[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 28, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Enzi, Mr. 
        Isakson, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Scott):
  S. 288. A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to reform 
the National Labor Relations Board, the Office of the General Counsel, 
and the process for appellate review, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, today I am reintroducing the NLRB 
Reform Act with Senator McConnell.
  Our legislation will change the National Labor Relations Board from 
an advocate to an umpire.
  The board was created 80 years ago to act as an impartial umpire in 
labor disputes that threaten the free flow of commerce.
  The board's decisions affect about 85 million private-sector workers 
and 5.7 million private-sector employers.
  But over time, the board has become an advocate for one interest 
group over the other--changing positions with each new administration.
  There are three significant problems the board faces today:
  First, the biggest problem is partisan advocacy. Today, the majority 
of the 5-member board is made up of appointees who follow the 
president's political leanings. President Obama has appointed 3 labor 
union lawyers to the board.
  Second, the board has a freewheeling advocate for a general counsel. 
The board's most recent general counsels have been exceeding their 
statutory authority and bringing questionable cases that threaten 
American jobs.
  Third, it is too slow to resolve disputes. Right now, 145 cases, that 
is 32 percent of the board's caseload, have been pending for more than 
a year.
  Our bill provides three fixes.
  First, it ends partisan advocacy. A 6-member board of 3 Republicans 
and 3 Democrats and a majority of 4 will require both sides to find a 
middle ground.
  Second, it reins in the general counsel. Businesses and unions would 
be able to challenge complaints filed by the General Counsel in Federal 
district court, and they will have greater transparency about the basis 
and legal reasoning of charges brought by the General Counsel.
  Third, it encourages timely decisions in two ways. First, either 
party in a case before the board may appeal to a Federal Court of 
Appeals if the board fails to reach a decision in their case within one 
year.
  Second, funding for the entire NLRB would be reduced by 20 percent if 
the board is not able to decide 90 percent of its cases within one year 
over the first 2-year period post-reform.
  Our bill would offer these solutions without taking away rights or 
remedies for any employee, business, or union.
  While the increasing partisanship at the board has occurred in 
Republican administrations as well as Democrat administrations, it has 
reached a climax in this administration.
  Three of President Obama's recent nominees came to the board from a 
major labor union's leadership.
  One labor law professor at a major university recently said that she 
can't even use the most recent textbook, instead she has to resort to 
handing out NLRB decisions. The decisions are coming out so rapidly and 
this NLRB is venturing into new territory with efforts at rulemaking.
  This is no way to maintain a national labor law policy.
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