[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 125 (Tuesday, July 22, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H3537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          OPPORTUNITIES TO STAY IN PLACE FOR DISABLED WORKERS

  (Mr. Grothman of Wisconsin was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank President Trump and his Department 
of Labor for stopping an administrative rule that was going to get rid 
of 14(c) certificates, which are so vital for the lives of our disabled 
citizens as they pursue good lives of work and self-esteem.
  Mr. Speaker, 14(c) certificates are used by people who work in work 
centers. They may have spina bifida. They may have Down syndrome. That 
doesn't mean that they can't lead productive lives doing packaging and 
light manufacturing. I have several facilities in my district, such as 
Green Valley Enterprises in Beaver Dam and RCS Empowers in Sheboygan, 
that provide these opportunities for people with different abilities.
  Not only does this give them an opportunity to interact with other 
people who have disabilities, but it also provides them with a little 
extra money to supplement their SSI income, from which they can buy 
clothes, buy gifts, and go out to eat from time to time.
  In order to allow these folks to work, some of them have to be paid 
less than minimum wage. Mr. Speaker, if you have never seen one of 
these work centers, I encourage you to go to the work centers, where 
you will see people with different abilities at work.
  Everybody who works there that I can see is happy to be there and is 
working there because it is their choice. Nevertheless, I think 
arrogant people in the Biden Department of Labor had decided that they 
would get rid of the 14(c) certificates and tell these people, in 
essence, that they no longer can work, that they can go to a day center 
and watch television, but they are not allowed to work like their 
siblings work. They would not be allowed to get out and about in the 
community where they would get to know people other than their 
immediate relatives.
  Fortunately, Trump's Department of Labor stepped up and said that 
they are not going to change the rules and continue to allow work 
centers to exist. Maybe they are making $4 or $5 an hour to supplement 
their SSI, but if they want to choose, they can still work there. 
Hopefully, we will expand the use of work centers so that people begin 
to work there when they are 18 or 19 years old, like they used to.
  One of the great things, like I said, about work centers is that not 
only do they give disabled Americans a little bit more independence, 
but they give them the ability to form a lot more friendships, both 
with other people whose abilities are similar to their own and the 
management staff at these facilities.
  The Democratic Party has tried to prevent people from working there, 
saying that they are being taken advantage of, which is preposterous. 
Anybody who looks at these packaging or light manufacturing facilities 
will see immediately why you have to pay some people under minimum 
wage.
  Secondly, my Democratic colleagues claim that people are being 
isolated among other people with different abilities. Again, there are 
people with a wide variety of abilities in these places.
  There is an opportunity to form lifetime bonds with people in these 
facilities. I think of The Threshold in West Bend, RCS Empowers in 
Sheboygan, Green Valley in Beaver Dam, and Ascend Services in 
Manitowoc.

                              {time}  1100

  I think of the lifelong friends that these people form when their 
parents and guardians frequently worry after the parents are no longer 
here, what will these people do for socialization? Where will these 
people find friends? They find friends in the work centers, and it is 
horrific for the Biden Department of Labor to try to shut these places 
down.
  In any event, one more time: I thank President Trump for preserving 
the work centers. I hope his Department of Labor continues to look for 
more opportunities in these facilities for people at a younger and 
younger age, reminding you all that this is only if these folks choose 
to work in the work centers. Everybody else can work wherever they 
want, but they want these folks stuck perhaps in a place where they are 
just watching TV or playing games all day.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to tour the work centers. If 
they do tour the work centers, I think they, too, will become fans of 
them.

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