[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 102 (Thursday, July 17, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H5407]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR PROVISION OF THE REVENUE RECONCILIATION ACT 
                     WOULD REDUCE AMERICAN WORKERS

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, our country is going through a major 
transition in employment relations. The temporary help industry is 
exploding. Workers can no longer count on working for the same employer 
for their entire lives. Now is the time for Federal policy to promote a 
high-wage/high-skill economy which values workers and encourages 
employers to invest in the skills and long-term productivity of working 
people.
  But the independent contractor provision in the Revenue 
Reconciliation Act would reclassify and misclassify American working 
people as independent contractors without wage and benefit guarantees, 
without unemployment or worker's compensation, without prevailing wage, 
minimum wage, without protections or equal employment protections. It 
would reduce American workers.
  The last time we had a system like the independent contractor 
provision, we had an America that was filled with company stores. We 
are not going back to that era.
  We have to value American workers, invest in them, and give them an 
opportunity to support their families with decent wages and to have 
decent benefits.

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