[Senate Hearing 117-189]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





                                                        S. Hrg. 117-189
 
                      NOMINATIONS OF RAJESH NAYAK,
                       TARYN MACKENZIE WILLIAMS,
                            AND DOUG PARKER

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                                 OF THE

                    COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION,
                          LABOR, AND PENSIONS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                                   ON

   EXAMINING THE NOMINATIONS OF RAJESH D. NAYAK, OF MARYLAND, TARYN 
MACKENZIE WILLIAMS, OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND DOUGLAS L. PARKER, 
      OF WEST VIRGINIA, EACH TO BE AN ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF LABOR

                               __________

                              MAY 27, 2021

                               __________

 Printed for the use of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
                                Pensions
                                
                                
                                
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                            ______
 
              U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
46-769PDF             WASHINGTON : 2023
       
        
        
        
        
          COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS

                    PATTY MURRAY, Washington, Chair
BERNIE SANDERS (I), Vermont          RICHARD BURR, North Carolina, 
ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania       Ranking Member
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin             RAND PAUL, M.D., Kentucky
CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut   SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
TIM KAINE, Virginia                  BILL CASSIDY, M.D., Louisiana
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
TINA SMITH, Minnesota                MIKE BRAUN, Indiana
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  ROGER MARSHALL, M.D., Kansas
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico            TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado          MITT ROMNEY, Utah
                                     TOMMY TUBERVILLE, Alabama
                                     JERRY MORAN, Kansas

                     Evan T. Schatz, Staff Director
               David P. Cleary, Republican Staff Director
                  John Righter, Deputy Staff Director
                  
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                               STATEMENTS

                         THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2021

                                                                   Page

                           Committee Members

Murray, Hon. Patty, Chair, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
  and Pensions, Opening statement................................     1
Burr, Hon. Richard, Ranking Member, a U.S. Senator from the State 
  of North Carolina, Opening statement...........................     3

                               Witnesses

Nayak, Rajesh, Silver Spring, MD.................................     6
    Prepared statement...........................................     8
Mackenzie Williams, Taryn, Washington, DC........................     9
    Prepared statement...........................................    10
Parker, Doug, San Francisco, CA..................................    11
    Prepared statement...........................................    13

                          ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

Statements, articles, publications, letters, etc.
Murray, Hon. Patty:
    CWA Letter in support of the Doug Parker Nomination..........    31
    CWA Letter in support of the Rajesh Nayak Nomination.........    32

                         QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Response by Taryn Mackenzie Williams to questions of:
    Senator Casey................................................    32


                      NOMINATIONS OF RAJESH NAYAK,

                        TARYN MACKENZIE WILLIAMS

                            AND, DOUG PARKER

                              ----------                              


                         Thursday, May 27, 2021

                                       U.S. Senate,
       Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:06 a.m., in 
room 106, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Patty Murray, 
Chair of the Committee, presiding.
    Present: Senators Murray [presiding], Casey, Baldwin, 
Kaine, Hassan, Rosen, Hickenlooper, Burr, Marshall, and 
Tuberville.


                  OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MURRAY

    The Chair. Good morning. The Senate Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions Committee will please come to order. Today 
we are holding a hearing on the nominations of Rajesh Nayak to 
serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy, Taryn 
Mackenzie Williams to serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Disability Employment Policy, and Doug Parker to serve as 
Assistant Secretary of Occupational Safety and Health. Ranking 
Member Burr and I will each have an opening statement and then 
I will introduce the witnesses. And after they give their 
testimony, Senators will each have 5 minutes for a round of 
questions.
    Before we begin, I again want to walk through the COVID-19 
safety protocols that are in place today. As you can see, we 
are in a large hearing room today and Senators remain six feet 
apart. But as I said at our last Committee meeting, I am 
talking with Senator Burr and Committee Members about how we 
are going to change these protocols going forward given the 
change in guidance from the Office of Attending Physician. So 
for all our Members' awareness, I expect that following the 
break, our hearings will look and operate more closely to how 
they did before the pandemic with accommodations for those who 
require additional safety measures.
    Again, I just really want to thank all of our Clerks and 
everyone who worked through all of this to help us all stay 
safe and healthy. And again, while we are unable to have the 
hearing fully open to the public or media for in-person 
attendance, live video is available on our Committee website at 
help.senate.gov. And if anyone needs accommodations, including 
closed captioning, you can reach out to the Committee or the 
Office of Congressional Accessibility Services. We received Mr. 
Nayak's formal nomination on April 27th, his Office of 
Government Ethics paperwork, including his public financial 
disclosures and ethics agreement on May 3rd, and his Committee 
paperwork on May 12th.
    We received Ms. Williams' formal nomination on April 22nd, 
her Office of Government Ethics paperwork on April 30th, and 
her Committee paperwork on May 18th. And we received Mr. 
Parker's formal nomination on April 12th, his Office of 
Government Ethics paperwork on April 15th, and his Committee 
paperwork on May 14th. I would like to thank all of our 
witnesses for joining us today and also to welcome Mr. Nayak's 
wife, Rebecca, Ms. Williams' husband, Reggie, and mother 
Shirley, and Mr. Parker's wife, Lee, and her 2 month old 
daughter, Rose, who is really being great back there right now.
    Thank you all for joining us today. If we are going to end 
this pandemic and build back stronger and fairer from the most 
unequal economic crisis in recent history, we have to address 
the problems COVID put a glaring spotlight on and the 
inequities that it has made worse, like job loss, that has 
disproportionately hurt women, workers of color, workers with 
disability, and workers paid low wages. We have to raise the 
Federal minimum wage and eliminate the sub minimum wage for 
tipped workers, youth workers, and workers with disabilities.
    We have to make sure every worker has paid leave and 
quality, affordable childcare. And no worker has to choose 
between their family or their health and their paycheck. We 
have to eliminate bias and discrimination and ensure all 
workers get fair pay, equal opportunity, and the accommodations 
they need in the workplace. We also have to make sure 
workplaces are safe and not just against pandemics, but free 
from unsafe working conditions, environmental hazards, and 
sexual harassment and assault. And we need to protect and 
strengthen the right to form or join a union and collectively 
bargain for better working conditions, wages and benefits.
    In short, we have a long list of big challenges ahead. And 
to tackle those challenges, we need committed, qualified 
leaders working with us at the Department of Labor, leaders who 
understand our economy is working great for those at the top, 
but not so well for everyone else, and who will do everything 
they can to change that. We need people like Mr. Nayak, Ms. 
Williams, and Mr. Parker. Mr. Nayak is currently a Senior 
Adviser at the Department and has previously served in the 
solicitor's office as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and 
Deputy Chief of Staff. In those various roles, he has worked on 
a broad portfolio including workforce development, worker 
protection, counter trafficking, overtime pay, health and 
safety, retirement security and more.
    He has also worked twice at the National Employment Law 
Project, including most recently as deputy CEO. As an advocate 
and a policymaker, he has shown time and again his commitment 
to empowering workers, supporting families, and advancing 
equity. I have no doubt that if confirmed as Assistant 
Secretary for Policy, he will do just that. Ms. Williams is a 
similarly excellent choice for the role of Assistant Secretary 
for Disability Employment Policy. Ms. Williams is a champion 
for people with disabilities, a reputation she has earned 
through her years of service at the Department's Office of 
Disability Employment Policy, where she led agency efforts to 
build pathways to competitive, integrated employment for people 
with disabilities.
    At the White House, where she served as a liaison to the 
disability community. At the Center for American Progress, 
where she led CAPS efforts to build anti-poverty programs. And 
even here on the HELP Committee where she worked for Chairman 
Harkin. When Ms. Williams testified before this Committee about 
health inequities and COVID-19 response a few months ago, her 
knowledge as an expert and passion and advocate for people with 
disabilities, qualities which make her so well suited to the 
role she is been nominated for, were on clear display.
    Finally, we have Mr. Parker, who has worked to protect 
workers in his state throughout this pandemic as chief of 
California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health, 
starting with his move to swiftly issue health guidance back in 
February 2020, when there were only 13 cases of COVID-19 in the 
country. But his record fighting for workers well-being goes 
well beyond this pandemic. He has spent his career fighting for 
worker safety as an attorney for the United Mine Workers, a 
senior official at the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and 
Health Administration, during one of the best streaks of safety 
in the industry's history, and the Executive Director of 
WorkSafe, a workplace safety advocacy organization.
    Mr. Parker is an extremely well qualified nominee to serve 
as Assistant Secretary of Occupational Safety and Health, and I 
look forward to working with him to protect workers, especially 
considering the dangers of this pandemic continues to pose. 
Which is why it continues to be so critical that OSHA issued an 
emergency temporary standard to protect all workers, especially 
frontline workers, from COVID-19. And OSHA ETS is long overdue 
and remains very necessary for the tens of millions of workers 
still at risk, and I urge the Administration to act now and 
issue a standard to ensure all workers are safe in their 
workplaces. It is a goal we all share, and it is clear the 
nominees before it share it as well. Given their excellent 
qualifications and the critical work at hand, I am pleased to 
support each of these nominees.
    I hope after today's hearing, my colleagues on both sides 
of the aisle will work with me to get them quickly confirmed in 
a bipartisan way. I look forward to hearing from each of you 
about how we can make our economy truly work for working 
families in my state, in North Carolina, and across the 
country.
    Now, before I turn it over to a Ranking Member Burr for his 
opening remarks, I ask unanimous consent to put in the record 
one letter in support of Mr. Nayak's nomination, and a letter 
in support of Mr. Parkers' nomination. So ordered.

    [The following information can be found on page 31]

    The Chair. Now I will turn it over to Senator Burr.

                   OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BURR

    Senator Burr. Madam Chair, thank you and, thank you for 
scheduling this hearing this morning to examine these 
Department of Labor nominees. Congratulations, Mr. Nayak, Ms. 
Williams, Mr. Parker, and welcome to your family members that 
are behind you. These are important Labor policy positions. The 
role of Assistant Secretary for Policy will be involved in 
virtually every major decision to come out of the Department of 
Labor. The Disability Employment Policy Office plays a key role 
in helping get unemployed and underemployed Americans with 
disabilities back to work. The Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration, or OSHA, is tasked with the job of ensuring 
safe and healthful working conditions for workers.
    As we consider our Nation's labor agenda going forward, we 
should recognize that America's fundamentals are in fact 
strong. The best way to keep these fundamentals strong is easy, 
it is pro-growth legislation and regulatory relief. It is 
support for workers in the ways that they want to work in a new 
economy. It is not tax increases, it is not increased 
regulation, and it is certainly not doing the bidding for trial 
lawyers, it is not coercing workers into unions that don't want 
to join or preventing the growth of a gig economy where workers 
decide their work life. There is no need to fundamentally 
restructure our Nation from a free market capitalism to pretend 
worker's paradise under the thumb of Washington.
    The closures due to COVID-19 pandemic are beginning to end 
everywhere. Trillions have been spent, some of it with good 
effect. But now some want to spend trillions and trillions 
more, all in an effort to fundamentally change the fabric of 
this country. Trouble is, it gets a little hard to ask for 
trillions more when we haven't even really begun to spend much 
of the last round of funding and what we have spent outside of 
actual COVID response is, in fact, making things worse. While 
restaurants and businesses are desperate to hire workers, some 
want to pay people more money to stay home. Then they scratch 
their heads at the terrible unemployment numbers that we see.
    Just last week, I was told the story of a carpenter who 
upgrades residential kitchens and bathrooms, that he has 
constant inquiries to take on new business, but he can't find 
crews to do jobs. The crew workers are making so much due to 
the increased unemployment just by staying at home. It made 
sense to provide extra benefits last year when businesses had 
to close, and people needed extra help because their jobs 
didn't exist. But let me remind everybody, the average across 
the country today for unemployment in their state and the 
enhanced benefit is $15.42 cents an hour.
    For most workers, they are not obligated to pay taxes on 
the first $10,000 of it. For my employers in North Carolina 
today, they can't get workers that they need to clean rooms to 
rent at night and they are offering between $16.00 and $18.00 
an hour because that is not enough to surpass what they can 
make staying home. We are also faced with the challenge of 
reopening the economy post COVID. America will safely open 
because of vaccines. Not because OSHA throws a new rule book at 
business owners. CDC just recently followed the science and 
updated the mask mandate. Science is what we should rely on 
when setting standards, and when the science changes so 
rapidly, we can't set a static and arbitrary standard for 
COVID-19 prevention as the Administration is considering doing.
    Last week I wrote to Secretary Walsh and Acting OMB 
Director Young to stand down and not issue an emergency 
temporary standard. Employers and workers together have 
navigated COVID-19 together, making decisions based on the 
constantly changing science and guidance provided from CDC and 
the Department of Labor. However, the nominee for OSHA position 
did exactly the opposite of that. California state's OSHA put 
in place an emergency temporary standard in the midst of the 
pandemic. Instead of providing employers with clear operational 
guidance, I am told that the temporary standard resulted in 
confusion to employers as to how to comply.
    California OSHA had to post 70 frequently asked questions 
to clarify the regulated community of what was expected of 
them. On May 20, California OSHA proposed to drastically scale 
back the requirements in the standard to align with the 
dramatic improvements made with a large number of vaccinated 
individuals and dramatic reductions in the infection rate. I 
hope the lesson that is learned here is that we shouldn't 
nationally just follow what California tried and found to be 
wrong. I hope the Administration changes course and listens to 
the concerns that I have raised. On the other hand, I would 
like to say that we got--we do, we have got some potential 
areas of great agreement.
    We talk about disability employment policy. We can talk 
about how to build upon the bipartisan work already done in 
things like the Able Act to help the disabled and their 
families save for the future without endangering their current 
benefits. Senator Casey and I have worked on it for years. The 
nature of work has changed, and disability employment policy 
needs to change with it.
    For example, virtual work can help people with disabilities 
use technology to erase outdated notions of disability for so 
many. We also need to help those with disabilities who are 
determined to return to work, but worried about the financial 
consequences of doing so. Lessons from ticket to work will help 
find newer and more effective strategies. We must incentivize a 
return to work for those who are willing.
    We also need robust continuing disability reviews to make 
sure those who are unwilling but capable of work are not simply 
using up the resources of those who desperately need it. 
Everyone knows a disability benefit abuse story. There should 
be a bipartisan commitment to rooting all of that abuse out. It 
is just plain stealing from the most vulnerable in this 
country.
    To our witnesses again today, I welcome you. I look forward 
to your testimony, to your answers, and to your approach to the 
management of these very important issues in your agency. I 
thank the Chair. I yield back.
    The Chair. Thank you. I will now formally introduced 
today's witnesses. Rajesh Nayak currently serves as the Senior 
Advisor to the Secretary of Labor and is a trusted expert 
within his field. He grew up in south, central Illinois, earned 
his undergraduate degree in public policy from the University 
of Chicago, and later received his law degree from Yale. Prior 
to his time in the Government, he worked as an attorney at the 
National Employment Law Project, the Brennan Center for Justice 
at the NYU School of Law, and the Shriver Center in Chicago.
    Mr. Nayak previously spent 7 years at the Department of--at 
the Labor Department during the Obama-Biden administration and 
served in a range of senior roles, including Senior Counsel, 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, and Deputy Chief of 
Staff. After his time in the Obama administration, Mr. Nayak 
returned to NELP as the Deputy Executive Director. Mr. Nayak, 
thank you for joining us today.
    Next, I will introduce Taryn Mackenzie Williams. She is the 
Managing Director for the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the 
Center for American Progress, where she is focused on a broad 
range of anti-poverty strategies. She attended Brown 
University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in public 
policy, then Harvard University, where she received a master's 
degree in education with the concentration and administration, 
planning, and social policy.
    Ms. Williams has also previously served as the Research 
Coordinator for Leadership Programs at the Institute for 
Educational Leadership, the Director of Programs at the 
National Association of Urban Debate Leagues in Chicago, a 
Policy Advisor on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions, Associate Director for Public 
Engagement, and liaison to the Disability Community at the 
White House, and as the Chief of Staff of the Office of 
Disability Employment Policy. Ms. Williams, thank you for 
joining us today.
    Doug Parker is currently the Chief of California Division 
of Occupational Safety and Health, the state agency responsible 
for protecting workers safety. Mr. Parker received his 
bachelor's degree from James Madison University and his J.D. 
from the University of Virginia Law School. Prior to his 
Federal Government service, he worked as a staff attorney for 
the United Mine Workers of America and a partner at a labor and 
employment law firm in Washington, DC.
    He also served in a number of roles in the Department of 
Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration during the Obama 
administration and eventually rose to the position of Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Policy. After leaving the Government, 
he served as the Executive Director of WorkSafe, a legal aid, 
nonprofit focused on worker health and safety. Mr. Parker, we 
are glad to have you joining us for this hearing as well.
    I look forward to hearing from all of you today and working 
with you in the future. We will now begin your testimony. And 
Mr. Nayak, you may begin.

 STATEMENT OF RAJESH NAYAK TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF LABOR 
                 FOR POLICY, SILVER SPRING, MD

    Mr. Nayak. Thank you for that introduction, Chair Murray, 
Ranking Member Burr, and Members of the Committee, I am honored 
to appear before you today as the nominee for the Assistant 
Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor. I need to 
start by thanking President Biden and Vice President Harris for 
giving me the opportunity to earn your approval, and to 
Secretary Walsh for his support.
    I also want to thank my family, starting with my wife, 
Rebecca, who is here today, and who always asks the tough 
questions about policy. And to my children, Lyla and Jay, who 
are a little too young to be here, but who keep me grounded by 
giving me the most important jobs like Daisy troop leader and 
lunch bag illustrator. I also need to thank my parents, 
Dharmadev and Chitra Nayak, immigrants who arrived here from 
India 50 years ago. They were newly married, and they didn't 
have much. My father went through medical school on 
scholarships and eventually found a home in Effingham, a small 
town in South Central, Illinois where I was born, spent my 
first 18 years, and made some of my best friends till today.
    My parents worked hard to earn the trust of neighbors in a 
place where there were only handfuls of immigrant families. My 
dad cut short many nights at home to check on patients and my 
mom became an active in the community, in addition to all she 
did for my brother Mike and me. Thanks to that town and this 
Nation, my parents did well, helped us go to great schools, and 
gave us the chance to pursue dreams and opportunities that led 
me to sit before you today. I am proud of my AAPI heritage and 
thankful for the support of the broader Indian American 
community as the nominee for this position.
    I have worked for most of my career focused on employment 
and labor policy. I spent nearly half of the past 15 years in 
Government, serving previously the Department as Senior 
Counsel, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, and Deputy 
Chief of Staff. During that time, I was privileged to play a 
lot of different roles, as a lawyer, as a coordinator, as a 
manager. I saw the Department's work from many angles.
    Most importantly, I got to work with amazing people. The 
career staff at DOL are smart, creative, and tremendously 
dedicated. I have seen teams go the extra mile time and time 
again to fulfill the Department's critical mission of promoting 
the welfare of this Nation's workers, job seekers, and 
retirees. It has been a highlight of my career to return to the 
Department this year on a temporary basis to help transition in 
a fantastic new team of leaders. It has been especially 
fulfilling to reconnect with those dedicated career staff.
    As I hope is obvious, I fully support the Department's 
mission and staff and I care deeply about how our policy 
impacts workers, and especially workers who are too often left 
behind, be they workers of color, immigrant workers, or workers 
in small towns and rural communities like where I grew up who 
have lost their jobs due to industrialization. More recently, I 
was the Deputy Executive Director at the National Employment 
Law Project, an advocacy organization that is committed to 
protecting the rights of all workers. A common thread through 
my recent Government and nonprofit experience is that I have 
held management roles where I have had to make tough calls as a 
manager and where I have learned what it is like to be the 
employer myself who is notified about new policy and who has to 
figure out how to implement it.
    I know how important it is for the Government to listen to 
employers, to hear out their concerns, to consider 
flexibilities, to make laws work in practice, and to give 
employers and workers alike the clear concrete guidance they 
need to understand their rights and responsibilities. I believe 
I have the skills and experience to find common sense solutions 
that consider the views of employers and workers like.
    If confirmed, I will take seriously the responsibility to 
pursue a policy that reflects the input of a broad set of 
stakeholders and would appreciate the opportunity to hear from 
workers and their representatives, employers and industry 
groups, interagency colleagues, and Members of this Committee 
to find common ground and not to prejudge outcomes. Thank you, 
and I look forward to your questions.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Nayak follows:]
                   prepared statement of rajesh nayak
    Chair Murray, Ranking Member Burr, and Members of the Committee, 
I'm honored to appear before you today as the nominee for the Assistant 
Secretary for Policy at the United States Department of Labor.

    I need to start by thanking President Biden and Vice President 
Harris for giving me the opportunity to earn your approval, and to 
Secretary Walsh for his support. I also want to thank my family--
starting with my wife, Rebecca, who always asks the tough questions 
about policy; and my children, Lila and Jay, who are a little too young 
to be here, but who keep me grounded by giving me important jobs like 
Daisy Troop Co-Leader and Lunch Bag Illustrator.

    I also need to thank my parents, Dharmadev and Chitra Nayak--
immigrants who arrived here from India 50 years ago. They were newly 
married, and they didn't have much. My father went through medical 
school on scholarships and eventually found a home in Effingham--a 
small town in South Central Illinois where I was born, spent my first 
18 years, and made some of my best friends still today. My parents 
worked hard to earn the trust of neighbors in a place where there were 
only handfuls of immigrant families; my dad cut short many nights at 
home to check on patients, and my mom became active in the community, 
in addition to all she did for my brother Mike and me. Thanks to that 
town and this Nation, my parents did well, helped us go to great 
schools, and gave us the chance to pursue dreams and opportunities that 
led me to sit before you today. I'm proud of my AAPI heritage and 
thankful for the support of the broader Indian-American community as 
the nominee for this position.

    I have worked for most of my career focused on employment and labor 
policy. I spent nearly half of the past 15 years in government, serving 
previously at the Department of Labor as Senior Counsel, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Policy, and Deputy Chief of Staff. During that 
time, I was privileged to play a lot of different roles--as a lawyer, 
as a coordinator, and as a manager. I saw the Department's work from 
many angles. Most importantly, I got to work with amazing people. The 
career staff at DOL are smart, creative, and tremendously dedicated. 
I've seen teams go the extra mile time and time again to fulfill the 
Department's critical mission of promoting the welfare of this Nation's 
workers, job seekers, and retirees.

    It's been a highlight of my career to return to the Department this 
year on a temporary basis to help transition in a fantastic new team of 
leaders. It's been especially fulfilling to reconnect with those 
dedicated career staff.

    As I hope is obvious, I fully support the Department's mission and 
staff, and I care deeply about how our policy impacts workers, and 
especially workers who are too often left behind, be they workers of 
color, immigrant workers, or workers in rural communities (like where I 
grew up) who have lost their jobs due to deindustrialization. More 
recently, I was the Deputy Executive Director of the National 
Employment Law Project, an advocacy organization that is committed to 
protecting the rights of all workers.

    A common thread throughout my government and nonprofit experience 
is that I've held management roles where I've had to make tough calls 
as a manager, and where I've also learned what it's like to be the 
employer who is notified about a new policy, and who has to figure out 
how to implement it. I know how important it is for the government to 
listen to employers, to hear out their concerns, to consider 
flexibilities to make laws work in practice, and always to give 
employers and workers alike the clear, concrete guidance they need to 
understand their rights and responsibilities.

    I believe that I have the skills and experience to find common-
sense solutions that consider the views of employers and workers alike. 
If confirmed, I will take seriously the responsibility to pursue policy 
that reflects the input of a broad set of stakeholders, and would 
appreciate the opportunity to hear from workers and their 
representatives, employers and industry groups, interagency colleagues, 
and members of this committee to find common ground, not to prejudge 
outcomes.

    Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
                                 ______
                                 
    The Chair. Thank you, Mr. Nayak.
    We will turn to Ms. Williams for her testimony.


STATEMENT OF TARYN MACKENZIE WILLIAMS TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY 
   OF LABOR FOR DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT POLICY, WASHINGTON, DC

    Ms. Williams. Chair Murray, Ranking Member Burr, and 
Members of the Committee, it is a privilege to appear before 
you as you consider my nomination for Assistant Secretary for 
Disability Employment Policy. I want to thank President Biden 
and Vice President Harris for the honor of this nomination. I 
share their commitment to advancing the rights of people with 
disabilities.
    I also want to acknowledge my aunts, cousins, family and 
friends for their love and encouragement. My husband, Reggie, 
who has been by my side for more than 20 years, including 
today, thank you for always supporting me, and my mom, who 
believe so strongly that I should be able to shape my own 
destiny. From childhood, you taught me to find my own voice and 
learn to advocate for myself, first with doctors, then with 
teachers and classmates, and finally with colleagues. You 
shared that it wouldn't be easy as a Black woman in this world, 
that there would be times I faced discrimination, times that I 
would fail, but that I should never give up on my journey to 
find my way in this world. How my mom raised me has shaped who 
I am and my career in disability policy.
    The conviction that everyone, including people with 
disabilities, should have the opportunity to not just learn and 
earn, but also to advocate for themselves and fully participate 
in all aspects of community life. As I reflect on my career, 
there are key moments that have made me who I am today. At the 
age of 22, newly out of graduate school, I was denied health 
insurance by my small nonprofit employer for my preexisting 
condition of ulcerative colitis. I was fortunate that I was 
still young enough to qualify for my mother's insurance. 
Shortly after I underwent emergency surgery for complications 
from that condition. I wondered whether I would be able to keep 
my job.
    In 2008, I cycled in and out of emergency rooms with more 
complications. It was then that I asked for my first set of 
accommodations from my employer. I was terrified and certain 
that my career could be over. But colleagues who are also 
members of the disability community reached out to me. Within 
the community, that young woman who had grown up with a chronic 
condition became an adult who understood how many of my fears 
and aspirations were shared by millions of people with 
disabilities living in this country. I am sharing these moments 
with you because they helped define my understanding of the 
struggles and barriers that so many disabled people and their 
loved ones face each day.
    I know firsthand how challenging it can be to work as a 
person with a disability and to wonder whether my requests for 
accommodations will be accepted or if knowledge of my 
disability will cause others to question whether I am suited 
for a job. I spent 6 years at nonprofits focused on research, 
policy, and practice to improve educational opportunities for 
all students, and particularly those from disadvantaged 
backgrounds. I then went on to a decade of service as a career 
public servant at the Department of Labor's Office of 
Disability Employment Policy, as a policy adviser on the Youth 
Policy Team, Director of the Youth Policy Team, and as Chief of 
Staff. I also took on detail assignments, working with the 
Senate Help Committee and with the White House as a liaison to 
the disability community. Fundamental to my approach is a firm 
belief that we must heed what advocates with disabilities tell 
us they need in order to be successful.
    This is the disabilities communities mantra, nothing about 
us, without us. My past 2 years leading a team working on anti-
poverty issues has only deepened my firm commitment to working 
on behalf of people with disabilities, many of whom are low 
income, to advance policies to address the economic insecurity 
of individuals, families, and communities. ODEP's research, 
evidence based policies and practices, and experts' technical 
assistance will play a critical role in ensuring that people 
with disabilities are part of our economic recovery.
    Now, more than ever, we must work with the Federal 
Government in states, with the private sector, and in 
partnership with people with disabilities, members of their 
families, and service providers to build a better future. I am 
honored by this nomination and the opportunity to once again 
work alongside the exceptional staff at the Labor Department 
who are committed to advancing employment opportunities and 
ensuring fair treatment in the workplace for all workers, 
including people with disabilities. Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Ms. Williams follows:]
                  prepared statement of taryn williams
    Chair Murray, Ranking Member Burr, and Members of the Committee. It 
is a privilege to appear before you as you consider my nomination for 
Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy.

    I want to thank President Biden and Vice President Harris for the 
honor of this nomination. I share their commitment to advancing the 
rights of people with disabilities.

    I also want to acknowledge my aunts, cousins, family and friends 
for their love and encouragement. My husband Reggie who has been by my 
side for more than 20 years, including today: Thank you for always 
supporting me.

    My mom who believed so strongly that I should be able to shape my 
own destiny. From childhood, you taught me to find my own voice and 
learn to advocate for myself. First with doctors, then with teachers 
and classmates, and finally with colleagues. You shared that it 
wouldn't be easy as a Black woman in this world, that there would be 
times I faced discrimination, times that I would fail, but that I 
should never give up on my journey to find my way in this world. How my 
mom raised me has shaped who I am and my career in disability policy--
the conviction that everyone, including people with disabilities, 
should have the opportunity to not just learn and earn but also to 
advocate for themselves and fully participate in all aspects of 
community life.

    As I reflect on my career, there are key moments that have made me 
who I am today. At the age of 22, newly out of graduate school, I was 
denied health insurance by my small nonprofit employer for my 
preexisting condition of ulcerative colitis. I was fortunate that I was 
still young enough to qualify for my mother's insurance. Shortly after, 
I underwent emergency surgery for complications from that condition. I 
wondered whether I would be able to keep my job. In 2008, I cycled in 
and out of emergency rooms with more complications. It was then that I 
asked for my first set of accommodations from my employer. I was 
terrified and certain that my career would be over before it really got 
started. But colleagues who were also members of the disability 
community reached out to me. Within the community, that young woman who 
had grown up with a chronic condition became an adult who understood 
how many of my fears and aspirations were shared by millions of people 
with disabilities living in this country.

    I am sharing these moments with you because they helped define my 
understanding of the struggles and barriers that so many disabled 
people and their loved ones face each day. I know firsthand how 
challenging it can be to work as a person with a disability and to 
wonder whether my request for accommodations will be accepted or if 
knowledge of my disability will cause others to question whether I am 
suited for a job.

    I spent 6 years at nonprofits focused on research, policy, and 
practice designed to improve educational opportunities for all students 
and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. I then went on 
to a decade of service--as a career public servant--at the Department 
of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy as a policy advisor 
on the Youth Policy Team, Director of the Youth Policy Team, and as 
Chief of Staff. I also took on detail assignments--working with the 
Senate HELP Committee on Disability Policy and with the White House as 
an Associate Director of Public Engagement and Liaison to the 
Disability Community.

    Fundamental to my approach is a firm belief that we must heed what 
advocates with disabilities tell us they need in order to be 
successful. This is the disability community's mantra: nothing about 
us, without us. My past 2 years leading a team working on anti-poverty 
issues has only deepened my firm commitment to working on behalf of 
people with disabilities, many of whom are low-income, to advance 
policies to address the economic security of individuals, families and 
communities.

    ODEP's research, evidence-based policies and practices, and expert 
technical assistance will play a critical role in ensuring that people 
with disabilities are part of our economic recovery. Now more than 
ever, we must work across the Federal Government, in states, with the 
private sector, and in partnership with people with disabilities, 
members of their families and service providers to build a better 
future.

    I am honored by this nomination and the opportunity to once again 
work alongside the exceptional staff at the Labor Department who are 
committed to advancing employment opportunities and ensuring fair 
treatment in the workplace for all workers, including people with 
disabilities.

    Thank you.
                                 ______
                                 
    The Chair. Thank you, Ms. Williams.
    We will turn to you, Mr. Parker, for your testimony.

     STATEMENT OF DOUG PARKER TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF 
       OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH, SAN FRANCISCO, CA

    Mr. Parker. Thank you. Chair Murray, Ranking Member Burr, 
and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to 
speak to you today. It is my privilege and honor to be before 
you as the Committee considers my nomination to be the 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and 
Health. I want to thank President Biden for the opportunity to 
serve our Nation in this important role.
    I also want to thank my family. I am incredibly 
appreciative for the love and support of my wife, Lee Phillips, 
who has joined me here today in the Committee room with our 2 
month old daughter, Rose. Our other daughter, Evelyn, has been 
enjoying Washington, DC this week while I prepare for this 
hearing and is staying with friends. I would also like to thank 
my parents, who both grew up in western North Carolina during 
the Depression and instilled in me the values of community, 
family, justice, and faith that have guided me throughout my 
life.
    My mother was planning to watch these proceedings from the 
home where I grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia, but recently had a 
fall and is in rehab. My older brother, Michael, who has always 
supported me in my career in life, is following the hearing 
from his home in Germany. My father, who passed away in 2017, 
began his career working for an electric utility in Southern 
West Virginia where my brother and I were born. He cared deeply 
about the health and safety of his fellow employees. His very 
first act as a supervisor back in the 1950's was to hold an 
employee safety breakfast. He was proud of a career spanning 
more than 30 years in which no employee suffered a major injury 
at work. I think he would be very proud today to see the 
opportunities I will have, if confirmed, to thoughtfully 
address the health and safety of America's workers.
    Both of my parents instilled in me the value and dignity of 
work. While I was in high school, I spent my summers making 
tomato stakes in our garage that I would sell to save money for 
college. It was a small family business that began as my 
brother's Future Farmers of America Project. After college and 
a couple of years working in Washington, DC, I returned home to 
help my father start another small business, manufacturing and 
selling specialized tools for the electric utility industry. I 
worked mostly in sales, but filled in as needed as a security 
guard, a typist, a general laborer, or whatever else needed to 
get done.
    I appreciate the challenges faced by small business owners 
whose financial risk taking and innovation is what drives 
growth and opportunity in this country. I then decided to apply 
for and attend law school, where my interest in labor law and 
worker's rights took shape. As a labor lawyer and legal aid 
advocate, I have had the privilege of working on behalf of coal 
miners, warehouse workers, hotel housekeepers and health care 
workers. As a public servant, both at the Federal Mine Safety 
and Health Administration, or MSHA, and the California Division 
of Occupational Safety and Health, CAL OSHA, I have 
demonstrated my ongoing commitment to the health and safety of 
workers.
    During my time at MSHA, I helped to improve the agency's 
use of its available enforcement tools to bring mines with poor 
safety records into compliance, efforts that helped to usher in 
the safest period for miners in our Nation's history. At CAL 
OSHA, I have led the agency through the past 14 plus months of 
the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in the pandemic, we proactively 
developed guidance, model programs, and training tools to help 
employers put COVID-19 prevention plans in place.
    We have provided compliance assistance to thousands of 
employers. When employers have failed to adequately protect 
workers from exposure to COVID-19, we have taken action. And in 
November, the CAL OSHA Standards Board adopted an emergency 
temporary standard to train workers, implement controls to 
limit transmission, and contain workplace outbreaks when they 
do occur. In both of these Government roles, maintaining a 
dialog with stakeholders has been a top priority for me.
    One of my first actions at CAL OSHA was to reinstate our 
stakeholder advisory committee. And I understand how important 
it is to hear input on the issues facing our workplaces. If 
confirmed, I will maintain that commitment to stakeholder 
dialog. We do not have to choose between a strong economy and 
good, safe jobs. Listening to and learning from stakeholders is 
how we can ensure both. Thank you and I look forward to your 
questions.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Parker follows:]
                   prepared statement of doug parker
    Chair Murray, Ranking Member Burr, and Members of the Committee,

    Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. It is my 
privilege and honor to be before you today as the Committee considers 
my nomination to be the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational 
Safety and Health. I want to thank President Biden for the opportunity 
to serve our Nation in this important role. I also want to thank my 
family. I am incredibly appreciative for the love and support of my 
wife, Leigh Phillips, who has joined me here today in the Committee 
room with our 2 month old daughter Rose. Our other daughter, Evelyn, 
has been enjoying Washington, DC this week while I prepare for this 
hearing, and is staying with friends.

    I'd also like to thank my parents, who both grew up in Western 
North Carolina during the Depression and instilled in me the values of 
community, family, justice and faith that have guided me throughout my 
life. My mother is watching these proceedings from the home where I 
grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia. My older brother Michael, who has 
always supported me in my career and in life, is following the hearing 
from his home in Germany.

    My father, who passed away in 2017, began his career working for an 
electric utility in Southern West Virginia, where my brother and I were 
born. He cared deeply about the health and safety of his fellow 
employees. His very first act as a supervisor, back in the 1950's, was 
to hold an employee safety breakfast. He was proud of a career spanning 
more than 30 years in which no employee suffered a major injury at 
work. I think he would be very proud today to see the opportunities I 
will have, if confirmed, to thoughtfully address the health and safety 
of America's workers.

    Both of my parents instilled in me the value and dignity of work. 
While I was in high school, I spent my summers making tomato stakes in 
our garage that I would sell to save money for college. It was a small 
family business that started as my brother's Future Farmers of America 
project.

    After college, and a couple of years working in Washington, DC, I 
returned home to help my father start another small business 
manufacturing and selling specialized tools for the electric utility 
industry. I worked mostly in sales, but filled in as needed as a 
security guard, a typist, a general laborer, or whatever needed to get 
done. I appreciate the challenges faced by small business owners, whose 
financial risk-taking and innovation is what drives growth and 
opportunity in this country.

    I then decided to apply for and attend law school, where my 
interest in labor law and worker's rights took shape. As a labor lawyer 
and legal aid advocate, I've had the privilege of working on behalf of 
coal miners, warehouse workers, hotel housekeepers, and health care 
workers.

    As a public servant, at both the Federal Mine Safety and Health 
Administration (MSHA) and the California Division of Occupational 
Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) I have demonstrated my ongoing commitment 
to the health and safety of workers. During my time at MSHA, I helped 
to improve the agency's use of its available enforcement tools to bring 
mines with poor safety records into compliance, efforts that helped to 
usher in the safest period for miners in our Nation's history.

    At Cal/OSHA I have led the agency through the past 14 plus months 
of the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in the pandemic, we proactively 
developed guidance, model programs and training tools to help employers 
put COVID-19 prevention plans in place. We have provided compliance 
assistance to thousands of employers. When employers have failed to 
adequately protect workers from exposure to COVID-19, we have taken 
action. And in November, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board adopted an 
emergency temporary standard to train workers, implement controls to 
limit transmission, and contain workplace outbreaks when they do occur.

    In both of these government roles, maintaining a dialog with 
stakeholders has been a top priority for me. One of my first actions at 
Cal/OSHA was to reinstate our stakeholder advisory committee, and I 
understand how important it is to hear input on the issues facing our 
workplaces. If confirmed, I will maintain that commitment to 
stakeholder dialog. We do not have to choose between a strong economy 
and good, safe jobs; listening to and learning from stakeholders is how 
we can ensure both. Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
                                 ______
                                 
    The Chair. Thank you very much, Mr. Parker. Thank you to 
all of you again. We will now begin a round of 5 minute 
questions. I ask my colleagues to please keep track of the 
clock and stay within those 5 minutes. The mission of the 
Department of Labor is to, ``foster, promote, and develop the 
welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the 
United States, improve working conditions, advance 
opportunities for profitable employment and ensure work related 
benefits and rights.''
    Yet we know that during the previous administration, the 
Department of Labor didn't fulfill that mission. It took a 
series of actions that seriously undermined workers' rights and 
it moved in the wrong direction as it finalized rules on joint 
employer, independent contractor status, tip protection, and 
the overtime threshold. And the Department failed workers and 
their families by refusing to issue rules to protect workers 
and neglecting to vigorously enforce the laws that are on the 
books.
    Now we have a Department of Labor with leadership committed 
to carrying out the Department's mission to promote the welfare 
of all workers and secure their benefits. So this morning, I 
would like to hear from each of you how your previous 
experience will contribute to the Department's mission and help 
you carry out the duties of your job, if confirmed. I will 
start with Mr. Nayak.
    Mr. Nayak. Thank you, Chair Murray, and thank you for the 
time to meet the last couple of days. If I am fortunate to be 
confirmed, I would be tremendously excited to take on the role 
of Assistant Secretary for Policy. As you know, I have a long 
history in labor and employment policy, including 7 years of 
the Obama administration. I am excited to help advance the 
President's and Vice President's agendas when it comes to 
workers, and the Secretary's vision for the Department.
    But in rulemaking in particular, the Department does have 
to keep an open mind and not prejudge outcomes. The Assistant 
Secretary for Policy can help ensure the Department is running 
a process that improves policy. If I am fortunate enough to be 
confirmed, I envision taking on a few priorities. First, 
ensuring the Department is producing high quality economic 
analysis. Second, promoting stakeholder engagement, hearing a 
range of views, both in the notice and comment rulemaking 
period and beyond from a variety of stakeholders.
    Third, assessing equity, understanding the impact of 
everything the Department does on stakeholders who otherwise 
might be left behind. Depending on the context that could be 
women, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, 
or a very diverse world of small business owners. I would be 
excited to have the chance to play this role for the 
Department.
    The Chair. Thank you.
    Ms. Williams.
    Ms. Williams. Thank you for that question. Senator, I got 
my start in public service as a policy adviser at the U.S. 
Department of Labor working on issues related to youth and 
young adults as they transitioned into the workforce. In the 
decade of service that followed, I wore many different hats, 
but in all of them focused on issues affecting people with 
disabilities and did it with expertise grounded in data, 
evidence based practice, and the development and implementation 
of policies that could break down barriers to disability, 
inclusion, and employment.
    If confirmed to this role, I would approach it with the 
fierce commitment to collaboration that has been the hallmark 
of the work that ODEP has done in the past. ODEP is uniquely 
positioned to leverage its expertise as it works across the 
Department, the broader Federal Government, in states, with 
employers both public and private, with service providers, 
family members, and most importantly, with people with 
disabilities themselves.
    The Chair. Thank you.
    Mr. Parker.
    Mr. Parker. Thank you very much, Madam Chair, for the 
question. I began my career after law school as an attorney, 
both at the Mine Workers and then in private practice 
representing unions and workers, and I had the opportunity not 
only to see how a wide range of industries worked, but also to 
see the human cost of unfair working conditions and unsafe 
working conditions for workers. And really understand from some 
of the workers that I worked with individually, the impact on 
their families, if they lost their job, if they were injured, 
if they were one of the retirees who I represented while they 
were struggling to get health insurance back from the coal 
company where they worked, understanding the impacts on that.
    I have a very strong commitment that is grounded in that 
very personal experience for me. During my time in public 
service, I worked at the Mine Safety and Health Administration 
to inform--reform our enforcement programs there, our 
whistleblower program and others. And in CAL OSHA, I have had 
similar experiences in reviewing the systems in place at the 
agency and really responding in a crisis situation to the 
COVID-19 pandemic. And I believe these leave me well qualified 
to be the Assistant Secretary.
    The Chair. Thank you to each one of you.
    Senator Burr.
    Senator Burr. Thank you, Madam Chair. I warn all of you, I 
don't think you are going to have a prepared answer for my 
questions. Mr. Parker, California OSHA, which you led, issued a 
standard with little success. For example, NPR wrote, hardly--
excuse me NPR pointed out that California's approach to COVID 
was arbitrary, capricious, and not data driven, lacking the 
nuance and incentives which outcomes the same or worse--
outcomes were the same or worse of other states.
    Now, the President has said by July the 4th, America is 
going to be back to normal. The Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention changed their guidance 2 days after testifying 
before this Committee and said, if you are fully vaccinated 
against COVID-19, you can resume activities without wearing a 
mask or staying six feet apart. My question is sort of simple, 
why issue a standard that becomes rigid and unchanging when the 
sciences we have learned from Dr. Lewinsky and Dr. Fauci is 
constantly evolving and being updated regularly?
    Mr. Parker. Senator, thank you for the question and it is 
an important one. It is true that in California we did issue an 
emergency temporary standard, we identified a compelling need 
to do so, but it wasn't where we began. We began with offering 
compliance assistance to employers, understanding that they 
needed assistance in figuring out how to address COVID-19, a 
new and novel hazard in the workplace. So we put out dozens of 
compliance documents. We put out, I think we sent a letter to 
every employer in the state reminding them of the guidance that 
we put up and how they could receive compliance assistance from 
us. We----
    Senator Burr. NPR is not a conservative news outlet. We 
would agree with that, wouldn't we? Let me just restate what 
they said that what you did in California was arbitrary, 
capricious, not data driven, lacking nuances and incentives, 
and the outcomes were the same or worse than other states. So I 
appreciate your litany of things that you went through. Do you 
regret that you did it, and would you do the same thing in the 
role at the Department of Labor as it relates to this standard?
    Mr. Parker. I don't regret what we did, Senator, because I 
believe that it saved lives in California and did contribute to 
the improvement in the situation from being one of the hardest 
hit states to the state now with one of the lowest rates. I 
don't--I am not familiar with the NPR article or story that you 
are referring to. I do know that those very issues were alleged 
in a lawsuit seeking to overturn the emergency temporary 
standard, and they were soundly rejected by the courts in 
California.
    Senator Burr. Let me ask you a couple of yes or no 
answers--questions. Reports show that the teachers union had a 
significant input in return to school guidance recently issued 
by the CDC. Media reports suggest that union officials are 
outraged that OSHA has not issued an emergency temporary 
standard. If you are confirmed, can you assure me that you will 
make sure no union has been provided a draft of an emergency 
temporary standard or any other guidance issued by OSHA?
    Mr. Parker. I can assure you that we won't issue any kind 
of document like that if it is not permitted, and if it were 
permitted, we would do it on an even handed basis with 
stakeholders.
    Senator Burr. If you are confirmed, can you assure me that 
no union will influence the decision to issue an emergency 
temporary standard or any other guidance at OSHA?
    Mr. Parker. I can assure you that we would not give unions 
any greater influence than other stakeholders and we would 
follow the rules and procedures that are in place for the 
rulemaking process.
    Senator Burr. If you are confirmed, can you assure me that 
no union will influence the contents of an emergency temporary 
standard or other guidance issued by OSHA?
    Mr. Parker. Again, Senator, to the extent that we would 
seek input from stakeholders, it would be even handed.
    Senator Burr. Well, I appreciate your answers. Let me just 
say that when a left of center news outlet says that the 
decisions you made were not driven by anything that had to do 
with data and that they were capricious, it concerns me as to 
what the process will be to determine what this temporary 
standard is going to be. If in fact those who have interest in 
this one way or the other are influencing that decision, that 
would not be looked at very kindly on this Committee. I 
appreciate your answers. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Mr. Parker. I understand, Senator. Thank you.
    The Chair. Senator Casey.
    Senator Casey. Thank you, Chair Murray. I want to thank the 
panel for being here today and also for your willingness to do 
public service. I am going to be directing my questions to Ms. 
Williams. I wanted to thank you for the participation that you 
had in our, I guess it was March, the--back in March, the 
hearing we had on COVID-19 and health disparities. And I 
remember engaging with you there.
    I appreciate your work on disability policy issues, an area 
where we share a lot of common interests and as well as issues 
around work and people with disabilities. You had mentioned 
that many people with disabilities are low income, and we know 
that. In fact, about a quarter of adults with disabilities have 
annual incomes below the Federal poverty level. You also 
mentioned lack of economic security for people with 
disabilities and the need to ensure that they are not left 
behind as we recover from both the pandemic and then the 
ensuing economic calamity.
    You also know that, and we have talked about this in other 
contexts, the labor force participation rate, the--I think for 
women at one point in 2020 was the lowest in a third of a 
century. We know for people with disabilities, that labor force 
participation rate has been very low as well. So I guess on, 
just two broad questions. One is, how would you address both 
low employment? That is one question. And then also 
underemployment for people with disabilities.
    Ms. Williams. Thank you for that question, Senator. And 
thank you for your continued commitment and championing of 
inclusion of people with disabilities and disability 
employment. It is absolutely the case that people with 
disabilities often live in poverty. There is a saying and also 
research that shows that disability can be both a cause and 
consequence of poverty.
    As part of that, we know that workers with disabilities 
continue to be unemployed, underemployed, and entirely out of 
the workforce at unacceptable rates. I think now, particularly 
as we emerge from the pandemic and we are confronting the 
collective effort to rebuild our economy, there is an urgent 
need for disability employment policies that enable people with 
disabilities to pursue careers, to attain good jobs, and to 
achieve economic security. I think this is particularly the 
case now because of the pandemic.
    But frankly, we have had data available since 2009 that 
shows that there is work to be done to really address the 
unfinished business of the ADA, and that is achieving economic 
security for people with disabilities. The mission of ODEP is 
to develop and influence policies and practices that increase 
both the number and the quality of jobs and employment 
opportunities for people with disabilities. And its core 
strength is working with Federal partners in the Department of 
Labor, across the Federal Government with partners such as the 
Department of Education, Health and Human Services, the Social 
Security Administration, all Departments that play a key role 
in supporting people with disabilities and helping to eliminate 
barriers that they face.
    ODEP works closely with these Federal partners. It also 
does that work in states and localities, with employers, both 
private and public sector, and with service providers. If I 
were confirmed to this role, I would continue to leverage 
ODEP's expertise, its leadership, its experts who are world 
class in the areas that cross-cut with disability employment, 
in order to ensure that people with disabilities are 
prioritized and our economic recovery. I think we can do this. 
I know we can do this. And I would commit to working with you, 
Senator, and Members of the Committee, to continue to work on 
this urgent crisis related to disability employment.
    Senator Casey. Thanks very much. I think I will submit a 
question for the record about sub-minimum wage. I know it is an 
area that you have spent a good deal of time on. We know that 
since 1986, Congress eliminated the requirement to pay people 
with disabilities at least half of the minimum wage. We have 
gotten bipartisan efforts here in Congress to finally address 
the so-called special certificates and sub-minimum wage. But I 
am out of time, but I will submit a question for the record. 
Thanks very much.
    The Chair. Thank you.
    Senator Marshall.
    Senator Marshall. Okay, thank you, Madam Chair. And again 
to our guests today, thank you for being here. My first 
question to Mr. Parker. On April 26th, OSHA transmitted an 
emergency temporary standard related to the COVID-19 to the 
White House Office of Management and Budget for review and 
approval. A lot has changed in the past several months. Every 
American has had an opportunity to get the vaccination.
    We are approaching herd immunity. And I am telling you, my 
phone is just blowing up from small business owners especially 
regarding this. I think of--the people that work outside the 
construction industry where there is really no outbreak, so 
they can really go back to one of those outside jobs that I am 
aware of. It is certainly so hard as one size fits all.
    Every county is different in what is going on in one county 
versus a different county, versus a different state. The 
emergency temporary standard, the bar for that says that COVID 
currently presents a grave danger, which is simply not true 
anymore. Thank God for the vaccinations, right. And so many 
people have already had the virus as well, conferring immunity. 
Do you think that we still need that temporary standard, 
emergency to every standard out there, or do you think we can 
retract that now?
    Mr. Parker. Thank you for the question, Senator. I know 
that in California we have, as the Ranking Member noted, have 
been working on a reauthorization of our emergency temporary 
standard, and we have scaled back significant elements of it in 
order to reflect the evolving science, to take into account 
issues like the number of--the availability of vaccines, which 
wasn't the case when we initially issued our emergency 
temporary standard back in November in California.
    We have recently requested that our standards board, who is 
the body that is actually responsible for approving and issuing 
the emergency temporary standard, at CAL OSHA we just make 
recommendations, but we have recommended that be paused so that 
we could consider whether aspects of the recent CDC guidance on 
face coverings should be included and if so, to what extent.
    We have been focused on ensuring that we act quickly to 
adopt the latest science and that we have spent a lot of time 
listening to stakeholders and trying to address issues of 
complexity, issues of confusion that they might have had in our 
initial role. In fact, I personally chaired 4 days of meetings 
with stakeholders to get their feedback on these issues.
    Senator Marshall. What type of stakeholders would that be? 
Like business owners or----
    Mr. Parker. Yes. Well, it was a mix, but the vast majority 
were business owners and representatives of trade and other 
business.
    Senator Marshall. Based upon what you know today, do you 
feel that COVID currently presents a grave danger to employees?
    Mr. Parker. I believe that if Federal OSHA were to issue an 
emergency temporary standard, that they would be able to 
satisfy that legal standard based on precedent. But I am not an 
expert on that precedent. But I do believe that they could meet 
that legal standard. Yes, Senator.
    Senator Marshall. Are you saying the vaccines don't work? 
That we don't we shouldn't have faith in the vaccinations?
    Mr. Parker. Not at all, Senator. I believe that science is 
definitely, as the CDC has recently recognized, something that 
we can rely on and is a key element in our society's fight 
against COVID-19. But when you look at--and we have made 
tremendous progress, don't get me wrong. But when you look at 
the fatality and infection rates among those who are not 
vaccinated, those have not improved over the last several 
months. And so there is still a substantial number of people in 
society and in the workforce who have yet to get a vaccine. And 
I just believe that we need to finish the fight before we 
stop----
    Senator Marshall. Do you realize the mixed message you are 
sending to people? One of the reasons for vaccine hesitancy, 
one of the reason for people not going back to work is because 
of what you are talking about right now. You are sending a 
mixed message. You are basically, your actions are saying that 
the vaccine don't work, and it is not safe for you to come back 
to work when we know there are at least 97 percent effective. 
So I am just--you are sending a really big mixed message here.
    Mr. Parker. Well, Senator that is certainly not my intent. 
And I strongly encourage people to get the vaccine and will 
work to incentivize vaccinations as we--in California as we 
look to the next version of our emergency temporary standard.
    Senator Marshall. Thank you so much. I yield back.
    The Chair. Senator Baldwin.
    Senator Baldwin. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to continue 
in this vein of discussion with regard to standards from OSHA 
to help guide employers and workers during a pandemic. I happen 
to believe that it was outrageous that early on in this 
pandemic under the previous administration, that there were 
never enforceable standards issued, even emergency temporary 
standards.
    In fact, everyone could only rely on suggestions and 
guidance from CDC and some from the Labor Department, but 
mostly from CDC. And last Congress, I was the Ranking Member of 
this Committee--Committee on--Subcommittee on Employment and 
Workplace Safety. And in that role, I took the lead on 
legislation to require OSHA to set an emergency temporary 
standard for employers operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Workers and business owners have been waiting for clear, 
enforceable standards to keep their workers and their customers 
safe from COVID 19.
    I want to make clear my position on this issue. But ask 
you, Mr. Parker, how did you reach out to both businesses and 
workers in California to benefit from their wisdom and input to 
help with the establishment of the original emergency temporary 
standard?
    Mr. Parker. Well, thank you, Senator, for the question. 
When we issued our original emergency temporary standard, we 
were very much working against the clock. We had to put 
something in place as soon as we could in order to combat the 
spread and transmission of COVID-19 in workplaces in 
California. And as such, we were working as--it is 
contemplated, when preparing an emergency temporary standard, 
without the same level of notice and comment and stakeholder 
input that one would normally receive because it is in fact 
done on an emergency footing.
    However, we also promised to stakeholders that as soon as 
the standard was issued, that we would immediately begin 
seeking input from stakeholders to ensure that we considered 
their views, considered their input, and their ideas when we 
developed the next iteration of the emergency temporary 
standard. We had the opportunity under the law that was in 
place to leave our emergency temporary standard, as it was for 
over a year in California.
    But instead, within a month of issuing that standard, we 
had a daylong stakeholder meeting to take input on the next 
iteration of the rule. And then again, in February, I hosted 3 
days of stakeholder hearings to go line by line through the 
rule and to gather stakeholder input, ideas, and comments. And 
we also took plenty of comments in writing. So that is how we 
reached out to stakeholders and took their views into account.
    We also, I have to say, worked strongly with the California 
Department of Public Health, in lockstep in fact, making sure 
that we were reviewing one another's documents, that we were 
collaborating, that we were on the same page in terms of our 
interpretation of science and what we thought would be a 
thoughtful and cautious and protective approach on behalf our 
workers.
    Senator Baldwin. Thank you. Thank you for that response. I 
appreciate the ability to meet with you. Earlier this week, we 
talked about meatpacking and food processing plants, and the 
spread of COVID in our Nation had a devastating impact on the 
workers at some of those facilities.
    In Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that 
1 in 14 migrant workers at a green bean canning plant in 
Gillette, Wisconsin died as a result of COVID-19. In addition 
to failing to issue an emergency temporary standard, OSHA 
consistently failed to conduct serious investigations of unsafe 
workplace conditions during the pandemic. Moving forward, how 
do you think OSHA should tackle this problem and help workers 
who are reporting unsafe working conditions?
    Mr. Parker. Thank you, Senator, for the question. It is 
critically important that OSHA have the ability to respond to 
these types of complaints. It has certainly been a challenge in 
California, given the huge number of complaints that have 
overwhelmed our system and we have had to develop a triage 
process to make sure that we were allocating our resources as 
best we could to help the most workers as possible.
    I would take a similar approach. I am appreciative that we 
are no longer in quite the same level of overwhelming, 
complaints received, and so we have more flexibility. And I 
would hope that would be the case at Federal OSHA as well.
    Senator Baldwin. Thank you. And Madam Chair, I yield back.
    The Chair. Thank you. A vote has just been called, and what 
I am going to do is call on Senator Braun and Senator Kaine. 
Senator Kaine, if you could stay until I get back and then turn 
it over to whoever is next on online. So I will be back in 
about 5 to 10 minutes.
    Senator Braun.
    Senator Braun. Thank you, Madam Chair. Enjoyed talking to 
all three of you yesterday evening and thanks for the input. I 
am going to direct my question to you, Mr. Parker. California 
would be emblematic in a way of just kind of being trend 
setting in many areas. In the case of being a business friendly 
environment, I would say you have got the reputation as maybe 
being one of the toughest places to hang your shingle out, 
especially from that point of view of being an entrepreneur.
    I know my company got there about 10 years ago and really 
found it to be kind of in that category of wanting to shoo you 
away rather than even to work with you to see how you might 
improve your operation and had the great benefit of being able 
to compare it. We were such a little company for so many years 
and then exploded in growth over the last 20 years. And we have 
to say that it is a tough business climate.
    I want to continue on the line of questioning that Senator 
Burr gave you about being arbitrary and capricious, I think as 
it related to the COVID navigation. Do you--here, in Indiana, 
and I assume you had something similar to this in California, 
did you actually declare that certain businesses were essential 
or nonessential? Was that something that was done in 
California?
    Mr. Parker. Thank you, Senator, for your question. And I am 
sorry to hear about the challenges you faced as you brought 
your businesses to California. Declaring certain businesses as 
essential or not essential was not the function of CAL OSHA, 
but the State of California did declare certain businesses 
essential.
    Senator Braun. I knew that wasn't the case specifically to 
your domain, but it would be emblematic of kind of a general 
attitude. And in Indiana, where it is a better business climate 
and we have got a lot of entities moving into the state, and I 
think the proof in the pudding is that in California, many are 
going away from it. In the long run, whether it is through a 
declaration that you are essential or non-essential--and many 
states did do that.
    My observation would have been that it was assuming that 
businesses did not want to keep their employees safe and their 
customers safe. And I think Senator Baldwin cited some 
instances in packing plants which were true. My observation 
there was, due to the uncertainty of the COVID kind of how it 
was going to navigate over the last year and a quarter, that 
was maybe warranted. I also noticed that companies quickly did 
what would make sense for the safety and health of their 
employees and their customers, almost without exception.
    In our State of Indiana, which has got a good business 
climate. It still has got bureaucratic by saying you are 
essential or not. It should have been who can remain open and 
keep their employees safe, not categorizing a business one way 
or the other. So in your new post, do you think OSHA in general 
has been, and related to your experience in California, over-
the-top, overbearing? Have you noticed that businesses are the 
exception to the rule that would treat their employees in a way 
that wouldn't keep them safe?
    Do you think the heavier hand of Government sometimes needs 
to be lightened so that you don't have a result like we did in 
navigating through COVID, where we can't tell the difference in 
which approach ended up with better results other than it hurt 
businesses? And I think it is reflective in many states like 
California, where the outcome was very bad on the commerce side 
and no better on the safety side.
    Mr. Parker. Senator, in California, our approach was to 
begin with compliance assistance, not with, as you say, the 
heavy hand of enforcement. We understood that businesses were 
in need of assistance to know what they needed to do. And we 
had businesses and associations banging on our door asking us, 
what do we need to do? And I give those businesses a lot of 
credit for wanting to do the right thing.
    I do believe that represents the majority of the businesses 
in the state. Our approach to regulation was to develop a rule 
that would allow businesses to operate as safe as feasibly 
possible. So we did not approach the issue in terms of who is 
open and who is not at CAL OSHA. We wanted to put rules of 
safety in place for any business that was continuing to 
operate.
    Senator Braun. I am glad to hear that point of view. And I 
think that in my experience of being an entrepreneur, a CEO for 
37 years prior to becoming a Senator, that in many instances, 
and especially looking at the differences between states, and 
generally speaking on the Federal Government, that sometimes a 
regulatory reach is way over the top when it then generalizes 
across all businesses. And in my observation, the businesses 
that don't do things well are the exception rather than the 
rule. Thank you.
    Senator Kaine. Thank you, Senator Braun. And to the 
witnesses, congratulation for your nominations. Mr. Parker, I 
have to acknowledge you are James Madison and UVA grad, and as 
a reward for that, I am not going to ask you more questions. 
You have been getting a lot of airtime this morning. I am going 
to direct my questions at Mr. Nayak and Ms. Williams. And it is 
sort of one topic and maybe you could kind of each take 2 
minutes on the topic.
    As you pointed out, for example, how COVID had a 
disproportionately tough effect on folks with disabilities in 
the employment space. But I wonder whether some of the 
strategies that we have embrace during COVID, remote work and 
using technology and employers finding, wow, employees can do 
work in ways we might have thought nontraditional and be super 
productive. I wonder if the COVID experience might have taught 
us some things that might open up some opportunities for folks 
who struggle with disabilities to actually, get more deeply 
involved in exactly the kind of jobs they want.
    I would love to hear you talk about that. And I am going to 
direct a similar question to Mr. Nayak. I worry a lot about 
folks who are ex-offenders, who are often really tough to 
employ. Virginia has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the 
Nation, but it is still way too high at 23 percent. One of the 
reasons we are low is that we in recent years have tried to do 
more to equip people when they are incarcerated with skills 
that will enable them to get employment later. But I found an 
interesting thing occurring as I recently traveled around 
Virginia.
    People are talking about, it is tough to get folks back to 
work. I am starting--I wouldn't have hired ex-offenders before, 
but I am starting to do that now, and I am finding that I am 
able to get some really good workers. So I am wondering maybe 
for each of you, has the COVID experience and maybe coming out 
of it, learning to work in new ways, it is hard to find great 
people to work.
    It might open the aperture of employers to hire in new ways 
and might have opened up some opportunities for folks with 
disabilities and folks who have been incarcerated. Ms. 
Williams, do you want to start first, maybe?
    Ms. Williams. Thank you for that question, Senator. And it 
is true that the pandemic has had a devastating impact on 
people with disabilities, and that we need to continue to 
prioritize the needs of people with disabilities and our 
economic recovery efforts, both at the national level and also 
at the state level. But I also think, as you point out, that we 
have an opportunity. And perhaps it is more than an 
opportunity.
    Perhaps we have a duty to use what we have learned during 
the pandemic, the different ways that we have had to learn how 
to work and how to move, not only throughout the country, but 
throughout the globe to take steps to build a workforce that is 
more inclusive of people with disabilities. Throughout the 
pandemic, ODEP I know has leverage its expertise, particularly 
in the area of accommodations and remote workplace policies, to 
ensure that people with disabilities could stay connected to 
employment.
    I think a lot of employers are finding that those policies 
are universally applicable to their workplaces. So I do think 
we have an opportunity to learn, and I do think that ODEP has 
an opportunity to leverage its expertise and the collaborative 
partnerships it has developed to help build that workforce of 
the future.
    Senator Kaine. Thank you for that. And Mr. Nayak, about our 
ex-offender community.
    Mr. Nayak. Yes. And thank you so much, Senator, for that 
question. It is a really excellent one. I think one thing we 
have learned in this pandemic for sure is just how different 
communities are impacted differently by, the same events. And 
that has not an intentional thing. It is just something that is 
kind of built into our world. Our workforce development system 
is so important. It can provide real opportunity to connect 
people with jobs and to help Americans who want more training, 
get that training.
    Putting those two together, I do think that going back to 
thinking about who is impacted by our workforce system, how we 
can do better outreach to various communities, including people 
who have criminal records, who are in need of opportunities, 
and really working with, engaging with both employers and 
organizations, workers and worker organizations to think 
about--and civil rights organizations and others, to think 
about how to really connect folks with those opportunities.
    In rural areas, as you said, there are folks who need jobs 
and there are folks who are looking for jobs. The workforce 
system is just a really, vital connector to help people get the 
skills and resources they need, to get into apprenticeship 
programs, to get into other programs aimed at dislocated 
workers and others.
    As Congress looks at reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation 
and Opportunity Act, I feel like there are a lot of lessons 
from the pandemic and from the last almost, half decade of 
employment WIOA, it will be really important to build in, along 
with the stakeholder results.
    Senator Kaine. Thank you for that. And should you be 
confirmed, I would really like to work with you on this issue 
with the ex-offender community. Oftentimes, these issues, they 
get put into kind of a criminal justice mindset and then they 
may be more Judiciary Committee, but I think they are really 
appropriate for this Committee, too.
    If you are going to deal with a population that has had 
difficulty finding the best work, the time to really make 
headway is when the unemployment rate starts to drop, because 
then employers are really looking for good workers and may be 
more willing to, consider folks that 2 years ago they weren't 
looking to hire. So I would love to work with you should you be 
confirmed on this. And now I believe I will. Oh, and the Chair 
is back.
    The Chair. Thank you very much.
    Senator Hassan.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you, Madam Chair and Ranking Member 
Burr. Thanks to our nominees for being here today. Thank you 
for being willing to serve and to your families for supporting 
you in this. As our economy continues to recover from the 
pandemic, we need strong leadership at the Department of Labor 
who will ensure safe workplaces for all workers. And I have a 
couple of questions that really follow-up on some of the things 
Senator Kaine was just talking about. I want to start with a 
question to Mr. Nayak. Some workers are going to face permanent 
dislocation as a result of the pandemic.
    We obviously need to support high quality workforce 
development to help them get back to work in good paying jobs 
and help businesses get the skilled workers that they need. 
This Committee is working on bipartisan solutions to update and 
expand key workforce laws. And the President has included 
substantial support for workforce development in the American 
jobs plan. I have long supported something called career 
pathway programs.
    These programs use industry partnerships with higher 
education to help workers who have fallen out of the labor 
force to make sure that they can receive educational 
credentials while they are also earning an income.
    To support these efforts, I introduced the Gateway to 
Careers Act with Senators Young, Kaine, and Collins, a 
bipartisan bill to expand career pathway programs as well as 
provide wraparound supports for learners who face barriers to 
completion, supports like helping access affordable housing or 
covering transportation costs.
    Mr. Nayak, following up a little bit on your answer just 
now to Senator Kaine, how could the Department of Labor help 
scale up workforce development efforts, including career 
pathway programs, so that our most vulnerable workers can 
reenter the workforce and help our economy recover from the 
pandemic?
    Mr. Nayak. Thank you so much, Senator, for that question. I 
think it is really important to think about how these excellent 
proposals to increase the workforce training program and to 
scale up, can be informed by a lot of different sources.
    One clearly, like if legislation like that were to pass, it 
is really important for the Department to, in implementing it, 
get stakeholder input. The Department should be talking with 
folks like you and your colleagues, but also business and 
industry groups, workers and worker organizations, and 
Governors, folks who have been involved on the ground, have 
seen these projects working, to talk about what worked, what 
didn't, how to get it to scale.
    I think that any sort of effort that doesn't include those 
stakeholders is going to be a little less likely to succeed. 
The other thing that I found really important in my time in the 
Department previously was really working hard to engage across 
agencies. Understanding that, the Department of Labor has a 
really important place to play in the workforce system, but so 
does the Department of Education, so does the Department of 
Commerce, so does the Department of Health and Human Services.
    Building those interagency relationships, building those 
networks together where we can all work together with our 
stakeholders and think about actually scaling up these programs 
is really vital. If I am lucky enough to be confirmed, I would 
love the chance to continue the conversation.
    Senator Hassan. Well, I would look forward to that as well. 
And that interagency collaboration is really critical as when 
we are talking about providing wraparound supports to people, 
too. So I would look forward to that. Ms. Williams, I want to 
talk with you a little bit, and I appreciated your statement 
just now. Not only that making our workforce more--a more 
inclusive place is the right thing to do, it is our duty to do.
    We have discussed today that there is a lot of work to do 
to ensure that workers with disabilities have access to 
competitive, integrated employment opportunities. And I 
emphasize competitive and integrated here. Workers with 
disabilities often require supports and services from 
employment specialists and direct support professionals to 
succeed in the workplace.
    While direct support professionals play a critical role, 
they are often difficult to hire and retain because their wages 
are low. We don't recognize the work as we should, and there 
are other workforce challenges involved, too. So, Ms. Williams, 
can you explain the importance of supporting direct support 
professionals to increase employment opportunities for workers 
with disabilities?
    Ms. Williams. Thank you for that question, Senator. And you 
are right, it is absolutely critical that we support direct 
service professionals in their efforts to really help prepare 
talent, all talent, but particularly in this case, talent with 
disabilities to be ready for the workforce.
    When I started at ODEP, one of the very first things that 
we worked on was related to helping to grow the knowledge, 
skills, and abilities of direct service providers and 
professionals in the area of disability inclusion. And in fact, 
it was when I left the Department, one of the last things that 
I did was to continue to work with those professionals because 
they are a critical tool for the support of disability 
inclusion. And I commit to continuing that work.
    Senator Hassan. Well, thank you very much. And I know I am 
over time. I will just urge my colleagues to learn more about 
the work that direct support professionals do. They are some of 
the most creative and committed people I have ever known. And 
if we can boost their wages, we really could make a big 
difference for a lot of people. And Mr. Parker, I had a 
question for you, which I will submit for the record. Thank 
you, too, for your willingness to serve.
    The Chair. Thank you.
    Senator Rosen.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you, Chair Murray, Ranking Member 
Burr. And like everyone else has said, I am so appreciative of 
all the nominees for your time today, for your work, and for 
your willingness to serve not just our Nation, but our 
country's workers. And so I want to talk a little bit about the 
blind and visually impaired.
    Ms. Williams, I appreciate you being here today and sharing 
so much about your personal experience, which helps us to 
understand the barriers that people with disabilities and 
chronic illness face when it comes to employment and training. 
And as you likely know, orientation and mobility training is 
part of vocational rehabilitation for workers who are blind or 
visually impaired.
    Just this week, my office learned from advocates in my 
state that there is not a single orientation and mobility 
specialist in Northern Nevada. The only specialists in the 
state or in Las Vegas. A travel from Reno or a more rural area 
of our State to Southern Nevada is not only time consuming, but 
it can be very expensive.
    Ms. Williams, can you talk about how the Department can 
coordinate with the Rehabilitation Services Administration or 
other offices or agencies to better serve workers with 
disabilities in areas where there just aren't access to 
vocational services like our rural areas, probably across the 
country?
    Ms. Williams. Thank you for that question, Senator. And 
ODEP has a long history of coordinating with Federal partners 
to promote work-based learning experiences and to ensure that 
all youth and adults with disabilities get access to the 
training that they need.
    That collaboration has included close work and partnerships 
with the Department of Education and specifically RSA, the 
Vocational Rehabilitation System, the Department of Health and 
Human Services, and also working very closely with the Social 
Security Administration, all key actors in the delivery of 
supports and systems to all youth and adults with disabilities.
    If confirmed to this role, I would commit to continuing on 
that long history that ODEP has of collaborating with partners, 
both in other Federal Departments, but also with our own 
Department, with the Employment and Training Administration, to 
ensure that all youth and adults with disabilities, including 
those who are blind and visually impaired, are getting access 
to the supports that they need in order to get connected to the 
workforce and to be on a pathway into, not only just a good 
job, but to a career.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you. I would like to move on now to 
Mr. Nayak and talk about the role of the Department in the 
economic recovery. Now, you worked at Department of Labor from 
2010 to 2017, so you began your time there during the midst of 
the last economic recession. So I would like to ask you a few 
questions based on your experience, because the economic 
recovery is uneven across the country.
    In Nevada, our unemployment rate in April was still at 8 
percent because our economy rely so heavily on tourism, which 
depends on consumer confidence to travel, including 
international travel. So how can the Department focus its 
resources on supporting workers in specific geographic areas or 
sectors that are hardest hit?
    Mr. Nayak. Thank you, Senator, for that question. The 
pandemic has upended our economy and our workforce just as it 
has all our lives. And while I say our I want to acknowledge 
the study after study has shown that people of color and Black 
and immigrant communities in particular have borne the economic 
brunt of the pandemic's effects, just as Black Americans have 
borne the brunt of the health effects. But you ask a really 
good question about thinking about bringing us out.
    I think a lot of us are deeply concerned about how women in 
particular have been impacted by the pandemic. One study 
suggested that mothers work hours have fallen four to five 
times as much as fathers, and women's unemployment increased by 
2.9 percent more than men.
    I know the Biden administration is very concerned, and the 
kinds of investments in the American jobs plan and the American 
families plan, from childcare to paid family leave and medical 
leave, are key to really giving women the chance to reenter the 
workforce.
    Again, I put in a plug here for the workforce system 
because how those investments are distributed, thinking about 
ways to target them geographically in the right way is a key 
part of getting those investments out into the workforce.
    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you. And I look forward to 
working with you, if you are confirmed, to apply the lessons 
you learned from the last recession, an economic downturn, 
coupled with the current statistics that we have now to move 
our country forward. Different states, different areas may have 
different challenges and we have to respond in the most 
appropriate ways that will work best. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    The Chair. Thank you.
    Senator Hickenlooper.
    Senator Hickenlooper. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I want to 
thank all of the participants today for not just your time 
today, but for your public service. And I wanted to ask a 
question of Mr. Nayak first. I have been--I started out in 
small business and I have been really focusing on the small 
business industry and the sector partnerships and working to 
try and figure out how to create apprenticeship training 
programs for the specific workforce needs of individual small 
businesses, such as promoting apprenticeships through regional 
training networks for employers' required skills or partners 
act would do.
    I am also interested in expanding access to these types of 
businesses, especially in rural areas, with less access to 
traditional resources, and sometimes in densely but underserved 
urban neighborhoods as well. Would you be willing to help and 
make a commitment and help us work on these things with not 
just myself but our colleagues to again build some muscle into 
these partnerships and create better access for rural 
businesses and to better train tomorrow's workforce?
    Mr. Nayak. Thank you, Senator, for that question. I really 
enjoyed having the chance to talk with you about the importance 
of workforce development efforts earlier this week. I am 
excited about proposals like yours to create and expand 
industry and sector based partnerships because they can help 
launch new apprenticeship and training programs. We know that 
apprenticeships and other work based learning programs are a 
win-win. They allow folks who participate to earn while they 
learn and get training, and a foot in the door to bolster their 
future opportunities.
    Meanwhile, employers get workers with the training and the 
specialized skills that they need to hit the ground running. 
And as a bonus, these programs can, as you are suggesting, be 
targeted to populations in most need. That might be out of 
school youth, dislocated workers, or that may be thinking about 
actually building up the workforce in more rural areas. This is 
another place where I think stakeholder input is really vital.
    The Department should be engaging with members and our 
colleagues, but also with, again, business and industry groups, 
really thinking about workers and workers' organizations, and 
Governors. I know from our conversation that you and your 
colleagues, Governors had some really important lessons learned 
here. If I am lucky enough to be confirmed, I would absolutely 
love the chance to continue that conversation.
    Senator Hickenlooper. Great. I appreciate that. We also 
talked a lot about stackable credentials, and I think I will 
skip that question and put it into the record. But I really did 
enjoy your perspective that we can do more to support those, 
some of the innovative programs, through community colleges and 
different industry sectors to create those stackable credential 
platforms that really well serve the needs of kids. I will just 
submit that full question. We have so little time.
    Mr. Parker, the number of OSHA inspectors has fallen to 
really the lowest point in probably 50 years. And it would take 
OSHA 106 years to visit every workplace once. A recent OIG 
report pointing out that the whistleblower investigations has 
fallen below the numbers that OSHA itself said was numbers that 
would be needed to run the program.
    How will you assure that the agency has staff and training 
to make sure that they can carry out OSHA's mission? And how 
can we in the Senate help make sure that you are able to fill 
this mission?
    Mr. Parker. Thank you, Senator, for the important question. 
It is a critical issue in OSHA that it have the sufficient 
number of inspectors available to conduct its important work. 
We have faced a similar issue in California, so I bring that 
experience of evaluating systems to determine how we can be 
more effective in doing hiring to the table and addressing this 
issue at Federal OSHA.
    It would involve working closely with the Department of 
Labor and the Office of Administration and Management to 
evaluate the process and identify the issues, be they in the 
area of recruitment, be they in the area of delays in the 
hiring process, or prospective employees simply not accepting 
positions at OSHA.
    I would have to be in the role and learn more in order to 
figure out how best to address it. But I am committed to doing 
so, and I believe it should be the top priority, if confirmed. 
I also think it is important not to disregard administrative 
support vacancies that may be occurring in the agency because 
that is a way to immediately develop increased productivity in 
the inspectorate that is present currently.
    Senator Hickenlooper. I appreciate that and appreciate your 
candor. Again, I thank all the all the participants in the 
panel for your time and your service. And yield the floor back 
to the Chair.
    The Chair. Thank you very much. I have a few more questions 
I want to ask you. And I will start with Ms. Williams. The 
Office of Disability Employment Policy has an important role in 
promoting quality employment opportunities for people with 
disabilities.
    Though the pandemic has caused significant disruption in 
many workplaces, it has also led to a number of employers 
adopting inclusive workplace policies like telework, flexible 
schedules, assistive technology. Talk to us about what lessons 
we can take from this pandemic to make workplaces more 
equitable and inclusive moving forward, especially for our 
workers with disabilities.
    Ms. Williams. Thank you for that question, Senator. I think 
as we emerge from the pandemic and think about what employers 
need to help not only rebuild the economy, but to ensure that 
they have access to the best talent, we have an opportunity to 
really learn from the experiences of private and public sector 
employers throughout the pandemic.
    ODEP has, as part of the work that it does, a number of 
employer focused technical assistance centers that have worked 
to develop evidence based practices and policies in the areas 
not only of accommodation policy, but also in the areas of 
accessible technology, ensuring that people with disabilities 
are able to access to technology throughout the employment 
process, and in working directly with employers, large size 
employers, midsize employers, and small businesses to ensure 
that from the recruitment to the hiring to the retention and 
advancement processes that they have in place, people with 
disabilities are included.
    As I look to how we might rebuild, I want to ensure that we 
are leveraging those partnerships that we already have with 
employers, and that we are taking a critical eye toward the 
lessons learned from the pandemic, including around 
accommodations for policies such as workplace flexibility and 
use of technology, because I truly think that will help us to 
close the ongoing gap that exists in the workforce between 
workers with disabilities and workers without disabilities. And 
if I may, I would add that those policies that we are talking 
about would not just support people with disabilities, but as 
we have found out throughout this pandemic, they are policies 
that can support everyone in ensuring that they can stay 
connected to work.
    The Chair. Thank you. I totally agree with that. Thank you 
for that answer. The past year has shown us how reliant we all 
are on our front line workers, many of them who have been left 
behind by policies that have not kept up with the challenges 
that workers face on the job. Too many of our front line 
workers, especially women and workers of color, lack adequate 
protection and rights.
    It is really essential that we address these problems as we 
now recover from this pandemic by strengthening workers' rights 
and raising wages and expanding access to paid leave for all 
workers. And I want to hear from each of you, if confirmed, how 
you will work to ensure that our frontline workers have the 
workplace protections and supports they need. And I will start 
with you, Ms. Williams.
    Ms. Williams. Thank you for that question, Senator. Again, 
I think it is so critical as we move out of the pandemic and we 
think about rebuilding our country and rebuilding the economy, 
that we are paying particular attention to the experiences of 
front line workers and to the inequities that continue to exist 
in our country and in the workforce.
    For individuals who are multiple marginalized, that 
includes people with disabilities, that includes people with 
disabilities who are also people of color. I think if we are 
focused on their experiences, and as leaders if we are 
committed to meeting and listening to the experiences of all 
stakeholders, then we can bring to bear all of our resources or 
evidence based practices, our policy development in order to 
ensure better outcomes in our workforce.
    The Chair. Thank you.
    Mr. Parker.
    Mr. Parker. Thank you, Madam Chair. When I began at CAL 
OSHA, I commissioned two studies, one of them was to determine 
how many inspectors were needed for the agency to fully carry 
out its mission and all its essential and required duties to 
protect not only the safety but the health of workers.
    Then the other study that I commissioned in partnership 
with our ALRB, our Agricultural Review Board, was to look at 
how we could do a better job conducting outreach with immigrant 
low wage workers, particularly in the agricultural sector. And 
I think that those two approaches that were recommended out of 
those studies illustrate the things that we have to do at OSHA.
    One, we have to be able to build trust with the communities 
that are most affected by worker health and safety issues, and 
most affected by injury, illness, and death. And then we also 
have to be able to deliver the goods once those workers have 
the trust in us to come forward and take the risks that are 
involved in complaining about a work that is unsafe or to find 
out more information about how they can have a better 
workplace.
    The Chair. Thank you.
    Mr. Nayak.
    Mr. Nayak. Thank you, Madam Chair, for the question. I 
really appreciate that the President has made equity a 
cornerstone of his administration. And it is important for all 
of us to think about how policies impact everyone, including 
folks who are too often left behind. And that includes, as we 
have learned over the last year, especially many of those 
frontline workers.
    Again, though, depending on the context, that might be 
workers of color, immigrants, people with disabilities and 
women, even workers in rural communities like the place I grew 
up that have been hit hard by deindustrialization. That is one 
reason why I favor more analysis and really considering a lot 
of options.
    One part of the Assistant Secretary for Policy in the 
Office that is very exciting to me is ASP the home of the 
Department's Chief Evaluation Office, which conducts rigorous, 
relevant evaluations in an independent and transparent way. The 
CEO's role is to help assess whether the Department's programs 
are effective, for example, in the workforce system.
    They want to use evidence from evaluations to inform future 
looking policy and practice. And if confirmed, I would be 
excited to work with that Office to build more equity analysis 
into their work.
    The Chair. Thank you. Thank you to all of our witnesses. I 
really appreciate your being here and look forward to working 
with each and every one of you on these important goals. I want 
to thank all of my colleagues who joined us today for a very 
thoughtful discussion.
    Mr. Nayak, Ms. Williams, Mr. Parker, thank you for taking 
time to be here today as well and answer all of our questions. 
For any Senators who wish to ask additional questions, 
questions for the record will be due tomorrow, May 28th, 5 p.m.
    The hearing record will remain open for 10 business days 
for Members who wish to submit additional materials for the 
record. The Committee is adjourned. Thank you.

                          Additional Material

                  Communication Workers of America,
                                                      May 26, 2021.
Hon. Patty Murray, Chair,
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.

    Dear Chair Murray:

    On behalf of the officers and members of the Communications Workers 
of America (CWA), I am writing in strong support of the nomination of 
Doug Parker to serve as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational 
Health and Safety. Parker's years of experience have demonstrated that 
he can restore dignity and respect for the Nation's workers and 
employers' respect for our basic worker safety laws.

    Millions of workers depend every day on OSHA to ensure that 
employers fulfill their legal obligations to comply with OSHA 
standards. The pandemic is not over--workers still need protections and 
there must be enforceable workplace mitigation measures in place to 
fully stop the spread of COVID-19. The pandemic has shown just how 
important it is that workers have a strong advocate for safety and 
health leading OSHA.

    Parker has proven to be a seasoned leader who can bring OSHA back 
to its proper role as the chief enforcer of essential workplace 
safeguards against workplace injury and disease. He is currently the 
Chief of California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/
OSHA), where he has developed and implemented an emergency regulation 
to prevent workplace transmission of COVID-19. Prior to his time at 
Cal/OSHA, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety 
and Health and the Executive Director for Worksafe, a California-based 
non-governmental organization advocating safety, health and justice for 
workers. His previous experience with worker health and safety issues 
will serve him well at OSHA.

    I strongly urge you to support and swiftly confirm Doug Parker as 
the next Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and 
Health. Thank you for your consideration.

            Sincerely,
                                                 Dan Mauer,
                            Director of Government Affairs,
                   Communications Workers of America (CWA).
                                 ______
                                 
                  Communication Workers of America,
                                                      May 26, 2021.
Hon. Patty Murray, Chair,
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.

    Dear Chair Murray:

    On behalf of the officers and members of the Communications Workers 
of America (CWA), I am writing in strong support of the nomination of 
Rajesh Nayak to serve as Assistant Secretary for Policy at the 
Department of Labor (DOL).

    Nayak has had a long career at DOL, currently serving as Senior 
Advisor and previously serving in various capacities during the Obama-
Biden administration for seven years. During his time at DOL, he helped 
enact landmark rules advancing workers' rights to overtime pay, health 
and safety, and retirement security, overhauled the department's 
enforcement of workplace protections and coordination with state 
regulatory agencies and advised the Secretary of Labor on the 
Department's workforce development, worker protection, and counter-
trafficking programs. Outside of working for the Executive Branch, he 
has focused his career on building worker power. He worked as an 
attorney at NELP, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, 
the Shriver Center in Chicago and has been a Fellow at the Labor & 
Worklife Program at Harvard Law School.

    In short, Nayak is extremely qualified for this new position at the 
Department of Labor and has demonstrated his dedication to uplifting 
and defender worker rights. Under the leadership of Secretary Walsh, 
DOL is working to reverse the anti-worker policies passed under the 
last Administration and is focused on promoting a worker-friendly 
agenda that supports the right to organize, strengthened safety and 
health on the job, and higher wages. These important policies require 
staff with experience and desire to give working families a voice in 
the development of policy--all qualities Nayak possesses.

    I strongly urge you to support and swiftly confirm Rajesh Nayak as 
the next Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Department of Labor. 
Thank you for your consideration.

            Sincerely,
                                                 Dan Mauer,
                            Director of Government Affairs,
                   Communications Workers of America (CWA).
                                 ______
                                 

                         QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

   Response by Taryn Mackenzie Williams to questions of Senator Casey

                             senator casey
    Since 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act has allowed people with 
disabilities to be paid below the minimum wage. When the act was first 
passed, it allowed people with disabilities to be paid as low as half 
the Federal minimum wage. In 1986, Congress eliminated the requirement 
to pay people with disabilities at least half of the minimum wage rate. 
That has resulted in some workers with disabilities being paid pennies 
an hour. I and my colleagues in the House, Chairman Bobby Scott and 
Congresswoman McMorris Rogers, have introduced legislation to phaseout 
the use of the special certificates that allow businesses to pay people 
with disabilities below minimum wage.

    Question 1. Ms. Williams, do you agree that phasing out 
certificates that allow business to pay people with disabilities below 
the minimum wage is good policy? If so, how do we make sure people with 
disabilities are supported during the transition from subminimum wage 
to competitive integrated employment?

    Answer 1. I share the President's commitment to legislation that 
would phaseout subminimum wages for people with disabilities. And, if 
confirmed as the Assistant Secretary of ODEP, I would commit to working 
with you, other Members of Congress, and with stakeholders in the 
disability community as we explore options to reform the Section 14(c) 
certificate program. Although the Department's Wage and Hour Division 
administers the program, I would commit to doing what ODEP has in the 
past. That is, contributing its expertise to support the successful 
transition of workers with disabilities to competitive integrated 
employment (CIE).

    Since 2012, ODEP has provided technical expertise to 27 states to 
help align policy and funding to increase CIE. Five years ago, ODEP 
expanded its efforts to include assistance to service providers that 
hold certificates to help them move toward competitive integrated 
employment. At this time, there is a robust network of 2700 state 
representatives, advocates with disabilities, and service providers 
working together to share practices and implement policies that ensure 
that workers with disabilities are supported in this transition out of 
subminimum wage and into CIE. If confirmed, I would commit to 
leveraging ODEP's expertise and ongoing technical assistance efforts to 
address this issue.
                                 ______
                                 
    [Whereupon, at 11:41 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

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