[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 8, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2721-S2722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Nomination of Janet Dhillon

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I want to say a few words about the 
nomination of Janet Dhillon to be Chair of the Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission, which we know by the shorthand EEOC. I will 
vote against her nomination. I have voted against it in the past in 
committee.
  But let me tell you about the EEOC. We need a little reminder of this 
once in a while. It is a bipartisan Commission that for decades has 
worked to protect American workers from discrimination in the 
workplace--all kinds of discrimination.
  Many lawyers know that if you bring an action in a State court or in 
a Federal court, the first step is that you have to go through all of 
your administrative remedies. So if you bring a Federal lawsuit or a 
civil action based upon discrimination, the first thing you have to do 
is to go to the EEOC. Before you can get to a Federal district court, 
you have to go through the EEOC. So it becomes the first court, in 
essence. It is not technically a court, but it becomes the first place 
you go to have your ``discrimination in the workplace'' claim 
considered.
  During that time, since the founding or the beginnings of the EEOC, 
people in both parties in the Senate have worked together to move 
forward nominees from both parties in tandem so the Commission could 
continue its essential work.
  Today this bipartisan process is being cast aside by the majority in 
the Senate because no Democratic nominee is being considered along with 
Janet Dhillon, who has been proposed by the administration. My 
colleagues in the majority have decided to abandon this bipartisan 
cooperation.
  We know that the EEOC plays a critical role in protecting workers 
from all forms--all forms--of workplace discrimination and in ensuring 
that all workers have equal access to employment opportunities.
  Another point that is important is that the EEOC is currently in the 
middle of collecting data on pay gaps faced by women in the workplace, 
and the EEOC's leadership is badly needed so that we can work to 
eliminate workplace sexual harassment--still a big problem where we 
have a long way to go.
  So instead of working with Democrats to make their sure that all--
all--EEOC positions are filled so the Commission can undertake this 
work, the majority is instead working only to advance the Republican 
nominees put forward by the White House.
  This is not how the Senate should work. It certainly is not how the 
Senate should work as it relates to the EEOC, and the most significant 
losers here are American workers. They will pay the price because of 
the EEOC not having more nominations that are bipartisan.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.

[[Page S2722]]

  

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 6 
minutes on the Dhillon nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor to oppose the 
nomination of Janet Dhillon to the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission.
  I have a number of concerns about her record, which I plan to lay out 
here today, but before I do, I want to talk about the process by which 
this nomination has come to the Senate floor.
  It has long been common practice in the Senate to confirm nominees to 
independent agencies as pairs--one Republican and one Democrat.
  We do this so agencies like the EEOC are balanced and are able to 
fully function no matter which party is in the White House. In the case 
of the EEOC, it ensures workers are being protected from discrimination 
in the workplace.
  Yet, at every opportunity, Republicans have broken norms and 
abandoned longstanding practices to jam through their nominees. First 
it was the National Labor Relations Board, when my colleagues across 
the aisle jammed through two Republican nominees without any Democrats 
and then refused to give a highly qualified nominee another term on the 
Board--all because that highly qualified nominee was fighting on the 
side of workers, not corporations. Then one lone Republican was allowed 
to object to the reconfirmation of a well-respected Commissioner to 
another term on the EEOC, even if that meant the EEOC would no longer 
have a quorum and be able to perform some of its most critical duties.
  I came down to the floor to urge our colleagues to end the partisan 
obstruction and pass a slate of nominees to the EEOC, but Republican 
leaders allowed one Republican Member's opposition to a 
noncontroversial nominee to hold more weight than the entire Senate 
minority.
  Now, here we are today, and Republicans want to jam through another 
nominee without their Democratic pair, and by doing this, my colleagues 
across the aisle have now abandoned longstanding norms of the Senate 
and are once again sending a message to the most vulnerable workers 
they believe the corporations that discriminate against them deserve 
more of a say.
  This is unacceptable and goes against the core of the EEOC. It is 
illegal to discriminate against someone in the workplace because of 
their race, religion, sex, disability, or because they are LGBTQ. It is 
the EEOC's responsibility to enforce those laws and to give every 
person the opportunity to earn a living without fear of discrimination 
or harassment.
  The EEOC protects LGBTQ rights in the workplace and is the primary 
agency addressing the gender pay gap. The EEOC is responsible for 
addressing harassment in the workplace, an issue our country has been 
grappling with but still has a long way to go. Over the past 2 years, 
as so many brave women and men have spoken out and shared their 
stories, we have seen a shift in this country toward acknowledging, 
finally, the epidemic of harassment and assault in workplaces, and 
finally we are beginning to address it on a large scale. In Hollywood, 
the media, even in the Halls of Congress--those who have used their 
position of power to prey on the less powerful are finally being held 
accountable.
  Workers in industries outside the spotlight, in hospitality or farm 
fields, and in offices around the country are waiting for the same kind 
of reckoning. For many of these workers, the EEOC is one of the few 
places they can turn. It is a resource for workers who want to file 
complaints and hold employers and businesses accountable for 
discrimination and harassment. This issue should matter to everyone--
Democrats and Republicans--and this critical civil rights agency should 
be able to stay out of the political fray too. We have to ensure that 
the EEOC is balanced and remains committed to its core mission.
  Unfortunately, Janet Dhillon's record proves she is not going to 
stand up for workers. Ms. Dhillon has spent her career working on the 
side of corporations, making it easier for them to violate workers' 
rights without consequence. She has fought against positions the EEOC 
has taken that help ensure workers have the protections they need.
  In her confirmation hearing, she refused to commit to maintaining the 
EEOC's current and critical position that LGBTQ workers are protected 
under the Civil Rights Act, which is something, by the way, that should 
not be up for debate.
  So what we are seeing today is another power grab by Republican 
leaders, another Republican step toward partisanship and away from 
balance, and if Ms. Dhillon is confirmed, another step backward under 
Republican leadership for workers who simply want to be treated fairly 
on the job, especially those workers who historically have not had the 
rights or resources to come forward.
  I urge the Senate leadership to postpone this vote and work with the 
White House to get our Democratic nominee ready for confirmation--she 
is waiting--so there is no other break in yet another Senate tradition. 
It is bad for workers. It is bad for our country.
  I yield the floor.