[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 194 (Friday, December 18, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13462-S13463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. 
        Bennett, Mr. Bond, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Burr, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. 
        Coburn, Mr. Cochran, Ms. Collins, Mr. Corker, Mr. Crapo, Mr. 
        DeMint, Mr. Ensign, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Graham, Mr. Grassley, Mr. 
        Gregg, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Kyl, Mr. LeMieux, Mr. 
        Lugar, Mr. McCain, Mr. McConnell, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Risch, Mr. 
        Roberts, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Thune, Mr. Vitter, and Mr. Wicker):
  S.J. Res. 24. A joint resolution providing for congressional 
disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule 
submitted by the Department of Labor relating to financial disclosure 
and transparency by labor union management; to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of 
Labor-Management Standards, OLMS, is responsible for ensuring that 
labor unions follow basic standards of fiscal responsibility. OLMS 
collects annual financial disclosure reports, LM-2, from labor 
organizations with annual receipts of $250,000 or more. Union members 
who work hard to pay their dues deserve to know how their money has 
been spent. So, these annual financial disclosure reports provide rank-
and-file members with an essential tool for exercising union democracy: 
information about important financial decisions made by their union 
leadership. Consequently, it is vital that OLMS have the necessary 
tools to monitor union compliance with the law as well as to deter 
corruption. Yet, on average, over ONE third of all unions fail to 
comply with existing requirements to file annual financial disclosure 
reports on time.

[[Page S13463]]

  In fact, between 2001 and 2008, OLMS reported that its investigations 
yielded a total of 1,004 indictments with 929 convictions and court-
ordered restitution of more than $93 million dollars. For example, 
according to statistics reported by the Office of Management and 
Budget, OMB, the OLMS audits turned up criminal violations in about 
11.5 percent of audits and nearly 8 percent of unions showed some 
fraudulent activity in 2008 alone. Between January 1 and October 19, 
2009, OLMS reported obtaining indictments, convictions and sentences in 
embezzlement cases that total nearly $3 million in theft from union 
funds.
  in order to provide a better method for collecting information about 
union finances, the Department of Labor proposed modifying the LM-2 
form. After a lengthy rulemaking process, the Department issued a final 
rule on January 21, 2009, which required additional information about 
the receipt and disbursement of labor organization funds, and 
established standards and procedures for revoking, where appropriate, a 
labor organization's simplified filing privilege. But politics got in 
the way of transparency and good government. And on October 13, 2009, 
the Department announced a final decision to rescind these regulations.
  This is outrageous. No one is talking about protecting rank-and-file 
members' ability to hold their leadership accountable. Instead, the 
Secretary of Labor has bowed to pressure and complaints from labor 
unions. The unions argued that requiring labor organizations with 
reported annual receipts over $250,000 to file more detailed disclosure 
reports was unnecessarily burdensome and imposed additional 
administrative costs on their organizations.
  Rigorous disclosure requirements promote union transparency and 
accountability of union leaders to their rank-and-file members. The 
annual financial reports ensure that workers' dues are used 
legitimately and can also help workers and oversight investigators 
detect fraudulent or criminal activity. Bringing corrupt union 
officials to justice and recovering millions of dollars in hard-earned 
dues would not be possible if unions were not required to file annual 
financial disclosure reports.
  For this reason, I am introducing a Congressional Review Act 
resolution disapproving the Department of Labor's October 13 decision 
to rescind the LM-2 rule. My resolution, which is cosponsored by 17 of 
my colleagues, would have the effect of reinstating the original LM-2 
rule published in January 2009 and would ensure that OLMS continues to 
protect the rights of rank-and-file union members against corrupt union 
leaders.

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