[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 30, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9159-S9160]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. COATS (for himself, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Nickles, Mr. Abraham, 
        Mr. DeWine, Mr. Coverdell and Mr. Faircloth):
  S. 2000. A bill to make certain laws applicable to the Executive 
Office of the President, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Governmental Affairs.


        The Presidential and Executive Office Accountability Act

  Mr. COATS. All Members of this body remember early in this Congress 
we introduced and passed into law the Congressional Accountability Act 
which applied the various civil rights and labor laws that are 
currently applicable to employers and employees throughout America's 
workplaces, and applied this same restrictions to Members of Congress.
  For too long we had exempted ourselves from the laws and regulations 
that we had imposed on virtually every other business operation in 
America. There were only a couple of workplaces that were exempted: The 
Labor Standards Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans With 
Disability Act, and the other items that we discussed. Those 
institutions were the U.S. Congress and the executive branch, in 
particular, the White House. We remedied that, partially, for the 
Congress with the adoption of the Congressional Accountability Act.
  Now, these 11 specific items apply to Members of Congress as well as 
to the private sector. I think what we are learning is that some of 
these laws are good, some of these laws are applicable to what we do, 
but some of them are overly burdensome and overly restrictive and 
therefore need to be examined. Because they apply to us as they apply 
to everyone else, we feel that burden, and perhaps we can be reasonable 
when we examine these to determine whether or not reforms are needed.
  This act would apply these same provisions that now apply to Congress 
and virtually every other workplace in the country, to the White House. 
This legislation, which I send to the desk for referral, was originally 
cosponsored by Senator Stevens, as well as other Members including 
Senators Nickles, Abraham, DeWine, Coverdell, and Faircloth.
  Mr. President, today I send to the desk a bill designed to eliminate 
a dubious double standard that remains in the application of our civil 
rights and labor protection laws.
  Last year, this Congress passed the Congressional Accountability Act, 
requiring Congress to live under the laws it passes--and oftentimes 
imposes--on the rest of the Nation. Now that the Congressional 
Accountability Act is

[[Page S9160]]

the law of the land, only one workplace in America remains exempt from 
our Nation's laws and regulations. In just one place of employment, 
workers do not enjoy the rights and protections afforded to all other 
Americans. That one place is the White House, and it's time for the 
White House to join the rest of the United States in living under the 
civil rights and labor laws governing the rest of the Nation.
  For decades, Congress callously exempted itself from rules and 
regulations it was passing for the rest of the country. Many of us had 
supported the Congressional Accountability Act for years, but were 
thwarted in our efforts. Finally, when--for the first time in 40 
years--Republicans gained control of Congress, we wasted little time 
and passed the Congressional Accountability Act into law.
  I remain in strong support of the principle that Congress should not 
be exempt from the laws that apply to all other Americans, and because 
of the Congressional Accountability Act, Congress now is living under 
11 different labor and civil rights laws from which it had previously 
exempted itself. I continue to believe that this is a simple issue of 
fundamentlal fairness. Congress should live under the laws it passes 
for everyone else. In doing so, lawmakers will learn first hand which 
laws work, and perhaps more often than not, which laws are overly 
intrusive and burdensome.
  These lessons also would be appropriate for the White House, since 
under President Clinton the Federal Register of Government regulations 
now totals about 65,000 pages, the largest number in more than 15 
years. Despite President Clinton's stated concerns for the working men 
and women of this country, the White House continues to exempt itself 
from the laws and regulations covering the rest of the country, 
including Congress and all private businesses.
  For example, because of this privileged loophole, the White House 
does not have to abide by the minimum wage or the Family Medical Leave 
Act or the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act or 
several of the other civil rights and labor laws that apply to all 
other Americans. I think America's labor leaders will agree with me 
when I say that employees of the White House should be protected by the 
same laws that the President approves for the rest of the country. 
Employees should have the same rights and protections regardless of 
where they work--whether the individual labors in the private sector, 
the Congress, and yes, even in the White House.

  There are some in the White House who argue that this legislation is 
unnecessary because the White House voluntarily complies with the 
spirit of many of these laws. Mr. President, I argue that voluntary 
compliance is not good enough. How many private sector companies are 
allowed to voluntarily comply with the laws of the land? The answer is 
zero, and the White House should not be an exception.
  The Congressional Accountability Act, and the proposed White House 
Accountability Act, give employees of these two branches of Government 
the same rights as any other citizen to go into a court of law and have 
their case heard by a jury of their peers. White House employees should 
not have to depend on the benevolence or arbitrary good will of a 
supervisor to ensure that they are not taken advantage of, sexually 
harassed, or otherwise dealt with in an inappropriate and possibly 
illegal manner. They deserve the right to be free from discrimination, 
the right to work in a safe and healthy work environment, the right not 
to be fired simply because of race, sex, disability, or age. White 
House workers deserve the same rights and protections that every other 
American enjoys in the private sector, and now in the U.S. Congress.
  The White House Accountability Act also would be good policy for 
senior management and administrators. White House policy makers and 
their staffs would gain a first-hand understanding of the laws they 
propose and enact. Perhaps the White House will find, as many in 
Congress have been forced to learn, that some of the laws we pass are 
good, some do not go far enough and need to be strengthened, or--and 
this is too often the case--that many of the regulations imposed on the 
Nation by the Federal bureaucracy in Washington are onerous and in 
serious need of reform.
  Writing in the Federalist Papers, James Madison instructed us that no 
branch of Government is above the law. Madison wrote, ``Congress can 
make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and 
their friends, as well as on the great mass of society.''
  Because of the Congressional Accountability Act, Federal laws and 
regulations now apply from our Nation's assembly lines to our Nation's 
general assembly. When President Clinton was inaugurated, he called the 
White House, ``the people's house.'' It's time he backed up that 
statement by letting his workers in the White House enjoy the same 
civil rights and labor protections enjoyed by the rest of the people in 
whose house they serve.
                                 ______