Foxx Opening Remarks on H.R. 2262, H.R. 2270, H.R. 2312, H.R. 2988, and H.R. 4366

As prepared for delivery:

Good afternoon, the Committee will come to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time.

Today, the RulesCommittee is convening to consider five separate measures: H.R. 2262, H.R. 2270, H.R. 2312, H.R. 2988, and H.R. 4366.

These measures allow for a more agile, modern, and flexible workforce grounded in 21^st Century principles, not those from the 1930s.

H.R. 2262, the Flexibility for Workers Education Act, would assist hardworking Americans in accessing voluntary skills education and other educational opportunities for professional advancement.

Further, it ensures that employees will be able to engage in professional development curriculum of their own choosing and not have to perform work for their employer during these hours.

H.R. 2270, the Empowering Employer Child and Elder Care Solutions Act, would encourage employers to offer childcare as a defined employee benefit without having the associated costs included in the baseline used to determine overtime pay, creating an even stronger pro-family work environment across our nation and allowing more hourly workers to take advantage of child and dependent care benefits from their employer.

H.R. 2312, the Tipped Employee Protection Act, would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act definition of a tipped employee to create a more refined and explicit definition of the term.

This legislation would serve as a barrier to both bureaucrats and ideological judges from setting arbitrary and unworkable requirements in classifying the hours or duties that a tipped employee performs.

It also extends deference to the states in setting wages that are higher than the statutory minimum.

Safeguarding the tipped wage of workers while creating a secure environment of compliance for operators is indeed a win-win scenario for everyone.

H.R. 2988, the Protecting Prudent Investment of Retirement Savings Act, would codify the responsibility of fiduciaries to make investment decisions based explicitly upon maximizing financial returns.

Under the previous administration, fiduciaries were given the green light to invest - with the utmost aggression - the money of retirees into woke funds that carried higher fees, steeper risk, and minimal returns.

These woke funds are utter garbage and have been proven to be blatantly less productive time and again. Retirees want to see their hard-earned savings invested on a sound fiduciary basis and to gain them the most in their retirement.

Finally, we turn to H.R. 4366, the Save Local Business Act, that would clarify the joint employer standard to provide certainty for small business owners and workers across our nation.

It strikes down a convoluted joint employer scheme that threatens job creation and undermines the American Dream while restoring a commonsense definition of employer to provide certainty and stability for workers and employers.

Job creation and growth yield prosperity. Detrimental regulations strangle opportunity and innovation for workers and employers alike.

We have a slate of very positive pieces of legislation before us today, and I'm very much looking forward to the discussions we will have. With that, I now yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. McGovern, for any comments that he wishes to make.

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