[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 72 (Friday, April 28, 2023)] [House] [Pages H2108-H2112] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] JULIE SU'S RECORD OF FAILURE The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 9, 2023, the gentleman from California (Mr. Kiley) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, with the departure of Marty Walsh from the Labor Department, President Biden has nominated Deputy Secretary Julie Su to succeed him. For those of us in California, this decision was very hard to understand. Ms. Su's record as our State's labor secretary under Governor Gavin Newsom is well known because it had such negative consequences for so many people. Having seen my constituents suffer at the hands of Ms. Su's mismanagement and antiworker agenda, I have felt compelled to make sure the facts come to light in the confirmation process. As chair of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, I held a hearing last week highlighting the countless livelihoods she destroyed as secretary of labor in California. Mr. Speaker, I don't want the rest of the country to suffer the way California has. Our State had the highest unemployment rate for much of the [[Page H2109]] COVID era. We had the Nation's highest poverty rate. In recent years, we have been last in the country in income growth and first in the country in U-Haul rentals. I am joined today by several colleagues who don't want this for their States or for the rest of the country. They have joined us here for this Special Order to discuss what a Julie Su-led Labor Department would mean for their constituents and to urge President Biden to withdraw this nomination. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Moran). Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from California (Mr. Kiley) for gathering us here today for something very important: to speak out against President Biden's nomination of Julie Su to be the next United States Secretary of Labor. As a former Republican member of the California Legislature, Mr. Kiley knows all too well why this should not happen, and the rest of the country should take notice. As a former small business owner, I also understand why this should not happen because I understand both the needs of the employer and the employee. I have seen firsthand how empowering your employees, Mr. Speaker, is a leading factor in the overall success of a business and how managing with wise and prudent decisionmaking is the right way to go. That is something that Julie Su has not done and has proven that during her time in California and here in Washington, D.C. During her time as the secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, she repeatedly put big businesses and their wants ahead of the needs and concerns of the workers. In fact, she put unions ahead of the rights and needs of workers. During this time, she championed California Assembly Bill 5, which reclassified independent contractors, harming them by considering them employees and, in fact, taking that ability to be independent contractors away from many categories of workers who were intending to build their businesses and build their lives. In doing so, it forced them into these formal employment relationships intended for no other purpose--and I want to pause here--for no other purpose than to drive up union enrollment. She is simply doing the bidding of big unions. On top of this, during the pandemic, Ms. Su's office facilitated the distribution of more than $30 billion in fraudulent claims, the largest exhibition of fraud in California State history. When we look at what we want out of a Labor Secretary, we certainly want wisdom, and we want the ability to manage the Department. Neither of those is present as characteristics in Ms. Su. I am deeply concerned about the fate of hardworking Americans under the direction of Julie Su as Secretary of Labor. She does not understand the needs of workers and the responsibilities of employers, and she has repeatedly demonstrated, as I mentioned, poor judgment in her official capacity. To try to dissolve the ability for workers to have that independent contractor relationship is simply misguided. Unfortunately, Julie Su is just another example of the Biden administration nominating someone who is neither qualified nor possessive of the right judgment to lead the Department. Rather than work toward enacting meaningful policy that will benefit all Americans, the Biden administration continues to nominate individuals like Ms. Su who are sure to enact the President's liberal agenda and proposed policies, allowing him and his administration to bypass Congress and the American people. The misguided policies executed in California under Ms. Su when she was secretary of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency there do not reflect the needs and wishes of the east Texans that I represent nor Americans as a whole. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the Senate to reject the nomination of Julie Su for Labor Secretary. Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Moran for his comments. He really hit the nail on the head, that if this nomination goes through, it is hardworking Americans--millions of American workers--who will pay the price. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good). Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Kiley for hosting this Special Order. Mr. Speaker, Julie Su has already auditioned for the job as Secretary of Labor, failing miserably and proving beyond a reasonable doubt that she is unfit for the position. For 2 years now, Ms. Su has been second in command at the Department of Labor, and all we need to do is look at the rules and regulations that have been issued under her watch. Her department of labor has incentivized and pressured retirement plans to focus on woke ESG guidelines instead of making investment decisions based on return on investment. Her department of labor has undermined the right of religious organizations to hire according to their beliefs if they want to participate in Federal contracts, discriminating against them and essentially violating their civil rights. Her department of labor has redefined the definition of ``joint employers'' to harm the independence of franchisees. Her department of labor has undercut independent contractors to make the Federal Government more like California. Yes, that is what we want to do. That is the example we want to follow, and then maybe people will start fleeing the United States the way they are fleeing California today. Her department of labor has raised the minimum wage for employers on Federal contracts to $15 an hour. While she was the secretary of labor in California, she ignored the warnings from the United States Department of Labor to improve fraud protection against the jobless benefit payments she was issuing. This is coming from the Biden administration that wants to give as many benefits to as many individuals as possible with essentially no verification of qualifications. Of course, in this administration of failing forward, instead of being reprimanded, she is being considered for a promotion to the Nation's top labor job. We all know who Julie Su is. We know that she will take her orders from anti-American Big Labor and further assault right-to-work. All Senators who value small businesses and workers' rights should oppose her nomination. Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Good for his remarks. His point about making the rest of the country like California is explicitly what they are trying to do here. President Biden has cited the labor law that Julie Su was in charge of enforcing in California as his model for labor relations nationwide. In fact, the Labor Department is now trying to emulate it in order to cause the same harm to all American workers that California workers have already suffered. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Miller). Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Kiley for hosting this Special Order to oppose Deputy Secretary Su as the next Secretary of Labor. The Biden administration's radical Department of Labor attempted to unconstitutionally fire 84 million Americans unless they took the COVID vaccine and handed over their personal medical files to prove it. Under Joe Biden's leadership, the Federal Government has been weaponized to go after American workers, causing permanent damage to small businesses and the lives of working Americans. As vice chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, I support a full oversight investigation to hold the Biden administration and Deputy Secretary Su accountable over OSHA's unconstitutional and illegal COVID vaccine mandate. My constituents miss having a booming economy full of good jobs and a President who supports working families. In Congress, I will always defend hardworking Americans from leftists who want to strip away our freedoms and our ability to provide for our families. Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Miller for her remarks. She brings up a very important [[Page H2110]] point. With everything that has been going on with the economy and everything that happened during COVID, it really is stunning that we had people in positions of power like Julie Su who are looking for reasons to deny people the opportunity to work. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Owens), who is also part of the Education and the Workforce Committee. Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the nomination of Julie Su for U.S. Labor Secretary. I have always been told that you can get some idea of a person's future judgment and skill based on their past judgments and skill. Ms. Su has a history that is very instructive. It was her tenure as the secretary of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency of California that put the Golden State on a fast track to bankruptcy and economic collapse. Because of Julie Su's leadership, hundreds of business headquarters have fled the State. Between 2020 and 2022, over one-half million Californians left the State for greener pastures. Mr. Speaker, as a California executive, the primary responsibility in representing your State should be growing it, not expelling your citizens. Ms. Su's reign has shown a failure in both judgment and skills. Under her watch, over $31 billion of California COVID funds were delivered to the bank accounts of fraudsters. At the same time, delays and red tape plagued legitimate COVID relief claims for those who desperately needed it. Caving to the demands of union bosses, Ms. Su has been and will continue to be totally tone-deaf to businessowners. She will never understand Americans who build our Nation's tax base; who power our middle class; who pay her salary; and who, through robust employment, are the source for union dues. She literally turned her back on the goose that laid the golden egg--California's risk-taking businessowners. At the behest of the union bosses, she instead launched an all-out assault on independent contractors critical to the success of the gig economy. At every government post Ms. Su has been appointed to, she has prioritized non-revenue producers: the union bosses and unelected bureaucrats. Her priority has always been those who empty the government coffers instead of the small business owners who, through work, risk, expansion, and paying taxes, replenish them. After forcing Californians who can afford to leave to move out, the Democratic-controlled legislature then figured a way to tax departing citizens several years after the taxpayer's departure. It is sad that wisdom and creativity weren't used at the front end to keep them from leaving the State. Unsurprisingly, the Biden administration plans to continue its disastrous antigrowth and antibusiness policies under the leadership of Ms. Su. American families and the workforce are hurting from 40-year record inflation, supply chain disruptions, and high energy prices. Ms. Su is not the right person to tackle America's pressing economic challenges. Mr. Speaker, I call on the White House to withdraw Julie Su from the confirmation process for Secretary of Labor and prioritize American families, the workforce, and economic growth. Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Owens for those very on-point remarks. He said it very well, that this nominee is antibusiness, antigrowth, and antiworker, as well. I think it is important for us to have a sense of perspective here that this is such a vital moment and a moment of vital importance for the American workforce. We are coming out of an era of unprecedented upheaval, and we are heading toward an era of, in many ways, unpredictable transformation. For the top labor position in America, we need a Secretary who is competent and qualified, who is proworker and pro-small businesses, who will work with Democrats and Republicans alike, who is fair, and who understands what has made the American workforce the greatest engine for human progress the world has ever known. Simply put, Julie Su is not that person. Her record in California makes that all too clear. Indeed, during the pandemic, Julie Su and her Employment Development Department, known as the EDD, became the national poster child for government failure. {time} 1145 I saw this firsthand as a State representative. Millions of Californians had their legitimate unemployment claims wrongfully withheld for weeks, months, or sometimes indefinitely under Su's mismanagement. You don't need to take my word for that. In July of 2020, 61 of the 80 members of the California Assembly, mostly Democrats, wrote the following: ``In our fifth month of the pandemic, with so many constituents yet to receive a single unemployment payment, it's clear that EDD is failing California: ``Millions of our constituents have had no income for months. As Californians wait for answers from EDD, they have depleted their life savings, have gone into extreme debt, and are in deep panic as they figure out how to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.'' The lawmakers went on to explain how the EDD, under Su's management time and again, failed to take responsibility and failed to correct its mistakes. They wrote that they had been met with long-winded excuses, fumbling answers, or unclear and inconsistent data, along with a lack of transparency and accountability, obfuscation and dishonesty in their dealings with Su's agency. We have exhausted all avenues at our disposal, they said, as the agency has addressed only a few of the many issues we have highlighted for months and was only scratching the surface of the disaster that is EDD. ``The disaster'' is how the California Democrat supermajority characterized Julie Su's agency. The frustrated legislators lamented how little has improved at EDD over the course of the pandemic. Independent reports confirmed the extent of mismanagement and deception from Su's agency. While the EDD had said in July of 2020 that its claims backlog would be cleared by September, a report found 1.5 million claims remained unresolved and the backlog was increasing by 10,000 each week. The Independent Legislative Analyst office likewise found the EDD mischaracterized the crisis. Even allies of the Governor and Secretary Su concluded that she was responsible for this. Democrat Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, who is the chairwoman of the Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee responsible for overseeing the EDD said that Su `` . . . has not done a good job at running the Employment Development Department,'' saying Su's mismanagement ``caused heartache for millions of Californians.'' That is the top Democrat on the committee that oversaw her work in California, saying she did not do a good job at running the Employment Development Department. What reason is there to think she is going to do a good job then running the U.S. Labor Department? It gets much worse. As so many hardworking citizens waited in vain for their checks in California after they were told they weren't allowed to work during the COVID shutdowns, as these folks who were entitled to their checks waited for them, one group seemed to have no trouble at all getting benefits and those were people who were not entitled to them, those who perpetrated a massive fraud against the State government of California. In fact, it was the largest fraud of taxpayer dollars in history. An estimated $32 billion was wrongfully paid out from the EDD to State prison inmates, international crime syndicates, and other criminals. Payments were made to murderers, rapists, child molesters. 133 death row inmates received over $400,000 alone. These hardened criminals didn't have to try hard. They used names like Dianne Feinstein and John Doe. The district attorney of Sacramento County called the scheme ``relatively easy.'' The individual most responsible, once again, was Secretary Julie Su. She made the inexplicable decision to forego a basic fraud prevention system. She ignored the Federal Government's guidance that claims are to be cross-checked against the prison rolls, which was standard practice in other States. The agency sent hundreds of benefit cards to the same address, sent cards [[Page H2111]] directly to correctional facilities, issued benefits to infants and centenarians. A January 2021 report from the California State auditor notes that the EDD fraud occurred for three main reasons: First, EDD waited about 4 months to automate a key antifraud measure; second, EDD allowed claimants to collect benefits, even though they were using suspicious addresses; and third, EDD removed a key safeguard against improper payments without fully understanding the significance of the safeguard. Yet, perhaps worst of all is that Julie Su has refused to accept responsibility. Just last week at her Senate confirmation hearing, she said, ``As soon as we saw that there was fraud happening, I shut the front door to that fraud.'' That is her testimony just last week. ``As soon as we saw that there was fraud happening, I shut the front door to that fraud.'' However, California's independent State auditor has found that ``despite repeated warnings, EDD did not bolster its fraud detection efforts until months into the pandemic.'' There is no predicting what will happen to our country, to our workforce if that level of mismanagement is brought to the U.S. Department of Labor. Mr. Speaker, I would like to discuss one more facet of Ms. Su's tenure in California, but before doing so, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. McCormick). Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I too have major concerns about this nomination. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition of President Biden's nominee for Secretary of Labor, Julie Su. America's labor secretary should defend both American workers and understand the economy which provides jobs, feeds families, and keeps our communities strong. Unfortunately, Ms. Su oversaw and distributed about $32.6 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims paid out to death row inmates, international criminal syndicates, and other fraudsters. She has tried and failed to obscure this fact in front of the Senate Committee. While she was doing this, Su also denied or delayed over 5 million legitimate unemployment insurance claims. She was also an architect and key enforcer in California law that effectively outlaws freelance work in California, destroying the livelihoods of thousands of families. Our Nation's 1099 employees are just as important to this country as the liberal elite donors that are so set on destroying the American working class. The facts are clear, President Biden should pick someone else to be his Labor Secretary. I urge my colleagues in the United States Senate to stand with America's workers, to stand for American prosperity, and stand for a better nominee for the Department of Labor. Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. McCormick for his words. Indeed, the President should pick someone else. Almost anyone else. What is so really puzzling, mind-boggling about this nomination is that the President has chosen to elevate the one person in the country who presided over a fraud on this scale, the single worst performing Secretary of Labor of any State in the country. Why would he do that? That brings us to the final facet of Ms. Su's tenure that I wish to discuss and that Mr. McCormick touched upon as well, which is her ruthless enforcement of the labor law known as AB 5, which President Biden has cited as his model for the Nation. Su's historic failure to deliver unemployment checks to millions of Californians along with her allowance of this massive fraud is disqualifying in its own right, but I actually think it is her mistreatment of California workers that is most concerning of all. AB 5 was a law passed in California in 2019. It rendered countless independent professionals unable to earn a living in our State. Writers, interpreters, court reporters, musicians, language pathologists, photographers, forensic nurses, people in literally hundreds of other professions were told they were no longer allowed to practice their profession and serve their clients as they had been doing their whole careers. Instead, their only option was to find a single hiring entity to monopolize their services and make them a W-2 employee. For many, that simply was not possible, and so they lost everything. Take, for example, a woman named Jodie, who said: I worked years to gain my skills as an American Sign Language interpreter. It was my goal since I was 9 years old. After AB 5, I lost all three of my agencies. The dream I worked for is lost. I can't provide for my family, and thousands of California deaf won't be serviced. Andy said: I work with underserved artists of color. None of my career as an artist, technician, designer, and producer would have been possible under AB 5. Artists of color will be less able to create their own work in a field that doesn't favor them. Jared said: AB 5 forced me to shut down my business. I went from making $80,000 a year in home services to a minimum wage employee. My family trade is gone. I have gone from working 4 days a week to spend time with my kids to not knowing if I can make ends meet working 7 days. Kathy said: I am a 71-year-old transcriber. I raised six kids and went to work in my 40s, but I had to retire at 62 due to health issues. I depend on my at-home transcription pay to survive and pay my bills. For 8 years, I did okay, until AB 5. Julie Su has been called an architect of this law, and she is supporting a Federal version that is estimated to cost millions of American workers their livelihoods. After her enactment in California-- and this is the important thing, given that this is now percolating up into Federal law--she used her position as labor secretary to broaden the destructive impact of the law by enforcing it as aggressively as possible. In fact--and I think this is maybe the most concerning thing--she exploited the COVID-19 shutdowns to hammer the law in even more. She continued with harassing audits, trying to find businesses to hit with fines and penalties. I personally asked the EDD to stop doing this during the COVID shutdowns, and they refused to do so, continuing to target small businesses. She even defied the will of Congress in the process. Congress had provided benefits to independent contractors through the CARES Act, but put States in charge of distributing those benefits. Under Julie Su, the EDD wrongfully withheld those benefits, as she aimed to exploit the sudden need that independent contractors had to interface with her department. She wanted them to go through the regular unemployment channel, which they weren't supposed to go through, so that she could get access to information that could be used then to conduct more audits and go after more small businesses and to put more people out of work. You don't need to take my word for this, either. California Congressman Adam Schiff wrote a letter to Secretary Su in April of 2020 rebuking her for failing to release the benefits independent contractors were owed under the CARES Act and requesting urgently that she do so. Now, tellingly, with Julie Su's confirmation for Secretary of Labor now appearing to be in doubt, her backers are making a last-ditch attempt to save her nomination by absurdly trying to dissociate her from AB 5. None other than the author of AB 5 itself, a major Su backer who now leads the California Labor Federation, told the L.A. Times that Su ``was not involved with the bill at all.'' Yet Su, in her own words, after the law was passed, described in detail her plans for enforcing AB 5 as California labor secretary: ``So we will be doing investigations and audits,'' she said, threatening fines and penalties, ``so that those who want to comply with the need to reclassify can do so and those who don't will understand that's not the kind of economy we want in California.'' ``Not the kind of economy we want in California,'' those are her words. Julie Su didn't want an economy in California where you can pursue your own calling, support your family on your own terms, and thrive. She doesn't want that for America, either. That is why Joe Biden has selected her for Labor Secretary, to wage his war on independent contractors, and we simply cannot let that happen. [[Page H2112]] In closing, there are many, many organizations across the country who have expressed their opposition to the nomination and confirmation of Julie Su for Labor Secretary. I will just list some of them: there is the Air Conditioning Contractors of America; American Hotel and Lodging Association; American Trucking Associations; Americans for Tax Reform; Associated Builders and Contractors; Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers; Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise; Coalition of Franchisee Associations; Consumer Technology Association; Franchise Business Services; Flex Association; Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International; Independent Bakers Association; Independent Electrical Contractors; Institute for the American Worker; International Franchise Association; International Warehouse Logistics Association; Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed; Leading Builders of America; National Armored Car Association; National Association of Home Builders; National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors; National Council of Chain Restaurants; National Federation of Independent Business; National Franchisee Association; International Franchise Association; National Grocers Association; National Ready Mixed Concrete Association; National Restaurant Association; Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association; DoorDash; Lyft; Competitive Enterprise Institute; TechNet; Fight for Freelancers; Freelancers Against AB5; California Business and Industrial Alliance; Workplace Policy Institute; Job Creators Network; Institute for the American Worker. {time} 1200 You have also had State-level associations weigh in in opposition: for example, in Arizona, the Builders Alliance; Construction Trades; Franchise Action Network; Lodging and Tourism Association; Restaurant Association; Small Business Association; Transportation Builders Association; Trucking Association; and the Independent Electrical Contractors. In West Virginia, you have the Associated Builders and Contractors; Independent Electrical Contractors Chesapeake; the Franchise Action Network; the Hospitality and Travel Association; the Manufacturers Association; Oil Marketers and Grocers Association; Retailers Association; and Trucking Association. I encourage Members of the United States Senate to join this broad coalition of small businesses and workers across the country who know that we deserve and need better than the Secretary of Labor. I urge Members of the United States Senate to reject this nomination, and I urge the President to appoint a Secretary of Labor who will be on the side of American workers. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan). Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, that is what you call making it just in time. I thank the gentleman from California for yielding just a little time in this Special Order hour in order for me to recognize a very special group of students down in Clinton, South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, today I recognize the Clinton High School and Clinton Middle School Olympiad teams for both bringing home the State championship in Charleston this past month and qualifying for the National Science Olympiad tournament in Kansas this May. Now, the Science Olympiad was founded in 1984 as the premier team STEM competition in the Nation and provides standards-based challenges to 6,000 teams at 425 tournaments in all 50 States. Winning the State Olympiad is a tremendous accomplishment alone, but the fact that Clinton has a history of excellence in the Science Olympiad is even more impressive. Listen to this: Clinton has been involved in the Olympiad since 1986, and I am proud of Clinton's continued success in this competition. The Clinton Middle School, formerly Bell Street Middle School where my sons went to middle school, has won the State Olympiad title 19 times in the last 21 years--19 times in the last 21 years--and Clinton High School has won the State title 12 of the last 15 years. I congratulate the coaches and members of the Clinton State Championship Science Olympiad team for their win this year and applaud them for their wins over the years. This year's middle school team included Jackie Alcudia, Liam Bell, Madison Boyter, Lauren Ficklin, Sam Hunt, Salaam Jenkins, Jacob King, Matthew King, Shayne Kiselak, Hank Lanford, Landen Lowman, Kelly Nelson, Sidney Nelson, Arohi Patel, Shrey Patel, Ada Tiller, Brian Phillips, Aubrie Watts, Ben Wiggins, and Marlee Williamson. This year's high school team included Kaelyn Bell, Jules Darden, Keegan Fortman, Julieta Garcia, Becca King, Anna Litzenberger, Addison Lowman, Shane Nelson, Junia Nolan, Wes Ray, Helen Sarah, Bailey Suarez, and Rachel Vondergeest. Now, of course, we have to remember the coaches because a team is only as good as the leadership, so you have head coach Terri O'Shields and David O'Shields, who is our superintendent in that district. They are both dear friends of mine. Kevin Cox, Michael Mack, Jason Smith, Ami Vaughn, Allison Lanford, Stan Walsh, Jimbo Langston, Scott Shiflet, Dianne Summer, Sharon Lone, David Bell, Katie Scarlett, Maggie O'Shields, and Asheton Wilbanks. Clinton High School defeated 14 other high school teams to win, and they brought home the gold medal in astronomy, bridge building, chemistry lab, dynamic planet, environmental chemistry, forestry, remote sensing, and the WiFi lab. What great categories for STEM education. Clinton Middle School defeated all of its competition in each event. Congratulations to the students of Clinton High School and Clinton Middle School for another Science Olympiad State championship. Their success is a testament not only to their talent and the hard work that they put in and the dedication, but it is a testament to the leaders and the teachers and the coaches that really helped them navigate this success. South Carolina is rooting for them as they compete in the National Science Olympiad tournament next month. They have bright futures, and they are the innovators of tomorrow. The sky is the limit. I thank them for what they do. I congratulate them on their win, and God bless them. Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. ____________________