[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 125 (Tuesday, September 8, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9124-S9125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               LABOR DAY

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, over the last few months, I have stood in 
the Chamber and read letters sent to me by Ohioans from all over my 
State, stories explaining how health insurance costs are threatening 
the economic stability of middle-class families. These stories reflect 
the many challenges facing our Nation's middle class and facing my 
State's workers.
  The fight for health insurance reform is part of a larger effort to 
put our Nation on a new, progressive path that invests in our labor 
force, honors our industrial and manufacturing traditions, and helps 
rebuild our middle class.
  Yesterday, I joined President Obama in Cincinnati at the largest 
Labor Day picnic in the country to honor the achievement and 
contribution of the American worker. Labor Day is an important American 
tradition that also recognizes the courage of generations of workers 
and activists who demanded a standard of living deserving of all 
Americans.
  In Ohio, the tradition of Labor Day began in 1890, when Cleveland's 
first African-American lawyer and Ohio's first African-American State 
senator, John Patterson Green, introduced ``Labor Day in Ohio'' to 
celebrate the contribution of workers. The bill passed the general 
assembly on April 28, 1890, 4 years before Congress declared Labor Day 
a national holiday. It is easy to surmise that Labor Day began in Ohio. 
As the ``father of Labor Day in Ohio,'' John Patterson Green, who 
befriended captains of industry, civil rights pioneers, and sitting 
Presidents alike, exemplifies how simple recognition can give powerful 
meaning to working men and women.
  Yesterday, in Cincinnati, during the Nation's largest Labor Day 
picnic, the President spoke to thousands of workers gathered in support 
of policies that put American workers, and business, first. The 
President reminded us that:

       Much of what we take for granted--the 40-hour work week, 
     the minimum wage, health insurance, paid leave, pensions, 
     Social Security, Medicare--all bear the union label. So even 
     if you're not a union member, every American owes something 
     to America's labor movement.

  At Labor Day events across the State, workers and their families, 
friends, and neighbors gathered together, regardless of profession--
electricians, communications workers, steelworkers, teachers, 
truckdrivers, and laborers--to celebrate all working men and women. 
That is what Labor Day is. The celebrations brought together the 
families of union brothers and sisters who fight for each other.
  That is what the labor movement is about--to recognize and speak out 
for health care that works for workers. That is why this Labor Day is 
ever more meaningful.

[[Page S9125]]

  I recently--before Labor Day--visited Open M, a free health clinic in 
Akron, where I met Christine, who runs a small gift basket delivery 
business by herself but cannot afford health insurance. Fourteen years 
ago, while working, Christine was seriously injured in a car accident, 
leaving her with multiple knee surgeries, foot and back problems, and a 
cane to help her walk. She had to pay these expenses out of her pocket, 
draining her savings and compromising her economic security.
  Last week, I spoke at the Center for Working Class Studies at 
Youngstown State University, one of the Nation's first and certainly 
one of the Nation's premier academic programs devoted to the many 
phases of the American worker--the factory worker in Lordstown or the 
home care nurse in Niles, the teacher in Youngstown or the truckdriver 
in Boardman. The center tells the story of working-class communities to 
a nation that it helped build.
  Ohioans from across the Mahoning Valley showed up and listened while 
others told the story of working-class families struggling with the 
crushing costs of health care.
  John from Champion, OH, described how his sick nephew lacks health 
insurance and cannot afford the neurologist he is supposed to see. He 
said that if health reform doesn't pass soon, his nephew probably won't 
live long enough to receive the care he so desperately needs.
  Michelle from Youngstown asked the question at the root of all of the 
struggles that define the progressive labor movement. In her early 
thirties, she is one of the nearly 50 million Americans who are 
uninsured. She asked:

       Isn't health reform a moral issue, where people in need and 
     deserve care should have access to it?

  The question of morality--whether coal miners' lives should be 
protected or food safety should be essential or the right to fair wages 
should be absolute--has long defined the labor movement's progressive 
mission.
  The passing of Senator Kennedy, a champion of the American worker, 
reminds all of us what government can, and should, do on behalf of 
American workers.
  The history of our Nation shows that our workers helped transition 
our Nation from one industry to the next, driving innovation and 
creating economic prosperity for workers, communities, and industries, 
creating the middle class.
  The history of our Nation shows that those who worked hard and played 
by the rules had something to show for it--a secure and good-paying job 
that supported their family and gave meaning to their community.
  But today the American worker is confronted with economic challenges 
that threaten to undermine our economic security. Workers from Lorain 
to Wilmington, from Xenia to Zanesville, deserve a government that does 
more and does better for them.
  Today President Obama and many in Congress are working to ensure 
workers be justly rewarded for their labor. As Ohioans understand, 
manufacturing recognizes the value of an honest day's pay for an honest 
day's work. We know that manufacturing is a ticket to the middle class. 
We know a strong middle class makes a stronger nation. That is why 
Americans deserve a manufacturing policy that works for them.
  Manufacturing accounts for more than 10 percent of our entire economy 
and nearly three-fourths of our Nation's industrial research and 
development. Manufacturing jobs pay 20 percent more on average than 
service jobs. For every massive auto plant you see driving from east to 
west along the Ohio Turnpike, from Youngstown past Toledo, there are 
dozens of manufacturers making component parts and services for 
emerging industries in clean energy, aerospace, and biotechnology.
  I applaud the administration's decision to tap Ron Bloom to direct a 
national strategy which will help manufacturers transition to the 21st 
century economy. It is not an easy task. It is one that requires hard 
work and progressive vision.
  But in no uncertain terms, our Nation must establish a national 
policy to once again invest in our most important American asset--the 
American worker.
  In the Economic Policy Subcommittee that I chair, we have looked at 
the elements of a national manufacturing strategy--investing in 
innovation, strengthening our component parts supply line, connecting 
workers with jobs in emerging industries, improving assistance for 
distressed communities, and revamping how our Nation does trade.
  Done right, we can reinvest in our workers' capacity to build the 
next generation of technologies and rebuild our next generation of 
middle-class families.
  Done right, we can create new industry, and we can create good-paying 
jobs and secure jobs.
  Done right, we can ensure the future of our Nation's global economic 
competitiveness.
  Let us honor the story of the American worker who built this country, 
who sustains our middle class by reinvesting in them. Labor Day is a 
time to honor a movement that respects the dignity of work and reflects 
the decency and dedication of our workers.
  This year's Labor Day comes at a historic time in the progressive 
labor movement's ongoing march toward economic security and a new era 
of productivity for our Nation.
  Along with a national manufacturing policy, health insurance reform 
must be part of this Nation's legacy of giving meaning to workers and 
giving hope to the middle class.
  The vote on health insurance reform will be, next to my vote in 
opposition to the Iraq war 6 years ago as a Member of the House of 
Representatives, the most important vote I cast in this Chamber. I hope 
at this time next year I will be reading the stories of Ohio workers 
who live with the health care they deserve and the dignity they have 
earned.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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