest levels. That's another
important statistic that----
Senator Sanders. Right.
Mr. Perez [continuing]. And we want to look at all of them
and figure out an effective strategy.
Senator Sanders. Which the current metric does not take
into consideration. I mean, would you agree with me that 7.6
unemployment is a conservative statement of unemployment in
America?
Mr. Perez. 7.6 percent doesn't take into account
discouraged workers, for instance.
Senator Sanders. Right.
Mr. Perez. So in that sense it understates the unemployment
rate, which is why we have to make sure that we work for
everyone.
Senator Sanders. We all believe in creating jobs, but I
also want to make sure that the American people have a sense of
the reality of the economy.
Could you pledge to me that you will work with me and
others to make sure that the information that comes out of the
Department of Labor, in fact, more truly indicates the State of
the economy?
Mr. Perez. I look forward to working with you and everyone
on the committee, if confirmed, to talk, tell the story of
what's happening, and to work collaboratively to identify
solutions.
Senator Sanders. All right. Very briefly, I think from
Maryland, you are familiar with a concept called the Genuine
Progress Indicator, GPI.
Mr. Perez. Yes.
Senator Sanders. Does it ring a bell?
Mr. Perez. Yes.
Senator Sanders. One of the concerns that I have is when we
talk about GDP, Gross Domestic Product, people say, ``Well, we
have to get it up.'' Yes, I guess we do, but it really doesn't
mean much for the average person if all of the new income goes
to the people on top.
Over a recent 3-year period, 100 percent of all new income
went to the top 1 percent; the bottom 99 percent got nothing.
Will you work with me under the concept of a Genuine
Progress Indicator which tries to measure how the economy is,
in fact, doing for the average person dealing with real wages,
dealing with distribution of wealth and income?
I think we need more information from the BLS so that we
can, as policymakers and the American people, get a real
understanding of what is going on in the economy, so we can
come up with policy to address the problems.
Does the concept of the Genuine Progress Indicator passed
in Maryland and in Vermont interest you, something you want to
work with me on?
Mr. Perez. I look forward to working with you, Senator.
Senator Sanders. All right. Thank you.
The Chairman. Senator Burr.
Mr. Perez. Good morning, sir. Thank you for meeting with me
yesterday.
Statement of Senator Burr
Senator Burr. Thank you. I welcome you, and I welcome your
family, and encourage your son: do not take batting tips from
Senator Roberts.
[Laughter.]
But you could probably look at him and tell that.
As we discussed yesterday, I told you I am going to go a
little bit historical and I will go a little bit forward. So
permit me, if I can.
Mr. Perez, there have been some reviews of the e-mails that
you sent out of the Justice Department. I am not here to
discuss whether they happened in personal accounts or in
official accounts. But let me read two incidents to you and
then get you to comment.
In one e-mail, a reporter from ``The New York Times'' asked
you about how he should advise his colleagues as to when the
Department would announce a consent decree with the city of New
Orleans, LA.
You responded, and I quote from that e-mail, ``I would
advise him to be there by noon on Tuesday. I would further
advise him to give me a call if he wants. Attorney General will
be there to make announcements.'' The announcement was made by
Secretary Holder on that day, the 24th of July.
In another e-mail to the same ``New York Times'' reporter
about the settlement, the Department settlement with the
Countrywide Financial Corporation in December 2011, you again
appeared to provide nonpublic information.
The e-mail said, ``Just closed deal 15 minutes ago. Will
announce tomorrow at 3 p.m.'' This is to a ``New York Times''
reporter and, again, I am not trying to distinguish between
personal e-mails and official e-mails. There is a reason that
most things are operated through official e-mail.
But is it appropriate and ethical to release nonpublic
information, especially when that information could move equity
markets?
Mr. Perez. Senator, I'd need to look at the whole context
of the e-mails that you're referring to. In connection with
both those cases, we reached agreements. We announced those
agreements in a very transparent way, and those agreements----
Senator Burr. The quotes that I have----
Mr. Perez [continuing]. Were good agreements.
Senator Burr [continuing]. The quotes that I have given
you, and I am primarily focused on the second one, was there
had been no public release of the decision. And you made a
release to a ``New York Times'' reporter of a decision where
the public statement would be at 3 p.m. the next day on
Countrywide Financial, which, as we know, could have an impact
on Bank of America, since they were the owner, of the price of
equities.
Mr. Perez. Senator----
Senator Burr. Is that appropriate and is it ethical?
Mr. Perez. Again, my recollection of that situation, and I
don't have all the e-mails in front of me that you reference,
and there are many of them, is that there was--there was
efforts by the press office to announce generally that the
public announcement----
Senator Burr. Do you regularly share----
Mr. Perez [continuing]. Was going to occur the next day,
so.
Senator Burr [continuing]. Do you regularly share nonpublic
information with reporters?
Mr. Perez. I don't believe, sir, that that was nonpublic
information is what I'm saying is that the notice had gone
out----
Senator Burr. Your own, your own e-mail said, ``Will
announce tomorrow, 3 o'clock.''
Mr. Perez. Right. And, and as you know, media advisories
often go out the day before, and my recollection, if I'm
correct, is that that was 4 days before Christmas and so----
Senator Burr. I'll ask you to look----
Mr. Perez. OK.
Senator Burr [continuing]. I will ask you to look back at
that and----
Mr. Perez. I'd be happy to look back at it----
Senator Burr. All right.
Mr. Perez [continuing]. But my recollection is that the
press people had been sending out notice to folks that there
was going to be this announcement the next day.
Senator Burr. Mr. Perez, the recent cliff extension of
additional Federal unemployment benefits included a provision
that was referred to a clause of non-reduction, and it forbids
States from making certain benefit modifications to their
plans.
Does the non-reduction clause, in fact, cause a benefit
reduction should a State modify its plan?
Mr. Perez. Senator, my understanding is that, if I think I
understand the context, is that as a result of changes that
were made in the North Carolina legislature to the provision of
unemployment benefits, that triggered the provisions that you
referred to.
Senator Burr. Right.
Mr. Perez. And it's my understanding from talking to folks
at the Department of Labor that the Department had no choice in
making that decision because that's what the----
Senator Burr [continuing]. You're exactly right. The
Secretary at the time sat there and said, ``We have no
flexibility.''
Yet in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Jobs Act of 2012 we,
in fact, gave flexibility for a short period of time and closed
the window. So some States got waivers, some States didn't get
waivers.
My question is very clear. One, is it fair? And two,
doesn't the clause non-reduction mean that if a State modifies
in any way, shape, or form their plan, they actually lose
everything that was participated, so the effects of it is that
the individuals lose their benefits?
Mr. Perez. Again, Senator, my understanding is that it was
the Department's conclusion that they had no flexibility there.
I would certainly look forward----
Senator Burr. Would you like flexibility for the non-
reduction clause?
Mr. Perez. Again, I spent time in a disability case working
with the North Carolina legislature that we talked about. And I
certainly would look forward to meeting with you and with them
to perhaps persuade them that if their laws were changed that
perhaps there might be a different impact on what's happening
at a Federal level.
Senator Burr. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Senator Franken.
Statement of Senator Franken
Senator Franken. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
First, I want to thank you, Mr. Perez for your public
service.
Mr. Perez. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Franken. You have dedicated your life to making
people's lives better. Under your leadership at the Civil
Rights Division, thousands of individuals with disabilities are
now receiving services. And the rights of our service members
and veterans are better protected when they return home.
In Maryland, when we had our discussion, we talked about
reauthorizing. We talked about workforce boards. We talked
about bringing 2-year colleges, community colleges and
technical colleges together with business, and with labor, and
with workforce boards. I am very impressed by your work
improving Maryland's job training programs.
Last year, the committee heard testimony from public-
private partnerships that were successful. We had four
workforce boards who were the 2-year colleges, technical and
community colleges that worked with local industries.
I recently heard from one of these partnerships at a
roundtable in Minnesota--this is what we are doing in Minnesota
now--was a roundtable in Rochester, MN. They are developing a
program called CTEC, which will serve as a hands-on learning
center for
K-12, community colleges, and Doug Community College in
Rochester, and State university students to learn the skills
needed by in-demand industries, to fill these skills gap that
we talked about.
What did you do to successfully engage the business
community in Maryland? What can the Labor Department do to
encourage more successful public-private partnership?
Mr. Perez. We engaged in sector strategy, sir. We brought
together, for instance, the manufacturing sector, the
hospitality sectors, the health care sector, the biotech
sector. We would bring in the manufacturing sector, for
instance, large employers, medium-sized employers, smaller
employers.
We would bring them together with community colleges, other
key stakeholders because as you correctly identify, most of the
jobs we're talking about are these middle skill jobs, high
school-plus, a certificate program.
And we're able to come up with a very good assessment of
what is the demand, because we need--we can't train and pray.
You know, you don't do a training program and pray that there's
a job out there for the skill you now have. You should only
train for programs that you know are going to produce a job.
That should be the goal.
We engaged the business community in that way and so we
could come up with those plans, and we could build and align an
integrated system that worked.
Senator Franken. I could use all my time to talk about
that, and I would love to, and I enjoyed our conversation about
that because I think it is so important.
But I want to move on to these Taft-Hartley health plans,
which is, these are health plans that have been negotiated by
unions with multiple employers. I had one of those when I was
in the Writer's Guild. We writers work with multiple employers
and they have been an important part of our Nation's model of
employer-sponsored health insurance.
They are particularly important because they allow workers
who move frequently from one employer to another each year,
such as in construction and mining and service industries, they
allow these workers to have continuous supportable coverage for
themselves and their families.
The ACA, the health reform law, will help many small
businesses to better afford insurance for their employees. But
as we implement this law, we must take into account what is
already working, and these Taft-Hartley plans are working. I
have repeatedly asked this administration to work with unions
in Minnesota to protect Taft-Hartley plans through the
implementation of health reform.
If confirmed, how would you work with unions and with your
colleagues in the Department of Health and Human Services, and
Treasury to protect the working families who depend on Taft-
Hartley plans for affordable, continuous health insurance?
Mr. Perez. Senator, I would welcome the opportunity if
confirmed to work with you to travel to Minnesota to understand
the issues firsthand.
A good friend of mine now runs the workforce system in
Minnesota, so we could double dip and have the discussions
about workforce.
But this issue, I have heard a number of times, and I
appreciate the importance of it, and I look forward to learning
more about it, so that we can find a way to make sure that we
address the concerns that you've outlined.
Senator Franken. Thank you so much.
Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Franken.
Senator Murkowski.
Statement of Senator Murkowski
Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Perez. Good morning, Senator.
Senator Murkowski. Good morning, welcome.
Mr. Perez. Thank you for meeting with me the other day.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you. I appreciated the
conversation.
I understand that prior to my arrival here, you responded
to a question from Senator Murphy as it related to the Job
Corps program.
Mr. Perez. I did.
Senator Murkowski. We discussed it briefly in my office,
and I understand that you intend to kind of report back as to
the status of the Job Corps program, and how we are going to
deal with this.
I think I pointed out that we have seen some great benefits
in the State of Alaska. I've got some issues. We currently have
a wait list of about 300 at our local Job Corps center. I want
to figure out how we're going to deal with the wait list.
I also understand that in the recently released budget, the
President's budget increases administrative expenses for
Federal staff salaries while reducing the operation expenses
for the Federal contractors who actually operate the Job Corps.
I am concerned about that aspect of it. So I would like you to,
as you are reporting back, address that as well.
And then a final thing on Job Corps is the definition of
homeless, because within the Job Corps, the program provides
opportunities for our homeless teens. And it is my
understanding that the definition includes students that are
living in uninhabitable conditions or staying in a shelter.
This, we found in Alaska, is very limiting in terms of how
we define. It may not be that you are living in a shelter. It
may not be that the teen is in an ``uninhabitable'' situation.
But I would like to have you look at that definition so that it
is not so narrowly defined.
We had a situation in Alaska where it was the definition
alone that really prevented the Corps from assisting a homeless
teen who just kind of fell in between the cracks there. And I
think that we can, perhaps, improve on that. So I would ask you
to look at that as well when you are looking at the Job Corps
issues as a whole.
I wanted to ask you this morning about the H-2B visa
program. As I mentioned, this is an important program in the
State of Alaska. It is one way that we are able to address the
needs of our seafood processors, a very seasonal business, a
very intense season there. And we need some help addressing it.
I have had some concerns regarding the impact of the recent
Federal rulings on the Department of Labor to continue to
process the H-2B visas. These processing companies really need
some quick action by the Department to ensure that as this
upcoming season approaches that they are able to respond.
It is my understanding that the Department has indicated
that it will proceed with issuing the labor certifications for
a small number of employers including those that are using the
private surveys, private wage surveys.
But my question to you, I guess, my hope or the assurance
that you are going to give me is that you will commit that the
Department will continue to move ahead expeditiously. We need
fast action here with the processing of these H-2B visas.
Mr. Perez. Senator, as to the second question on H-2B, you
certainly have my commitment that we will work as expeditiously
as possible, if confirmed. Every year, I would have
conversations, when I was Labor Secretary, with Senator
Mikulski----
Senator Murkowski. Right.
Mr. Perez [continuing]. And Senator Cardin.
Senator Murkowski. Same situation.
Mr. Perez. Same situation, and so I am very familiar with
the situation, and I recognize that justice delayed can often
be justice denied. And so, you certainly have my commitment.
As to Job Corps, I have a vivid memory of our conversation
and the importance of Job Corps in Alaska, and failure is not
an option. And you have my commitment that we will address the
issues of accountability. We will address the issues of making
sure that procurement systems are working. And equally
importantly, we will address the issue of outcomes, making sure
that people are not only trained, but are able to succeed after
they're trained.
Senator Murkowski. Appreciate that.
And then just a reference to the wage rule, following the
promulgation of the rule in 2011 about the increased labor
costs for employers that utilize the H-2B's, as a wage rule
methodology, and then there is this comprehensive rule. The
wage rule was supposed to go into effect in fiscal year 2012,
the comprehensive rule in fiscal year 2013.
Mr. Perez. Right.
Senator Murkowski. We have had a bipartisan group of
Senators that supported the language in the Appropriations bill
to delay that wage rule. A bipartisan group supported an across
the board freeze of both rules for industries.
So the question to you is whether or not you will respect
the bipartisan congressional concerns that have been expressed
in both the Appropriations bill as well as the letter that has
been out there?
Mr. Perez. Yes, Senator, I certainly look forward to
working with you on that, and making sure that we're consistent
with all of the commitments that we've made.
Senator Murkowski. Appreciate it.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
The vote, they told us they would hold the vote open until
12:20. If we each take 5 minutes, we can gavel it by 12:10,
which would be the chair's intent.
Now we will go to Senator Whitehouse, Senator Hatch,
Senator Murray, Senator Hagen.
Senator Whitehouse.
Statement of Senator Whitehouse
Senator Whitehouse. Welcome, Mr. Perez, and thank you for
your willingness to continue your service.
I am a fellow veteran of the Department of Justice, and so
I am keenly aware of the mess that you inherited in the
Judiciary Committee--we got a pretty unfortunate look at; just
to sort of recap some of the points.
An earlier I.G. inspection found, and I quote, ``numerous
career voting section employees engaged in highly inappropriate
and hostile conduct toward other career section employees.''
Another I.G. report noted that the then-predecessor of
yours, Mr. Schlozman,
``Favored applicants with conservative political or
ideological affiliations and disfavored applicants with
civil rights or human rights experience, whom he
considered to be overly liberal.''
The report showed that he refused to even show his section
chiefs the resumes. He would filter them for conservative
credentials before they were reviewed.
He referred to one of the attorneys in the appellate
section as, ``A Democrat in hiding.'' Who is, ``Not going to
hide in my appellate section,'' and was resultantly
transferred.
On another case, unsettling discrepancies in the resume of
an applicant were overlooked because the resume showed
membership in the Federalist Society and the Republican
National Lawyers Association. That lawyer lasted less than a
year before having to be warned that poor performance was going
to require removal.
And ultimately, that predecessor of yours was described by
the Inspector General as having made false statements to
Congress. So it was about as rancid a place as you could
imagine back then.
You have come in. The I.G. has taken a second look. The
I.G. has found no evidence of biased enforcement of voting
rights laws, politically based hiring, or politicized FOIA
responses. Reviewed the decisions of the division and section
leadership, and particularly in controversial cases, and said
that it,
``Did not substantiate claims of political or racial
bias, reviewed thousands of internal Civil Rights
Division documents that did not reveal that the Civil
Rights Division staff allowed political or ideological
bias to influence the hiring decisions.''
That is quite a turn around.
How did you pull that off? It is so important for the
people of the United States to have confidence that the
Department of Justice is not affected by that kind of partisan
poison that you inherited. And you seem to have solved that
problem.
Mr. Perez. Senator, when I entered the Department of
Justice first time, Ronald Reagan was President and Attorney
General Meese was in charge. That was 1985 or 1986.
When I entered as a career person in 1989, President George
Herbert Walker Bush was in charge, and John Dunn was the
Assistant Attorney General.
I am just as proud of the work I did under the Republican
administrations as I was in the Democratic administrations.
There are time-honored traditions, as you well know having
worked at the Department, of nonpartisan leadership. Of making
sure that everybody's voice is heard. Of making sure that
hiring is career-driven and merit-based. I learned those
lessons from Republicans and Democrats. I had the privilege of
implementing those lessons.
So, when I came back, I had a clear direction and sense of
where we needed to go, and I believe that we have gone in that
direction.
Senator Whitehouse. Well, congratulations. I think that is
impressive management and leadership in difficult
circumstances.
The other point I would want to make, there has been a
suggestion made that you overlooked a case called the Newell
case and refused to support it, and might have cost the U.S.
taxpayer as much as $200 million in making that decision.
You responded by saying that the expert on that type of
matter in the Department actually reviewed that particular
case, and I think your language was that he had an immediate
and visceral reaction. That it was not a winning case.
My understanding is that his language was, ``This case
sucks.''
Mr. Perez. My 10-year-old is here, so I attempted to use
different language, Senator.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Whitehouse. Sorry, to be a bad influence.
Mr. Perez. That's the first time he's heard that word,
Senator.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Whitehouse. I'm sure. I'm sure. So that was the
professional judgment of the experts in the Department.
And do we not know, in fact, what the outcome of the case
was? Did it not go forward just without the Department of
Justice? And was the result in that case not one that
vindicated that lawyer's judgment? In fact, it was a loss for
the plaintiff?
Mr. Perez. That is correct, sir. And it's my understanding
that the relater has filed other cases and all of those cases
have been dismissed as well.
Senator Whitehouse. And so it was a lost case. It wasn't
going to raise $200 million for the Government, was it?
Mr. Perez. Right. As I said in my testimony, the value of a
lost case is zero.
Senator Whitehouse. Is zero.
Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
And now, to the longest serving member of this committee,
and former chairman of this committee, Senator Hatch.
Statement of Senator Hatch
Senator Hatch. Thank you.
Mr. Perez. Good morning, Senator.
Senator Hatch. Good morning.
Mr. Perez. It's an honor to see you again.
Senator Hatch. It's an honor to see you again.
Mr. Perez on April 10, Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House
Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent you a subpoena
for all of your personal e-mails related to official business.
As of today's deadline, I have been informed, he has not yet
received those subpoenaed documents from you.
So he has asked me, to ask you, will you commit to
producing all those responsible documents to the House
Oversight Committee's subpoena?
Mr. Perez. Senator, we received a subpoena last Wednesday,
which was, frankly, surprising because we've been cooperative
in connection with the case from the outset.
I went and spent a day with the House Oversight Committee.
I was, on July 26, in a hearing last year available to testify.
The Department's provided over 1,400 documents and----
Senator Hatch. OK. Where are those, is what I'm asking----
Mr. Perez [continuing]. So we were, frankly, surprised to
receive it, but nonetheless, we provided, what I think, a
responsive letter yesterday and it's my understanding that
people came over to the Department to review documents.
Senator Hatch. OK. I wasn't aware of that, no.
In Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, the Supreme Court unanimously
held that the First Amendment protects churches or religious
organizations from lawsuits over the hiring or firing of their
ministers.
Now, this is the so-called ministerial exception. I am the
author of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, so I naturally
take an interest in these things.
This is the so-called ministerial exception that had been
recognized by Federal appeals courts for more than 40 years. In
that case, you signed onto a brief opposing any such
constitutional protection. Essentially, had your argument won
the day, the Federal courts would be able to interfere with
churches' decisions about choosing or retaining their own
ministers.
The Supreme Court not only unanimously rejected your
position, but called it ``untenable.'' The Court said that your
position was, ``Hard to square with the text of the First
Amendment itself, which gives special solicit to the rights of
religious organizations.''
The Court further stated that it could not, ``Accept the
remarkable view that the religion clauses had nothing to say
about a religious organization's freedom to select its own
ministers.''
Now, several things trouble me about your position in this
case, including what appears to be your view that a statute can
trump or neutralize the Constitution. In this case, that title
VII trumps the First Amendment. Now, I would have thought it
obvious that statutes must conform to the Constitution, not the
other way around.
Now, why did the Department of Justice take such an extreme
position in the Hosanna-Tabor case? And do you still believe
that the Government should be able to sue churches over their
hiring and firing decisions with regard to clergy?
Mr. Perez. Senator, first of all, thank you for your
leadership not only on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,
but on RLUIPA. I know you and Senator Kennedy were
indispensable in that----
Senator Hatch. From both----
Mr. Perez [continuing]. And I'm proud to report that we
continue to give that law full force and effect.
The brief that I believe you're talking about, which was
filed by the Solicitor General's Office, I think the
Government, as I recall, acknowledged that the hiring
exemptions that religious organizations enjoyed for decades, it
acknowledged that those hiring exemptions exist. It didn't
seek, as I understand it, to manifest hostility to the rights
of churches or other religious organizations to select their
ministers. And, of course, the decision of the Supreme Court is
the law of the land, and we would, of course, abide by that and
move forward.
Senator Hatch. Thank you so much.
Mr. Chairman, I will finish with that.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Hatch.
Senator Hatch. Thank you.
The Chairman. Now, we will turn to Senator Murray.
Statement of Senator Murray
Senator Murray. I will be short as well.
Mr. Perez, thank you. Very good to see you here today.
Mr. Perez. Good to see you again, Senator.
Senator Murray. I just quickly want to say, I have reviewed
all of your incredible public services. You have a very
amazing, impressive, wide range of experience that you are
bringing from a number of different agencies. And you are
something of a turn-around expert for public sector agencies.
So let me just thank you for that.
I just have one question in the short amount of time we
have, and as a member of the Veteran's Committee, past chair of
that, I have worked very hard to make sure our country steps up
to meet the needs of our service members and veterans, who
sacrifice so much on behalf of all of us.
The Civil Rights Division plays an especially valuable and,
frankly, very little-known role in ensuring that critical
protections, voting rights, employment rights under the SERA
Act, housing and mortgage protection, as you mentioned a moment
ago, just to name a few.
Can you share quickly with this committee what steps you
took to improve the enforcement of those protections, and how
you will address the needs of service members in your new
position?
Mr. Perez. Thank you, Senator. One of my real points of
pride here in the Civil Rights Division is what we have been
able to do on behalf of service members. When people are
overseas defending our Nation, they need to know that we have
their back at home.
And one of the biggest areas where we dramatically stepped
up our activities was in the enforcement of the Servicemembers
Civil Relief Act. There were service members overseas, as I
mentioned earlier, who were having their homes foreclosed on at
home and that's unacceptable. It was illegal and they were
having their cars repossessed illegally. They were being
charged interest above the statutory rate, a law that this
Congress passed. So, we've recovered something like $50 million
and counting on behalf of service members.
This was a program that was largely moribund when we
arrived. There had been, I think, one case totaling $8,000 on
behalf of a service member. And now, we've been able to provide
that relief.
Senator Murray. I really appreciate all your focus and
attention on that.
Mr. Perez. Thank you. We went out and visited people. We
went on the base in Tacoma and visited there. We were in Fort
Campbell, KY and elsewhere, and we listened and learned, and
that's why we did so much more work in the voting context,
making sure that the vote of a service member can be counted.
Then finally in the employment area, if a Guardsman gets
deployed and then loses their job at home, that's unacceptable.
The prior administration had done very good work in that area,
we continued that work and we've been able to increase it by
about 40-45 percent, because you shouldn't have to lose your
job if you get deployed. The law says that that's illegal.
And if confirmed, we will continue these partnerships
because we need to work with our vets. We need to make sure
that they have pathways to opportunity. We need to work with
States so that if a veteran is an EMT working in a warzone and
comes home, that there aren't licensing barriers to that vet
becoming an EMT at home. There's so much that we can do.
There's so much that we are doing, but I think there's even
more that we can do.
Senator Murray. Well, I will look forward to a conversation
with you about that. It is a passion of mine, but it is a real
need for this country. And certainly, our Department of Labor
really needs to focus on that. So I appreciate your work.
Mr. Perez. Thank you for your leadership on that.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Murray.
And now, Senator Hagan.
Statement of Senator Hagan
Senator Hagan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And welcome, Mr. Perez.
Mr. Perez. Good morning, Senator. I saw you at the
Greensboro opening.
Senator Hagan. I was going to say back in 2010 for the
opening----
Mr. Perez. Yes.
Senator Hagan [continuing]. Of the Civil Rights Museum, the
Woolworth's where the Greensboro Four sat at the lunch counter.
Mr. Perez. A very memorable day.
Senator Hagan. As I recall, it was a freezing, freezing
February; one cold 7 a.m. morning.
Mr. Perez. For a Buffalo guy, it felt pretty balmy.
Senator Hagan. It was cold.
[Laughter.]
I wanted to ask some questions about the fiduciary rule,
and I know you have probably heard this already today. But I
have really heard serious concerns from a wide range of
stakeholders about this issue, and I share the Department of
Labor's goal of protecting consumers.
I am also concerned that the rule that was drafted in 2010
would harm constituents in my State who are trying to save for
retirement. In fact, one study concluded that the Department of
Labor's proposed regulation would cause hundreds of thousands
of fewer IRA's to be opened annually.
And I believe it is important to ensure that the Department
of Labor studies this potential impact and takes this analysis
into account when the rule is reproposed.
If you are confirmed, do you pledge to monitor the
development of this rule to ensure that it does not require--
doesn't result in increased costs for particularly the low- and
the moderate-income accountholders? And what steps will you
take to ensure that the rule does not result in reduced access
to the education or fewer retirement investment options for
Americans?
Mr. Perez. Senator, you have my commitment that, if
confirmed, I will be actively and immediately listening and
learning from all of the Senators and other stakeholders from
whom I've heard feedback.
I've heard, as I mentioned earlier, I think, to Senator
Isakson, I've heard concerns from Republican and Democratic
Senators in the course of my visits. And part of the reason I
wanted to visit with people is to listen and learn about things
that are on your mind.
I look forward, if confirmed, to continuing that dialog,
except taking a much deeper dive.
Senator Hagan. Because I really do think it will have a
negative impact on the low- and moderate-income saver who is
really trying to do the right thing and save for their
retirement.
The SEC has also been working on its own fiduciary standard
for broker-dealers for several years. And the Commission's goal
has been to ensure that investors, particularly retail
investors, are appropriately protected and have access to the
types of investor-
focused advice that they need.
As Labor Secretary overseeing the Department's fiduciary
rulemaking, would you agree that the goal of investor
protection, or agree with that goal of investor protection and
access to advice?
Mr. Perez. Sure. We always want to make sure that we have
investor protection. We want to make sure we have retirement
security for everybody. I think there are a lot of shared
goals.
We also want to make sure that the doctrine of unintended
consequences is something that we keep in mind, and we want to
figure out how we can balance all of the competing
considerations. And I look forward, if confirmed, to working on
that with you.
Senator Hagan. That doctrine of unintended consequences, I
think, plays part in this because although the SEC and the DOL
rules would apply to investors with separate objectives, I
really am concerned that they will create confusion or even
contradictory directives for investors. So I do appreciate
that.
Then one other question on workforce training, getting
Americans and North Carolinians back to work is certainly a top
priority for me. I know the U.S. unemployment rate is about
7.6. In my State, it is much higher than that. It is 9.4, and
in some areas and my county, it is 17-18 percent.
At the same time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
recently that there are close to 4 million job openings in the
United States. I know that manufacturing companies can't fill
as many as 600,000 skilled positions.
There is, to me, a huge mismatch of the skill sets that are
necessary today to do these jobs that are available.
What steps will you take to increase communication and
collaboration between the Department of Labor, business
leaders, community organizations, and educators to really try
to help connect our unemployed Americans with these available
job opportunities that we know are out there?
Mr. Perez. Senator, I believe that the Department of Labor
can be the quarterback in a fully integrated and agile
workforce system that's demand-driven, responsive to the needs
of employers, and works collaboratively with workers and other
stakeholders to make sure that they have access to those jobs,
and that the gaps that you described are addressed.
And there's a program--the North Carolina Back-to-Work
Program is a partnership between your community college system
and the North Carolina Department of Commerce. It's a really
good example of a program that, among other things, addresses
the needs of the long-term unemployed. And I look forward to
learning more about it.
Senator Hagan. I look forward to working with you, and I
have another bill, a bipartisan bill, the America Works Act,
that I think can really concentrate on helping develop these
skill sets for the jobs that are available.
Mr. Perez. Thank you.
Senator Hagan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
Now, we will turn to Senator Casey, who chairs the
Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee.
Senator Casey.
Statement of Senator Casey
Senator Casey. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much.
I am sorry I was late today. We had one of those mornings
where we were doing a lot of juggling, so.
Mr. Perez. You've had a number of them.
Senator Casey. Tom, I missed your opening statement and
some of the questions, so I apologize for that.
No. 1, thanks for your commitment to public service. It's
been extraordinary over a lot of years; we don't need to
recount the years. You know them.
Mr. Perez. I had hair when I started.
[Laughter.]
Senator Casey. I had more then, too, when you started.
Mr. Perez. I figured we could relate.
Senator Casey. But just one question in light of the, I
know we are constrained by a vote and the time.
Initially, we spoke of earlier when we sat down in my
office recently on Job Corps, which is, most people know, but
if they don't, a great program over generations, has been in
place. Students who come to a facility in Pennsylvania, a site,
one of four sites where they learn job skills, they overcome or
surmount barriers in their way.
Critically important program that, unfortunately, because
the Department didn't budget very well and didn't watch the
dollars in ways that, I think, taxpayers should have an
expectation that they would. They had to, the Department, as
you know, had to cutback and freeze enrollments, affected
thousands of students across the country and, unfortunately, is
going to lead to some bad results where folks who won't get on
the right track. So a program that needs tremendous reform, the
commitment of your time and effort.
And I would ask you to make a commitment today to work very
hard, upon confirmation, to right the ship. To put in place the
kind of controls that any organization, public or private,
would have by use of, what I would call, old-kind-of-
comptroller practices. Budgeting and being able to budget
month-to-month and be able to project over time the spending.
So I would ask you for that commitment and your efforts to
rectify this.
Mr. Perez. You have my absolute commitment in that regard,
Senator. We have to do better. We can do better. We will do
better. And I know there are a lot of dedicated people at the
Department right now already working on this.
You have my full commitment that, if confirmed, this will
be a top priority.
Senator Casey. And as you know, and the chairman gave us
the opportunity to have a hearing in our subcommittee, Senator
Isakson and I and others who joined in, and spent a lot of time
trying to push the Department to get this right.
We have high expectations and I think they are consistent
with the expectation of taxpayers, but also what we should all
hope for those students.
Mr. Perez. Absolutely.
Mr. Casey. Thanks very much.
Mr. Perez. Thank you for your time. It's good to have two
former Jesuit volunteers in the room, as well.
Senator Casey. That's right.
Mr. Perez. My wife is here.
Senator Casey. Thank you.
The Chairman. Look out for the Jesuits. Anyway, I can say
it because I have been in Catholic schools all of my life. I
always say I was very fortunate. I never had Jesuit teachers.
[Laughter.]
That's an inside joke.
Mr. Perez. Right. I should note for the record that my
wife's uncle is a Jesuit.
The Chairman. Oh, well.
Mr. Perez. He teaches at the University of Detroit Mercy.
The Chairman. Oh, well. They're great people, those
Jesuits.
Mr. Perez. Yes.
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. All right.
Mr. Casey. Mr. Chairman, thank you for that.
The Chairman. We will be holding an executive session next
Thursday to consider Mr. Perez's nomination. In order to
maintain that timetable, I ask that Senators submit any written
questions by 5 p.m. on Friday, tomorrow.
The hearing record will remain open for statements for 10
days.
The Chairman. Mr. Perez, thank you for your forthrightness.
Thanks too, again, for all of your public service and your
willingness to take on this job.
I can just say that in closing that Amalia, and Susana, and
Rafael have been so good and so attentive, they deserve the
best lunch.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Perez. All right. Absolutely.
The Chairman. Senator Alexander.
Senator Alexander. There are still some outstanding
requests for information which we need to have in, in order to
complete the process for the committee. So I would urge you to
do that as quickly as possible.
Mr. Perez. We certainly look forward to working with you on
any requests for information, sir. Thank you for your courtesy.
The Chairman. Thank you very much. The hearing is
adjourned.
[Additional material follows.]
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
Letters of Support
[Globe Newswire, March 13, 2013--Press Release]
The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Commends President
Obama's Choice of Thomas Perez as Secretary of Labor--GlobeNewswire
Washington, DC--The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
(USHCC) applauds President Obama's appointment of prominent civil
rights lawyer, Thomas Perez, as the new Secretary of Labor. Pending
Senate confirmation, Perez is set to replace outgoing Labor Secretary,
Hilda Solis.
Perez is a Harvard-educated attorney whose career has been
dedicated to worker and civil rights advocacy at the Federal, State and
local levels. He was appointed Assistant Attorney General at the Civil
Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice in 2009. Prior to
that, he was secretary for Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing
and Regulation. Perez also served 12 years prosecuting civil cases as
Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Clinton administration.
USHCC President & CEO Javier Palomarez said,
``Thomas Perez's admirable civil service career protecting
the rights of the American people is praiseworthy. His story as
a first-generation American sheds light on the incredible
contributions the children of our Nation's immigrants offer to
our country every day. His track record has proven that he is a
tireless champion for the American worker and I am certain he
will continue his outstanding service to our country as the
next Secretary of Labor.''
Foreign-born workers make up over 16 percent of the Nation's
civilian labor force. Immigrant entrepreneurs own 11 percent of all
U.S. firms, employing 1 out of every 10 American workers and generating
over $775 billion in annual revenue.
``I am confident Thomas Perez will be a leading voice not
only for our Nation's workers, but also for America's immigrant
entrepreneurs. He is a committed civil and labor rights
champion that sees the limitless value immigration reform will
bring to our economy--that is precisely the kind of leader we
need at the Department of Labor. The USHCC looks forward to
working with Mr. Perez once he assumes his new role''--said
USHCC Chairman of the Board Marc Rodriguez.
about the ushcc
Founded in 1979, the USHCC actively promotes the economic growth
and development of Hispanic entrepreneurs and represents the interests
of over 3 million Hispanic-owned businesses across the United States
that contribute in excess of $465 billion to the American economy each
year. It also serves as the umbrella organization for more than 200
local Hispanic chambers and business associations in the United States
and Puerto Rico. Follow us on Twitter @USHCC.
Contact: Valentina Pereda, USHCC Communications Manager, 202-735-
772, [email protected].
[NCLR, March 12, 2013--Press Release]
Washington, DC--NCLR (National Council of La Raza) announced today
its support for Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the
Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, who is being
considered by President Obama for Secretary of Labor, a vacancy left by
former Secretary Hilda Solis. NCLR is encouraged by this potential
appointment and urges the President to strongly consider Mr. Perez and
other highly qualified Hispanics for cabinet positions. If nominated,
Perez would be the only Latino in the President's second-term cabinet
and the first Dominican American ever to serve in a presidential
cabinet.
Janet Murguia, NCLR President and CEO said,
``Thomas Perez is an eminently qualified public servant who
has the professional experience and compelling personal story
to serve at the highest levels of the administration. Mr.
Perez's impeccable legal background in civil rights issues,
particularly workers' rights, as well as his decades of service
as an elected and appointed official make him uniquely prepared
to address the policy complexities and management
responsibilities at the Department of Labor.''
Since his appointment in 2009, Perez has steered the Civil Rights
Division to prioritize the full enforcement of critical civil rights
statutes such as the National Voting Rights Act, Title IX, the
Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act--all programs
that have aided the Latino community tremendously. He also helped build
agreement among stakeholders to settle three of the largest lending
cases in the Fair Housing Act's history, securing more money for
victims of discriminatory lending practices than had been secured by
the Federal Government in the previous 23 years combined. During his
tenure, the Civil Rights Division also championed the defense of
military families and victims of hate crimes.
Murguia added,
``We are pleased to see the president once again strongly
considering the nomination of a Latino candidate for this
crucial position in his administration. We fully believe that
Mr. Perez has the outstanding leadership and acumen to serve as
Secretary of Labor. We hope that President Obama will continue
to add diversity to his cabinet and consider qualified Latinos
for additional cabinet positions as well as other senior-level
Presidential appointments.''
NCLR--the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy
organization in the United States--works to improve opportunities for
Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit
www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.
Contact: Julian Teixeira, (202) 776-1812, [email protected].
Joint Statement From State Attorneys General in Support of Nomination
of Tom Perez as Secretary of U.S. Department of Labor--March 19, 2013
Tom Perez is a brilliant lawyer and leader, who listens
thoughtfully to all sides and works collaboratively to solve
problems. He has dedicated his career to serving the public,
and his experience as Secretary of the Maryland Department of
Labor, Licensing and Regulation and in the U.S. Department of
Justice make him ideally suited to serve as the Secretary of
the U.S. Department of Labor.
As State Attorneys General, we have found Perez to be open,
responsive and fundamentally fair. He is committed to justice
and the rule of law and able to work across party and
philosophical lines to achieve just results.
The U.S. Department of Labor and the country will be well
served by a leader who understands the need to forge
partnerships with State and local officials and who values
cooperation to bring about successful results for both
employers and employees.
The following Attorneys General issued this joint statement
in support of Perez's nomination:
California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Delaware Attorney
General Beau Biden, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan,
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, Mississippi Attorney General
Jim Hood, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, Oregon
Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, Tennessee Attorney General
Robert Cooper, Jr., Former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff
and Former Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna.
[National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, March 12, 2013--Press Release]
Impending Nomination of Thomas Perez As Secretary of Labor
Welcomed by National Latino Leaders, Swift Confirmation Urged
as assistant attorney general, perez leads the civil rights division as
a pragmatic consensus builder, defender of america's mast vulnerable
populations
Washington, DC--In response to reports that the Department of
Justice's Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez may be nominated by
President Barack Obama to be the Secretary of Labor, the National
Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) issued the following statement
strongly supporting the nomination. NHLA is a coalition of 30 of the
Nation's leading Hispanic organizations and has been active in calling
for the inclusion of Latino appointees in the Cabinet and in positions
across the Federal Government.
Hector E. Sanchez, Chair of NHLA and executive director of LCLAA,
stated:
``Thomas Perez has distinguished himself as a pragmatic
problem solver with an extensive record of defending our
country's most vulnerable communities. He would make an
outstanding Labor Secretary and we urge the Senate, when his
nomination is received, to promptly confirm him.
``Perez's impressive career of public service spans the
local, State, and Federal levels. In all of the prestigious
positions he has held, which include the Secretary of
Maryland's Department of Labor, Montgomery County Council
Member, Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Deputy Assistant
Attorney General for Civil Rights, and Special Counsel to the
late Senator Edward Kennedy, Perez worked with both business
and labor, Republicans and Democrats, to achieve results in
advancing the civil rights of vulnerable populations. His track
record of effective governing will serve him, and our Nation,
well as Labor Secretary.
``His accomplishments in leading the Department of Justice's
Civil Rights Division include settling several of the largest
fair-lending cases in the department's history, securing the
largest-ever disability-based housing discrimination
settlement, and successfully reaching a settlement to prevent
discrimination in school enrollment and student discipline.
``As Assistant Attorney General, Perez has become known for
building consensus on issues from supporting military families
and defending the disabled to prosecuting hate crimes and
protecting voting rights.''
NHLA's advocacy work in calling for the increased representation of
Latinos in the Federal Government stems from the fact that while
Latinos are nearly 17 percent of the U.S. population, they are just 8
percent of the Federal career workforce and as little as 3 percent of
the employees in some Federal agencies (per the U.S. Office of
Personnel Management's Eleventh Annual Report on Hispanic Employment in
the Federal Government). NHLA's preliminary analysis of the nearly
4,000 political positions listed in the 2012 Plum Book suggests Latinos
may be as little as 7 percent of the current Presidential appointees.
Over the past several months, NHLA has urged the President to
appoint Latinos to at least three of his 22 Cabinet-level positions in
order to more fairly align with the community's proportion of the
population. The President's remaining Cabinet-level vacancies left to
be named include the positions of the Secretary for the Department of
Commerce, Secretary of the Department of Transportation; the United
States Trade Representative; and the Small Business Administrator.
Established in 1991, The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA)
brings together Hispanic leaders to establish policy priorities that
address, and raise public awareness of the major issues affecting the
Latino community and the Nation as a whole. For mare information,
please visit www.nationalhispanicleadership.org.
For more information, contact: Estuardo Rodriguez at
[email protected], (202) 631-2892.
______
National Association of Latino Elected and
Appointed Officials (NALEO),
Los Angeles, CA 90015,
March 14, 2013.
The Honorable Barack Obama,
President of the United States,
The White House,
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW,
Washington, DC 20500.
Dear President Obama: On behalf of the National Association of
Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), I write to urge you to
nominate Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division
Thomas E. Perez to the position of Secretary of Labor. Mr. Perez is a
highly experienced administrator and public servant who we believe is
well-prepared to be an active, engaged Secretary from his first day on
the job.
The next Secretary of Labor must possess intimate knowledge of the
challenges facing both workers and employers in today's marketplace,
and must be skilled at building consensus between constituencies that
approach labor issues from different perspectives. Mr. Perez has the
diverse experience and leadership skills needed to master the unique
demands of this post. While engaging with community-based organizations
that serve laborers, chairing the Federal interagency Worker
Exploitation Task Force, and serving as Secretary of the Maryland
Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulations. Mr. Perez amassed an
impressive record safeguarding workers, promoting economic development,
providing a safety net and cultivating a thriving workforce in the
State of Maryland. A lifelong public servant, Mr. Perez has worked
successfully with everyone from citizen-constituents, in his role as a
Council member and president of the Montgomery County Council, to those
in the highest levels of Federal Government, as a key official at the
Department of Justice. An alumnus of the Department of Health and Human
Services and a former professor at the George Washington University
School of Public Health, he is also knowledgeable about the conditions
and services that workers need to stay healthy and productive.
Mr. Perez's track record of achievements demonstrates his success
in unifying stakeholders around common goals that move our country
forward. As a litigator at the Department of Justice, for example, Mr.
Perez coordinated the successful prosecution of some of the
Department's most high profile civil rights cases, including a Texas
hate crimes case involving a group of white supremacists who went on a
deadly, racially motivated crime spree. As a top State official, he was
a principal architect of a sweeping package of State lending and
foreclosure reforms that ameliorated the foreclosure crisis in
Maryland. Under his leadership, the Civil rights Division has
strengthened the Nation's Democratic process by protecting the right to
vote of all eligible individuals, handling more voting rights matters
than at any time in the past 35 years.
[Hispanic National Bar Association, March 18, 2013--For Immediate
Release]
HNBA Congratulates & Supports Thomas Perez on His Nomination
as Secretary of Labor
Washington, DC--The Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), the
national association of Latino attorneys, judges, law professors and
law students, congratulates and supports Thomas Perez on his nomination
by President Obama to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Perez currently serves as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil
Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In that capacity, he
has focused on upholding the civil and constitutional rights of all
Americans. He previously served as the Secretary of Maryland's
Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. From 2002 until 2006, he
was a member of the Montgomery County Council in Maryland. He was the
first Latino ever elected to the Council, and served as Council
President in 2005. Earlier in his career, he spent 12 years in Federal
public service, most of them as a career attorney with the Civil Rights
Division. Perez was a law professor for 6 years at the University of
Maryland School of Law and was a part-time professor at the George
Washington School of Public Health. He received a Bachelor's degree
from Brown University, a Master's of Public Policy from the John F.
Kennedy School of Government and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law
School.
HNBA National President Peter M. Reyes, Jr. said,
``The HNBA salutes Thomas Perez as he reaches a new height in
his legal career. His years of dedicated, productive service
have set a high standard in the legal profession. As the son of
immigrants from the Dominican Republic, his parents taught him
the importance of education, hard work and public service.
Perez became the first lawyer in his family and has continued
his family's tradition of service. The HNBA strongly supports
the timely Senate confirmation of the highly qualified Thomas
Perez as our next Secretary of Labor.''
About the Hispanic National Bar Association
The Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) is an incorporated,
not-for-profit, national membership organization that represents the
interests of the more than 100,000 Hispanic attorneys, judges, law
professors, legal assistants, and law students in the United States and
its territories. From the days of its founding four decades ago, the
HNBA has acted as a force for positive change within the legal
profession. It does so by encouraging Latino students to choose a
career in the law and by prompting their advancement within the
profession once they graduate and start practicing. Through a
combination of issue advocacy, programmatic activities, networking
events and educational conferences, the HNBA has helped generations of
lawyers succeed.
Contact: Antonio ``Tony'' Arocho, Esq.; E-mail: [email protected];
Phone: (202) 223-4777.
[National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, March 18, 2013]
Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey said today,
``Thomas Perez is a terrific choice for labor secretary. He
has a proven track record of support for workers and those who
have faced discrimination. A champion of civil rights, he
represented the administration and testified before the U.S.
Senate in 2009 in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination
Act, a bill that would protect employees on the basis of sexual
orientation and gender identity. As head of the Civil Rights
Division at the Justice Department, he challenged State voter
suppression efforts and pursued a record number of
discrimination or brutality claims against local law
enforcement agencies, including the very visible Trayvon Martin
racial profiling case.
``The Labor Department is critical to advancing, enforcing
and preserving policies that directly impact the lives and
livelihoods of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people
and our families. It has made significant policy advances over
the past few years in this regard. These advances include
adding gender identity as a protected category to the
department's equal employment statement, and clarifying that
the Family and Medical Leave Act is inclusive of same-sex
couples raising children.
Thomas Perez at the helm of the Labor Department will help
keep this momentum moving forward. We urge the Senate to
confirm him.''
[League of United Latin American Citizens, March 18, 2013]
LULAC Praises President Obama's Nomination of Thomas Edward Perez
for Secretary of Labor
Washington, DC--Today, President Obama nominated Thomas Edward
Perez for the position of Secretary of Labor, which would make him one
of the top ranking Latinos to serve in President Obama's
administration. If confirmed Mr. Perez will replace Secretary Solis as
the next Labor Secretary.
Currently, Mr. Perez is the Assistant Attorney General for the
Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and has been
successful in defending against draconian voter ID laws. He has
spearheaded 17 probes of police and sheriffs departments for civil
rights violations, the most in the Department's 54-year history.
LULAC National President Margaret Moran said,
``LULAC has worked closely with the civil rights office and
knows the caliber of person that the President has tapped as
his next Secretary of Labor. Both Mr. Perez's professional
background, which includes a diverse knowledge for the
different branches of government, and his passionate work on
behalf of the oppressed, make him the most qualified person to
serve as Secretary of Labor.''
Those close to Mr. Perez describe him as a dedicated public
servant. LULAC hopes his confirmation proceeds without partisan delay.
LULAC looks forward to continuing its work with the Civil Rights
Office in ensuring voter rights laws protect the minority communities
and knows that with Mr. Perez heading the Department of Labor we will
have an advocate fighting on behalf of labor issues that impact our
community.
LULAC National President Margaret Moran and LULAC Executive
Director Brent Wilkes were invited guests for the White House official
announcement.
Contact: Paloma Zuleta, 202-833-6130, PZuleta@LULAC. org.
______
Mechanical Contractors Association of America
(MCAA),
March 18, 2013.
President Barack Obama,
The White House,
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20500.
Subject: Strong Support for Nomination of Thomas E. Perez as Secretary
of Labor
Dear Mr. President: The Mechanical Contractors Association of
America (MCAA) commends you on your nomination of Thomas E. Perez to
become the Secretary of Labor, and offers its strong support for timely
Senate confirmation of that appointment.
MCAA, along with our affiliate association, the Mechanical
Contractors Association of Maryland (MCA--MD), commend you on this
impeccable choice of an accomplished public servant with a broad record
of solid achievement to lead in policy development and Labor Department
administration, which is of crucial importance to the construction
industry in dealing with a host of issues and challenges stemming from
the eventual market rebound from the prolonged recession, adverse
workforce demographic trends, and immigration policy and workforce
standards policies as well.
MCAA also will offer strong support for the nomination of Mr. Perez
in the Senate confirmation process. It is our view that Mr. Perez is
uniquely qualified to deftly reconcile the many cross currents
developing in upcoming policy choices relating to immigration reform,
ongoing enforcement programs relating to the prevalent abuses of
workforce misclassification in the construction industry and others,
and existing and new programs to provide equal employment opportunity
and affirmative action for underutilized minority, women, veteran and
disabled veteran workers in the domestic labor force.
Sincerely,
John McNerney,
General Counsel MCAA.
______
[Asian American Justice Center, March 18, 2013]
AAJC Applauds Perez Nomination
obama nominates tom perez for labor secretary
Washington, DC--Today the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC)
welcomed President Obama's nomination of Tom Perez, Assistant Attorney
General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, to serve as
his next Labor Secretary.
Mee Moua, AAJC president and executive director said,
``Even before his appointment as Assistant Attorney General
for the Civil Rights Division in October 2009, Perez has long
been supportive of issues important to the Asian American and
Pacific Islander communities. He has worked with AAJC--and all
the members of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice--on
immigration, hate crimes, language access, voting rights and
other key issues.''
Moua added, noting that Perez was the keynote speaker at the
inaugural Advancing Justice Conference in 2009,
``Tom Perez will be an outstanding Secretary of Labor, and we
expect that he will be a powerful leader concerned about the well-being
of Asian American workers, employers, and business owners as he carries
out his duties. We thank President Obama for putting forward a civil-
rights champion such as Tom and urge the Senate to confirm him
swiftly.''
______
Maryland Chamber of Commerce,
March 15, 2013.
The Honorable Barack Obama,
President of the United States,
The White House,
Washington, DC 20500.
Dear President Obama: The Maryland Chamber of Commerce supports the
nomination of Thomas E. Perez to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Labor.
During his tenure as Secretary of Maryland's Department of Labor,
Licensing and Regulation, Mr. Perez oversaw a wide range of regulatory
programs of critical importance to the State's business community,
including unemployment insurance, the regulation of financial
institutions, worker safety and professional licensing.
Mr. Perez proved himself to be a pragmatic public official who was
willing to bring differing voices together. The Maryland Chamber had
the opportunity to work with Mr. Perez on an array of issues of
importance to employers in Maryland, from unemployment and workforce
development to the housing and foreclosure crisis.
Despite differences of opinion, Mr. Perez was always willing to
allow all parties to be heard and we found him to be fair and
collaborative. I believe that our experiences with him here in Maryland
bode well for the Nation.
The Maryland Chamber of Commerce is Maryland's leading statewide
business advocacy organization. Our 800 member companies employ more
than 442,000 people in the State. The Chamber works to support its
members and advance the State of Maryland as a national and global
competitive leader in economic growth and private sector job creation
through its effective advocacy, high level networking and timely
communications.
Sincerely,
Kathleen T. Snyder, CCE,
President/CEO,
Maryland Chamber of Commerce.
Greater Prince George's Business Roundtable,
Bowie, MD 20720,
March 18, 2013.
To Whom It May Concern: Tom Perez is one of the most honest and
dedicated public officials that we in the Prince George's County
business community have ever worked with. His understanding that
government must work in partnership with business to find solutions
that succeed in today's marketplace highlights his continual
accessibility and his empathic approach to working with job creators
nationwide.
We applaud the President's nomination of Tom Perez as Secretary of
Labor because we have experienced, first hand, the fruits of Tom's open
door policy and his steady approach to finding solutions that work for
the benefit of all.
Sincerely,
M.H. Jim Estepp,
President and CEO.
The Leadership Conference on
Civil and Human Rights,
Washington, DC 20006,
April 11, 2013.
Re: Thomas Perez Deserves Swift Confirmation as Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Labor
Dear Senator: On behalf of the undersigned 82 organizations, we
write to urge swift confirmation of Thomas Perez as the next Secretary
of the U.S. Department of Labor. Mr. Perez has shown a commitment to
advancing opportunity for all Americans, and his outstanding career in
public service makes him well-qualified to ensure the well-being of our
Nation's workforce as the next Secretary of Labor.
We believe the next Secretary of Labor must ensure the voices of
working families are heard and can bring the perspective, values, and
needs of employees, and job seekers to policymaking. Based on his
distinguished career, there is no doubt that as Labor Secretary Mr.
Perez will promote the welfare of wage earners, job seekers, and
retirees; improve working conditions and workplace safety; advance
opportunities for employment; and assure work-related benefits and
rights.
As the Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice's
Civil Rights Division, Mr. Perez helped build consensus with
stakeholders to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all
Americans, particularly some of the most vulnerable members of our
society. Mr. Perez stepped up enforcement of human trafficking laws and
efforts to ensure that veterans can keep their civilian jobs while
serving in the military. He has also been a tireless champion of voting
rights, disability rights, equal educational equity, and has prosecuted
some of the most heinous hate crimes in recent memory.
Before his nomination to lead the Civil Rights Division, Mr. Perez
was Secretary of Maryland's Department of Labor, where he collaborated
with businesses and employees to address critical workforce development
needs and continue to build a world-class workforce. Throughout his
public service career, Mr. Perez has also prosecuted high profile civil
rights cases, was a director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, was Special Counsel to the
late Senator Edward Kennedy, where he was Senator Kennedy's principal
adviser on civil rights, criminal justice, and constitutional issues,
and also served as a local elected official on the Montgomery County
Council in Maryland.
Thomas Perez's outstanding career in public service makes him
eminently qualified to be the next Secretary of Labor and take on the
important responsibility of ensuring the well-being of our Nation's
wage earners, job seekers, and retirees. For these reasons, we urge you
to move forward without delay on the confirmation of Thomas Perez. For
further information, please contact Lexer Quamie at (202) 466-3311 or
e-mail [email protected].
Sincerely,
Advancement Project; AFL-CIO; African American Ministers In Action
(AAMIA); Alliance for Justice; American Association for Justice;
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD); American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-
CIO; American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO; American-Arab Anti-
Discrimination Committee (ADC); Asian & Pacific Islander American
Health Forum; Asian American Justice Center, member of Asian
American Center for Advancing Justice; Asian American Legal Defense
and Education Fund; Asian Law Caucus, member of Asian American
Center for Advancing Justice; Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
and Institute for Asian Pacific American Leadership & Advancement;
Asian Pacific American Legal Center, a member of the Asian American
Center for Advancing Justice; Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law;
Center for Community Change; Children's Defense Fund;
Communications Workers of America; Community Action Partnership;
Demos; Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund; Equal Justice
Society; Fair Elections Legal Network; FairVote; Family Equality
Council; Farmworker Justice; Freedom to Work; Gay, Lesbian &
Straight Education Network (GLSEN); Hispanic Federation; Human
Rights Campaign; Immigration Equality; International Union, United
Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of
America, UAW; Japanese American Citizens League; LatinoJustice
PRLDEF; Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; The
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; League of United
Latin American Citizens; MALDEF; NAACP; NAACP Legal Defense &
Educational Fund, Inc.; National Abortion Federation; National
Association of Human Rights Workers (NAHRW); National Association
of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO); National
Association of Social Workers; National Black Justice Coalition;
National Center for Lesbian Rights; National Coalition for Asian
Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD); National
Community Reinvestment Coalition; National Conference of Black
Mayors, Inc.; National Congress of American Indians; National
Council of Jewish Women; National Council of La Raza (NCLR);
National Council on Independent Living; National Disability Rights
Network; National Education Association; National Employment Law
Project; National Fair Housing Alliance; National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force Action Fund; National Health Law Program; National
Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC); National Immigration Law Center;
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium; National
Legal Aid and Defender Association; National Organization for
Women; National Partnership for Women & Families; National Senior
Citizens Law Center; National Women's Law Center; NILC Immigrant
Justice Fund; People For the American Way; PolicyLink; Poverty and
Race Research Action Council; Progressive National Baptist
Convention, Inc.; Public Advocates Inc.; Service Employees
International Union (SEIU); Sikh American Legal Defense and
Education Fund (SALDEF); The Sikh Coalition; South Asian Americans
Leading Together (SAALT); Southeast Asia Resource Action Center
(SEARAC); Southern Poverty Law Center; United Food and Commercial
Workers International Union; United Steelworkers.
Maryland Minority Contractors Association (MMCA),
Baltimore, MD 21218,
March 21, 2013.
President Barack Obama,
The White House,
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20500.
Dear President Obama: The Maryland Minority Contractors Association
applauds the nomination of Tom Perez as the U.S. Secretary of Labor,
and encourages a quick confirmation. While serving as Maryland's labor
secretary, Tom proved to be fair-minded, and always had an open door.
The Maryland Minority Contractors Association is composed primarily
of merit shops, so our member companies have employees that are not
under union collective bargaining agreements. We found ourselves at the
table with Tom on a range of issues, from workplace safety to
apprenticeships to the proper classification of employees. Although our
perspectives often differed, we always had a seat at the table, and I
can confidently say that our perspective was always taken into
consideration. Tom pursues his role of protecting workers with vigor,
but he always took the concerns of our members seriously, and, when
presented with sound arguments, was willing to compromise.
We strongly support the nomination of Tom Perez and we believe that
he will make an excellent Secretary of Labor. He is a smart, honest
person who will serve our county well.
Pless B. Jones, Sr.,
President.
______
[Baltimore, MD, March 12, 2013]
The Greater Baltimore Committee strongly supports the nomination of
Tom Perez to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor.
Mr. Perez left his position as Secretary of Maryland's Department
of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, with a reputation for collaboration
and a willingness to work closely with the State's business community.
During his tenure here, he consistently demonstrated an understanding
of the need to bring all parties together to work on issues that would
impact Maryland's economic climate.
Donald C. Fry, President and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee
said,
``The Greater Baltimore Committee had the opportunity to work
with Mr. Perez when he served in Maryland, and our members were
impressed with his open-minded approach to developing and
implementing policies that impact a wide array of stakeholders.
I have no doubt that his reputation as a pragmatic public
servant will follow him to the U.S. Department of Labor.''
The Greater Baltimore Committee is a regional membership
organization of more than 500 businesses, nonprofit organizations, and
educational and civic institutions located in the Baltimore
Metropolitan Area. The GBC's mission is to improve the business climate
of the Baltimore region by organizing its corporate and civic
leadership to develop solutions to the problems that affect the
region's competitiveness and viability.
[University System of Maryland, March 19, 2013]
USM Community Applauds President Obama's Nomination of Thomas E. Perez
as U.S. Secretary of Labor
Adelphi, MD--University System of Maryland (USM) Chancellor
William E. Kirwan and the USM community applaud President Barack
Obama's nomination of Thomas E. Perez as U.S. Secretary of Labor.
During his tenure as Maryland Secretary of Labor, Licensing and
Regulation, Perez worked closely with the State's higher education
community on several issues. He promoted partnerships between the
private sector, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and
education to support job training and youth work programs.
In addition, he successfully led the department's effort to bring
Maryland's adult education programs into its portfolio. With pragmatism
and consensus building, Perez guided the alignment of adult education
with workforce development so that individuals who earned a GED would
be better positioned to find jobs more suited to their skills.
Perez focused much of his distinguished career in Maryland on
improving individuals' preparation for and access to career
opportunities. For example, he worked diligently to expand courses in
English as a second language for the State's growing immigrant
population.
Prior to serving as Maryland's Secretary of Labor, Licensing and
Regulation (2007-9), Perez was on the School of Law (now the Francis
King Carey School of Law) faculty at the University of Maryland,
Baltimore, a USM institution.
Chancellor Kirwan said,
``Thomas Perez has devoted his professional life to making a
difference. He is always willing to hear and consider different
points of view and is unfailingly fair and collaborative.
Clearly, his wealth of experience and commitment to building a
strong workforce would be invaluable assets to our country's
economic advancement.''
[Maryland Association of Community Colleges (MACC), March 20, 2013--
For Immediate Release]
Maryland's Community Colleges Applaud Nomination of Tom Perez
Annapolis, MD--The Maryland Association of Community Colleges
applauds President Obama's nomination of Tom Perez to be U.S. Labor
Secretary.
During his tenure as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor,
Licensing and Regulation (DLLR), the Association worked closely with
Mr. Perez as he spearheaded the transition of Maryland's adult
education programs to the Department of Labor, an effort to create a
seamless workforce development program for the State. Mr. Perez proved
to be a tireless advocate for adult learners and for the programs that
would better help those individuals begin, change or advance their
careers.
Dr. Guy Altieri, chair of the Maryland Council of Community College
Presidents and president of Hagerstown Community College said,
``Mr. Perez recognized the important role that community
colleges play in the education of our State's workforce, and
was a tremendous partner at a time of rising unemployment and
increased need for community college services. At this time of
great transformation for our Nation's workforce, his vision
will serve workers, employers and our Nation well.''
Mr. Perez served as Secretary of DLLR as the Nation's economy
declined and unemployment rose dramatically. His efforts to better
align adult education with the State's workforce development system
demonstrated a clear understanding of the economic imperative of
providing real opportunities for both workers entering the workforce,
and those needing new skills in order to transition to new careers.
Each year nearly 500,000 Marylanders attend one of Maryland's 16
community colleges, in both credit programs, and continuing education
and workforce development courses. Founded in 1992, the Maryland
Association of Community Colleges represents all 16 of Maryland's 2-
year public higher education institutions. MACC is a voluntary, non-
profit organization governed by a 32-member board of directors composed
of the president and one designated trustee from each member college.
For more information about MACC and Maryland's community colleges,
visit www.mdacc.org.
For more information, contact: Dr. Bernard Sadusky, executive
director, (410) 974-8117 or [email protected].
Statement of Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO
Re: Nomination of Thomas Perez for Labor Secretary
Working men and women will be well-served by President Obama's
choice of Tom Perez to lead the Department of Labor.
Throughout his career, Perez has fought to level the playing field
and create opportunities for working people, whether in the workplace,
the marketplace or the voting booth. He has worked to eliminate
discrimination in housing, provide access to education and health care,
end hate crimes, crack down on employers who cheat workers out of wages
and expand our democracy by protecting the fundamental right of every
American to vote. In the 1990s, he worked on the front lines of the
effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform under the leadership of
the great Senator Ted Kennedy--a job that will serve him well in
today's drive for commonsense immigration reform.
At a time when our politics tilts so heavily toward corporations
and the very wealthy, our country needs leaders like Tom Perez to
champion the cause of ordinary working people. And working families
need and deserve a strong advocate as their Secretary of Labor--one who
will vigorously enforce job safety standards, wage laws, and anti-
discrimination rules, and who will speak out forcefully for working
families and their workplace rights, including their right to join
together to improve their lives and working conditions.
President Obama has chosen such an advocate in Tom Perez, and we
congratulate him on this nomination.
Contact: Amaya Tune (202) 637-5018.
[Disability Groups Sign-on Letter, March 15, 2013]
Disability Organizations Praise Assistant Attorney General Perez
In the 23 years since the passage of the ADA, the issue of
enforcement of the disability community's civil rights law has long
been a priority of the disability rights movement. In that time, few
have played a greater role in advancing that cause than-Assistant
Attorney General Tom Perez. During his time at the Civil Rights
Division of the Department of Justice, Mr. Perez has been an
extraordinary champion of the rights of people with disabilities and
his important work has gone a long way toward ensuring that people with
disabilities are afforded the same opportunities as others.
Mr. Perez's enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act and
the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision has brought opportunities to many
thousands of people with disabilities to live in their own homes and
communities, and to participate as full members of society. These
efforts have fundamentally changed the lives of people with
disabilities. The Justice Department's Olmstead enforcement efforts
have resulted in a much-needed acceleration of efforts in a number of
States to expand access to cost-effective community-based services and
supports under the Medicaid program.
Under Mr. Perez's leadership, the Justice Department also issued
important regulations implementing the ADA--the first comprehensive
update since the original regulations were promulgated in 1991--as well
as four sets of proposed regulations implementing various aspects of
the ADA. In addition, Mr. Perez's efforts to ensure people with
disabilities have equal access to polling locations, along with his
efforts to prevent States from instituting regressive voter laws, have
expanded access to the vote for Americans with disabilities nationwide.
Tom Perez has been one of the most important voices of our time for
improving the lives of people with disabilities, and we are grateful
for his leadership of the Civil Rights Division.
AAPD; Access Living; American Counseling Association; Autistic Self
Advocacy Network; Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; National
Association of the Deaf; National Disability Rights Network;
National Federation of the Blind; TASH; Telecommunications for the
Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc.; The American Network of Community
Options and Resources (ANCOR); The Association of Programs for
Rural Independent Living (APRIL); The Center for Self-
Determination; The Disability Rights Center; United Spinal
Association; USAction.
______
Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna LLP,
Albany, NY 12260,
April 15, 2013.
Senator Thomas Harkin (D-IA),
731 Hart Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC 20510.
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN),
455 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC 20510.
Re: Thomas Perez, Nominee for Secretary of Labor
Dear Senators Harkin and Alexander: I write as an appointee by
former President George H.W. Bush to the U.S. Department of Justice in
support of Thomas Perez who has been nominated by President Obama to
serve as Secretary of Labor and urge your favorable consideration of
his candidacy.
As the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights (1990-93), I
worked directly with Tom (in fact, I hired him in 1990) on a variety of
sensitive matters, including criminal and voting rights issues. During
a number of face-to-face meetings, I had the opportunity both to review
his legal-based memoranda and to engage in a number of intense debates
as to what should be the Division's final course of action. As a result
of those experiences, I found Tom to be an excellent lawyer, a
dedicated public servant with a deep commitment to the common good, and
a person of legal and moral integrity; qualities that enable him to
recognize the value of contending parties' positions in order to
achieve workable solutions.
I believe that he will bring those skills and strong personal
qualities to the duties of the Secretary of Labor and enable him to
perform in a manner worthy of your trust.
Thank you for listening to my support for this very special and
patriotic man.
Respectfully yours,
John R. Dunne.
American Association of People with Disabilities
(AAPD),
Washington, DC 20006,
April 12, 2013.
Hon. Tom Harkin, Chairman,
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
731 Hart Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC 20510.
Hon. Lamar Alexander, Ranking Member,
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
455 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC 20510.
Dear Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Alexander: On behalf of all
the undersigned disability rights organizations, we write to urge you
to vote to confirm Thomas Perez as the next Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Labor. Mr. Perez is highly qualified to serve as
Secretary of Labor, having a long record of working with employees, job
seekers, and employers to promote greater employment opportunities for
all Americans. In particular, his work to advance opportunities for
people with disabilities gives us confidence that he will be an
effective Labor Secretary.
In the 23 years since the passage of the Americans with
Disabilities Act, a top priority of the disability rights movement has
been making sure that the law is properly enforced. In that time, few
have played a greater role in advancing that cause than-Assistant
Attorney General Tom Perez. During his time leading the Civil Rights
Division of the Department of Justice, Mr. Perez has earned his
reputation as an extraordinary champion of people with disabilities by
enforcing the law to ensure that every American has an equal
opportunity to succeed.
The Supreme Court's Olmstead decision and Mr. Perez's enforcement
of the Americans with Disabilities Act have created new opportunities
for many thousands of people with disabilities to live in their own
homes and communities. These efforts have fundamentally changed the
lives of people with disabilities, allowing many to participate as full
members of society for the first time.
Under Mr. Perez's leadership, the Justice Department also issued
important regulations implementing the ADA--the first comprehensive
update since the original regulations were promulgated in 1991--as well
as four sets of proposed regulations implementing various aspects of
the ADA. In addition, Mr. Perez's efforts to ensure people with
disabilities have equal access to polling locations, along with his
efforts to prevent States from instituting regressive voter laws, have
expanded access to the vote for Americans with disabilities nationwide.
Tom Perez has been one of the most important leaders of our time
for improving the lives of people with disabilities. We strongly
support his swift confirmation as Secretary of Labor.
Sincerely,
AAPD; Access Alaska; Access Living; Albany Advocacy Resource Center,
Inc. (ARC); American Counseling Association; American Speech-
Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); American Therapeutic
Recreation Association; ANIL; Arc of the United States; Arizona
Bridge to Independent Living (ABIL); Association of Assistive
Technology Act Programs (ATAP); Association of People Supporting
Employment First (APSE); Association of Programs for Rural
Independent Living (APRIL); Association of University Centers on
Disabilities (AUCD); Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; Brain
Injury Association of America; Brooklyn Center for Independence of
the Disabled (BCID); Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP; Californians for
Cures; Center for Independence of the Disabled of New York;
Connecting Arizona Advocates, Inc.; Council of Parent Attorneys and
Advocates, Inc. (COPAA); CTD/Coalition of Texans with Disabilities;
Disability Power & Pride; disABILITY Resource Center; Disability
Rights Education and Defense Fund; Disability Rights Legal Center;
Disability Rights NC; Easter Seals; Enable America; Epilepsy
Foundation; Epilepsy Foundation of Western Wisconsin; Equip for
Equality; Federal Employees with Disabilities; Freedom Center;
Illinois Iowa Center for Independent Living; IndependenceFirst;
Independent Living Center of the North Shore & Cape Ann, Inc.;
Inglis; Institute for Educational Leadership; Little People of
America; Maryland Disability Law Center; Mental Health America;
National Alliance on Mental Illness; National Association of
Councils on Developmental Disabilities; National Center for
Environmental Health Strategies; National Center for Learning
Disabilities; National Consumers League; National Council on
Independent Living; National Disability Rights Network; National
Down Syndrome Congress; National Federation of the Blind; National
Health Law Program; National Organization of Nurses with
Disabilities (NOND); Parent to Parent USA; People First of Ohio;
Prairie Independent Living Resource Center, Inc.; Services for
Independent Living, Inc. (SIL); Southeast Alaska Independent
Living; Southwest Center for Independent Living; Telecommunications
for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc.; The Advocacy Institute;
United Spinal Association; USAction; Virginia Association of
Centers for Independent Living.
Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.,
Nashville, TN 37214,
March 18, 2013.
Eric Schultz,
Associate Communications Director,
White House Office of Communications.
Dear Associate Communications Director Schultz: As a Tennessee
business leader please know that Tom Perez's leadership in Maryland has
been tremendously helpful to our industry. As you may know our company
has invested well over a billion dollars in Prince Georges County with
Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center and he has been very
supportive of our organization over the years. If he is confirmed,
business will find a labor secretary with an open door and a
willingness to find common ground and practical solutions. I appreciate
any support you may be willing to extend on his behalf.
Best regards,
Colin V. Reed,
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer.
[PR.com, April 10, 2013--Press Release]
Enable America Supports Perez's Secretary of Labor Nomination
Tampa, FL--With the U.S. Senate reconvening today following a
spring recess, Enable America is urging Senators to proceed promptly
and confirm the nomination of Thomas Perez as Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Labor.
Enable America Chairman Richard Salem said,
``Enable America strongly supports the nomination of Thomas
Perez to U.S. Secretary of Labor. Mr. Perez has a long and
proactive history working to promote the rights of people with
disabilities. Well-served.''
The 51-year-old Perez is currently Assistant Attorney General for
the Civil Rights Division in the U.S. Department of Justice. If
confirmed, he will replace the outgoing Secretary Hilda Solis. Perez
has a long career in public service. Prior to heading the Office of
Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during
President Clinton's administration, he was a Federal prosecutor in the
Department of Justice. Later he served as Deputy Assistant Attorney
General for Civil Rights under Attorney General Janet Reno. He was also
Special Counsel to Senator Edward Kennedy, acting as the Senator's
chief adviser on civil rights, criminal justice and constitutional
issues.
Most recently, in his role at the Justice Department, Perez has
focused on regulations that expand the impact of the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
Enable America was founded in 2002 as an organization to improve
employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Programs that
include Career Mentoring Days, Job Seeker Workshops, VetConnect for
Disabled Veterans and Wounded Warriors, Community Connections, and
Business to Business Meetings all work to unite members of the
disability and business communities, raising awareness and opening
doors to employment for the more than 56 million Americans with life
altering disabilities.
Companies, agencies, organizations, and individuals who want to
participate in Enable America programs can learn more at the
organization's Web site, www.EnableAmerica.org.
______
Washington Bureau--National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP),
Washington, DC 20005,
April 17, 2013.
Hon. Tom Harkin, Chairman,
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC 20510.
Hon. Lamar Alexander, Ranking Minority Member,
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC 20510.
Re: NAACP Strong Support for the Confirmation of Tom Perez to be the
Next
Secretary of Labor
Dear Chairman Harkin and Senator Alexander: On behalf of the NAACP,
our Nation's oldest, largest and most widely recognized grassroots-
based civil rights organization, I strongly urge you to support the
confirmation of Tom Perez to be the next U.S. Secretary of Labor.
Throughout his career, Tom Perez has demonstrated that he has the
talent, energy, knowledge, skills and experience to lead the U.S.
Department of Labor in its important mission to protect and grow the
middle class and to help all Americans obtain and retain decent jobs
with adequate compensation.
Assistant Attorney General Perez is well-known to and very well-
respected by the NAACP at the national level as well as within the
State of Maryland. Throughout his career, first with the Department of
Justice under Attorney General Janet Reno and as chair of the inter-
agency Worker Exploitation Task Force; and then as special counsel to
Senator Kennedy (MA); followed by his work as the Department of Health
and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights, Mr. Perez impressed us as
a hard-working, intelligent man of conscience. Mr. Perez also did an
exemplary job for the State of Maryland as her Secretary of Labor. In
this capacity, he collaborated with businesses and employees to address
critical workforce development needs and continue to build a world-
class workforce.
In his capacity as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, the
NAACP has worked closely with Mr. Perez and we have been impressed by
not only his passion for the protection of Americans' civil and human
rights, but also with his ability to get real results. The Civil Rights
Division has been extremely productive in the last few years. For
example, the Division handled more new voting cases in 2012 than any
prior year, including critical litigation to defend the
constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act.
Assistant Attorney General Perez also oversaw the successful
implementation of the 2010 Shepard-Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act,
landmark legislation that has transformed how the Federal Government
investigates and prosecutes hate crimes.
In addition to these milestones, Mr. Perez has also worked
steadfastly and diligently within the Civil Rights Division to
implement institutional reforms to restore the integrity of the
Division's hiring practices, the vigor of the Division's enforcement
efforts, and the morale of the Division's employees. As confirmed by a
recent study released by the Department of Justice's Inspector General,
merit and experience--not politics--are once again the basis for Civil
Rights Division hiring decisions.
Again, I urge you in the strongest terms possible to confirm Tom
Perez as U.S. Secretary of Labor. The NAACP is excited about this
nomination, as we have every confidence that Mr. Perez will do an
outstanding job in protecting the rights of American workers which
establishes internal reforms which will serve the Department of Labor,
and the American people, well for decades in the future.
Thank you in advance for your attention to the NAACP position.
Should you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to
contact me at my office at (202) 463-2940.
Sincerely,
Hilary O. Shelton,
Director, NAACP Washington Bureau &
Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy.
National Women's Law Center,
Washington, DC 20036,
April 17, 2013.
Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman,
Senator Lamar Alexander, Ranking Member,
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC 20510.
Re: Nomination of Thomas E. Perez to be Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Labor
Dear Senators Harkin and Alexander: On behalf of the National
Women's Law Center (the ``Center''), an organization that has worked
since 1972 to advance and protect women's legal rights, we write in
strong support of the nomination of Thomas E. Perez to be Secretary of
the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Department of Labor serves a critical role in ensuring
opportunities for women in the workplace. It enforces the Federal
guarantee that workers can take job-protected family and medical leave,
wage and hour protections that protect workers from exploitation and
abuse, and rules requiring Federal contractors to advance equal
opportunity in their workforces, including equal pay, among other
crucial protections. It also houses the Women's Bureau, whose mission
is to improve the status and working conditions for wage-earning women.
The next Secretary of the Department of Labor will have the opportunity
to continue the important progress toward fairer workplaces for women,
and for all workers, that has been made during Secretary Solis' tenure.
Mr. Perez, who currently serves as the Assistant Attorney General
for Civil Rights in the Department of Justice, has demonstrated such a
commitment throughout his career. Under his leadership, the Civil
Rights Division has reinvigorated enforcement of Federal laws against
discrimination. Among other things, it has litigated groundbreaking
title IX sexual harassment complaints against public schools, colleges,
and universities; challenged discriminatory barriers for women working
in nontraditional fields in State and local government, investigated
sex discrimination by law enforcement agencies; brought numerous cases
to enforce the Fair Housing Act's prohibition of sex discrimination;
and protected women's ability to obtain essential health care without
physical harm, harassment or intimidation under the Freedom of Access
to Clinic Entrances Act.
Before becoming Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Mr.
Perez served as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor,
Licensing, and Regulation (DLLR), experience that would be highly
relevant to the position to which he has been nominated. In his
capacity as Secretary of DLLR, Mr. Perez has supported implementing the
recommendations of the Maryland Equal Pay Commission, which helped ease
the passage of a pay disparity data bill in 2008; this paved the way
for the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Civil Rights Restoration Act on
April 14, 2009 (mirroring the Federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act).
Moreover, he supervised an agency of 1,700 employees and managed a $170
million budget.
The rest of Mr. Perez's 20-year career in public service similarly
demonstrates a commitment to civil rights and to enforcing legal
protections upon which women, and all Americans, rely. He worked as a
career prosecutor in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of
Justice, was promoted to be Deputy Chief of the Criminal Section, and
was later appointed Deputy Attorney General for Civil Rights. He served
as Senator Edward Kennedy's Special Counsel on the Senate Judiciary
Committee, acting as the Senator's principal adviser on civil rights.
From February 1999 until the end of the Clinton administration, Mr.
Perez served as Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he advised the HHS
Secretary on a number of civil rights issues, including discrimination
in welfare-to-work programs based on race, disability, and national
origin. Following his service in the Federal Government, Mr. Perez
taught at the University of Maryland School of Law for 6 years as a
clinical law professor and served on the Montgomery County, MD, County
Council.
Throughout his career, Mr. Perez has worked to protect and further
legal rights and protections crucial to the women of this country. Mr.
Perez has the experience and the commitment to enforcing the Federal
laws upon which women, and all workers, rely, and is well-positioned to
continue the important work of the Department of Labor. Consequently,
the Center offers its strong support of Thomas E. Perez to be the
Secretary of the Department of Labor, and urges you to support his
nomination. If you have questions or if we can be of assistance, please
contact us at (202) 588-5180.
Sincerely,
Nancy Duff Campbell,
Co-President,
Marcia D. Greenberger,
Co-President.
[Whereupon, at 12:15 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
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