Committees_Education&Labor

​Section 01 (9:30): Copeland, Mullen, O'Brien
The purpose of the overall Congressional Committee on Education and Labor is to make sure that the needs of United States’ citizens are dealt with, ensuring that students and workers can move forward and have a competitive edge in their school systems or as a part of the world economy.

**History of the committee:** The current committee on Education and Labor was established on January 4, 2007. The first committee was established on March 21, 1867 after the Civil War and the growth of American industry.


 * What the committee would be dealing with in 1945-1960**
 * The GI bill allowing the military the opportunity to become more educated
 * People pushed towards furthering their education which helped the country improve technology
 * School systems outside the city because of influx in suburban population
 * Women in the Workforce
 * Keep their jobs or return to homemaking
 * Segregation in the workplace for those that had been equal in time of war
 * Segregation in schools did not allow equal opportunities to become educated


 * And now this committee has transformed into...**
 * The slowing economy and ensuring jobs and money for the people formerly by now bankrupt companies
 * Helping to ensure college to have a core standard and make people more ready to enter their chosen career
 * Improving the standard of literacy in the country
 * To work to stop bullying in school which in the end takes away from the education that children should be learning. The less time this takes away the better off children will be.

 **Truman-Era Business: ** 12 million veterans need to get back to college or vocational training. Millions of women will be leaving the labor force. What does Congress need to do, if anything, to make these happen? - Congress has the usage of the GI Bill so they veterans can get an education easily and cheaply. Because of their service in the war, they get this reward. The pro of this is more education for the masses and make it easier for them to get jobs, but with more educated people, more people will be working which means more competition. The newly educated people can take over the jobs which the women are leaving. But if a lot of people go back to school, there might not be enough people in the work force to take on all the country’s jobs which positions’ need to be filled while they are in school.

Shall Congress pass the Taft-Hartley Act (1947), i.e. the Labor Management Relations Act? - It would limit the power and authority of labor unions. I think it should be passed because without it, union activities could get out of control. It was passed in 1947 and did what it wanted to do; limited unions. It weakened them and also prohibited boycotts on the products of a certain company just because the people are on strike. Also, the workers had to sign a loyalty pact. The negative of the act is that people might feel too controlled but some people saw unions as being associated with communism so people wanted to stop the unions, or at least limit their power. Those in the unions could be angered by these restrictions and could go on strike or quit their jobs. The industries could suffer.

Shall the wartime //bracero// program to bring Mexican migrant workers north continue? - No the wartime bracero program should not be allowed to continue. It is completely unnecessary. Now that the war is over, all of the returning veterans are coming back from their services and re-entering the work force. Also, women who entered the workforce while the men were at war, are also more accepted in the work place and can take over some of those jobs. If the Mexicans continue to infiltrate and take the U.S. jobs, the actual American citizens will have even more of a problem with poverty and finding work. The middle class was struggling, and more people entering the country and taking away work from those who have lived here forever, is not fair and is unnecessary. If more work opens and no Americans can or want to take the jobs, Mexicans should be allowed to come in, but other than that they should get work in their own country. By ending this program, there could have been a revolt from the Mexicans already in the country or riots of the ones that are still trying to get in. Historically this program lasted from 1942-1964 and 4.5 million people were brought into the U.S. They did temporary agricultural work. This helped the crops to survive while the men were at war.  Shall Congress pass the 1946 Employment Act, to create a Council of Economic Advisors? - Historically it was passed by congress in 1946. This act meant that the government was responsible for maintaining a high employment level and price stability. However, as more people are employed, inflation is almost bound to happen. The council assists the president in preparing the annual economic report, advises him on policies, and collects data to report growth trends. This is a good idea and I think it should be passed. It helps to take some of the pressure off of the president, while also giving others opportunities to work closely with upper positions in the government. However, this could be dangerous if the workers are suspicious or cannot necessarily be trusted. I also think this is a good idea because it can help out the unions, since their power was limited by the Taft-Hartley Act, to maintain a high employment rate, so people will not have to worry about losing their jobs, therefore somewhat defeating the purpose of a union in general. Plus, the advisors would be experts in the area of economics, while the president is more of a political figure and source. He would not be the best person to maintain solid employment, and also because he as so many other things to deal with.

Should the minimum wage be raised? - Our committee believes that the minimum wage should be a fair value and should increase as our economy does increasingly well. The people should be rewarded for their hard work.
 * Eisenhower Era Business:**

Shall there be more unemployment insurance? - We do not believe there should be more unemployment insurance. At times, this is straining on the economy and workers should be able to find jobs with all the industries and manufacturing in the United States.

Should the goal be that all Americans should have employment? - Yes, all Americans having a job would be a good goal, but it might not necessarily be very realistic. Due to the influx of Mexican workers with the Bracero program, there are less agricultural jobs available. Also, some Americans might not be as educated as others if they have not gotten a higher education and could not compete with those more qualified or prepared for a certain job.

Shall Congress create a Department of Health, Education and Welfare? - Yes, there is a definite need for a Department of Health, Education and Welfare. These are all very important aspects of life and should be managed and maintained by a specific group of people who's only responsibility is that Department. The essentials to live well in America are good health, a good education to be able to compete with others in the world and in our own country, and welfare if one is in need of money to supply for themselves or their family.

//1962// – Work Hours Act If work more than an 8 hour day or a 40 hour week, get time-and-a-half pay - People might oppose this because they might need more hours to support their family. - People would approve of this because it would lower the unemployment rate as there would be new shifts and opportunities for others to work.
 * Acts and Legislation from the 1960s:**

//1963// – The Equal Pay Act Equal pay for equal work for men and women, ending sexual discrimination

//1964// – Civil Rights Act No more discrimination of race, sex or religion in the work place or schools, equal employment regardless or sex/race - The only people who might oppose this act would be those in the South who are strongly opposed to desegregation because of their Southern traditions.

//1964// – Economic Opportunity Act Promote education of poor – give money to public schools in an effort to help them have a better life - Everyone deserves an equal shot at an education and a bright future. - People who oppose this could be the people who have to pay extra taxes to come up with this money.

//1965// – Elementary and Secondary Education Act - Each school should have their own curriculum because each school has different resources and materials and types of students and teachers. For those areas which are lacking in materials, funding should be allotted to aid nationwide educational programs. There were more adult education opportunities which helped improve the country with more literate and educated members of society. - Again, the only people who would oppose this would be the ones who have to help pay for it, but they are the ones with money to spare.

//1965// – The Higher Education Act Strengthen America’s colleges, financial assistance and other resources to students pursuing post-secondary and higher education 1. Funding for extension and continuing of programs 2. Increase library staff and libraries 3. Strengthen the institutions which are not yet accredited (teacher exchange, join use of areas) 4. Undergraduate scholarships, loans with reduced interest, work-study programs 5. Improve quality of teaching 6. Financial assistance to undergraduate instruction (materials, etc.) - This will create more jobs with the library staff to help maintain low unemployment rate. It will help the schools become better learning facilities. It will help people get higher education and therefore get better and more well-paying jobs. - The only people who might oppose this would be the ones who would have to fund the act.

//1967// – Age Discrimination Act in Employment Protected older workers from discrimination - Sometimes this could take jobs away from younger people, but as long as there is a set retirement age, then there would not be a problem with unemployment issues.

//1970// – Occupational Safety and Health Act Workplace safety rules, inspections, fine companies who violate rules

Emily: In reponse to the Voting Rights Act that was drafted, we are in agreement of all aspects. A punishment must be enforced if someone is interfering with another citizen's right to vote, which is given to them in the Constitution. That is a right which all people have and should not be restricted or taken away under any circumstances. There should also be committees, or futher use of pre-existing committees in order to investigate and punish those who attempt to hold back or take away someone else's rights. Violence especially will not be tolerated. African Americans are just as American as any other citizen of the United States and should be treated as such. Further agreement is made with the aspect of the act which states that illiteracy shall not be used as a means of not allowing someone to vote. Just because certain individuals cannot read as well as others does not mean they do not have an opinion on what is happening around them, the course the country is taking, or less of a right to vote.
 * Reactions to the LBJ Address and Voting Rights Act:**

In regards to the Voting Rights Act discussed today, I would also like to say that we all agree. Without a punishment being enforced, people would abuse the rights given to them. Voting is a right and privilege, one that should not be taken lightly. Once abused, disciplinary actions must be dealt with to ensure that something is done so that a person does not try to take away another person's rights.

The voting rights act addressed problem is not only for the African American population, but also for women of America that do not receive the rights that they deserve. We had a hard time as a congress coming up with what the punishment for not allowing people that are qualified to vote. The only true regulation should be on age to ensure citizens are prepared and ready to use the right to vote correctly. The government needs to step in and take full control of the situation. Citizens deserve the right to vote. Not only will this be hard to enforce it will be hard to detect there are always little things people can do to try and not allow others to be heard. Voting is not seen as the opportunity it was seen as when this bill was brought up in the 1960’s. It would be nice if people felt the same passion for voting as they used to.

Emily: I voted in favor of the Senate Committee to investigate the activities during the election of 1972. If one person did something illegal during an election, it is highly unlikely they would have been alone. In order to get results from illegal activity, more than one person would have to be involved. Not only one person would be able to get results. They would have to have connections and threads to other people or organizations so it would be worth investigating and finding them out so they could be stopped in the future from any more illegal acts and so we can know exactly what happened and why. For the second vote, I voted yes to giving power to the judiciary committee to investigate grounds of impeachment of President Nixon. Impeachment is an extremely serious action and needs to be decided with thought and ample reason. I am all for the appointment of different people from all the committees working with judiciary to ensure that corruption would be less likely to occur in the investigation. With people from all committees, there is some form of checks and balances which makes me put a lot more trust into the validity of the investigation. The committee needs to investigate all accusations, no matter how crazy. If any of them are true, it was worth the time and effort. I believe Nixon should be impeached for all articles, 1-5. He definitely obsructed justice by taking bribes, withholding information, lack of cooperation with authorities and the whole way he handled himself during the investigations. He was sneaky and misleading and a liar. The main reason for the entire scandal was Nixon's abuse of power. Had he not held so much power, he would not have been able to string people along and get away with so much. His contempt of congress in Article 3 was clear when he would not hand over the tapes and when he did, there was missing information. Article 4 discussed all the bribes he had taken which is not only illegal but immoral. I would not want a person like that running my country. Article 5 stands for all his misleading statements and lies told to cover himself and try to save himself from accusation for as long as possible. On the question of indictment of Richard Nixon as a citizen, I feel there will always be a debate of what was the right thing to do; indite him or let his resignation from office be enough. I feel indictment is completely necessary. No matter how much power someone has, they are a United States citizen and should have to suffer the same consequences for their actions as anyone else. Letting him go would just be unfair. There should be equal punishment for everyone for the same offense. No one gets special priveledges. If a law has been broken, there are consequences and someone as high in the government as the Presidet of the United States is well aware of these consequences and if illegal actions are taken, he should be prepared to take responsibility for them and deal with the punishment. Also, if a decision is not made to prosecute Nixon, other people would think they could get away with similar actions which would only lead to more scandal, especially in high places of the government. The country needs to see a decision that serves justice for what has occurred to know that the law still stands, despite people who may act illegally.
 * Watergate Scandal:**

Rebecca: I voted in favor of establishing a Senate Committee to investigate the wrong doing in regards to the 1972 election. Through the discussion and readings it was made clear that there was in fact a reason to doubt the workings of the 1972 election. Establishing a committee would show the doubt in the election and could help see what really happened. There seemed to be some problems with the election, but without an investigation it would be hard to find out what is true. The Senate needed to take a step and prove it did in fact want to know the truth. This would also help to avoid blame by those involved. The judiciary committee deserves power to investigate Nixon and possible decide to work to impeach him. At this time it is clear that he may have broke laws that are grounds for his impeachment. I felt that to ensure no biases within the congress other committees should have the option of joining in the investigation. There are many other groups but by adding members the judiciary committee could focus on its main job and also run this investigation. This would balance the congress and allow it to get many things done at once in all the committees and change a committee to only investigate Nixon. Although Nixon would still be the main focus it would be more efficient to have others help and show that the congress is worried about the other problems of the country. I believe that Nixon should be impeached based on the first three articles. Article one is the most obvious problem that Nixon committed. He hid everything and did not allow the correct investigations to take place. He did this to avoid being caught himself. Hiding the tapes is also obstruction the justice. Using executive power was a clear abuse of the power he was allotted as president. He no longer was doing the job he was elected, instead he was worrying about himself. This was not following what congress asked of him which is why he should be charged based on the third article. These are the only articles that Nixon deserves to be impeached for. Although he messed up he still did not overall violate his oath. Nixon should be indicted for what he did during his presidency. He violated laws, which all other citizens have to follow. There is no reason, now that he is not president, to allow him to get away with this. This scandal was so widely televised and discussed that the government cannot let Nixon walk away free. It is clear to all American citizens that if they did what he did they would be indicted so he too should be. The government needs to regain the trust from citizens which at this point will be very hard after such a scandal. It would be near impossible if we let Nixon free for people to trust the government and who we elect as a country in the future. Although it would be hard, he needs to be punished to show how the government really works and set it up for the future.

__Our Bill__ We proposed that English become the primary language of this country. Our argument was to add the opportunity for immigrants to all learn the same language. The United States would in time save money by no longer having to copy all federal papers in other languages. Also, schools would be used to help teach all people English. This pill was passed in congress after a lengthy debate. Much of the debate focused on what English would be taught until finally it was determined that English would be taught as it is in schools now. There would not be slang in which people learn outside the classroom. This education will benefit all the immigrants in this country and allow them more opportunities and a better understanding of this country. This law was a great step for our congress.

Section 06 (10:30): Phelan, Sedzro, Straughn
The purpose of the committee of education and labor is to ensure that all Americans needs are acknowledged so that students and workers can move forward in the ever competitive global economy. One of the main goals is to enhance education opportunities for students, by making it more available for students to go to college, and aiding workers in finding better training and retirement security for better future. One of our programs, the “No Child Left Behind” program which enacts the theories of standards-based education reform, was recently revamped by the Obama administration in hopes to up the standard of learning for students in America. There are five subcommittees which are the early childhood, elementary and secondary education subcommittee, the higher education, lifelong learning and competitiveness subcommittee, the healthy families and communities subcommittee, the health, employment, labor and pensions subcommittee, and the workforce protections subcommittee. All together, they guide the American citizen from pre-k to retirement in hopes of insuring the utmost of opportunity in pursuing the American Dream.
 * Misson Statement**

ATS: Should Nixon be pardoned? Well, it's a tough call that should be thoroughly debated. Recently, through the failures in Vietnam, we have learned the detrimental effects caused by actions made without solid debate. Arguments can me made on both ends on whether or not the legal charges brought against him should be followed through on. As for the articles of impeachment. I would vote Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes. It has been proven that he has violated every thing he has been charged of. No way should this man be our president, it is obvious that he has not loyally upheld his position and who knows if there is more that has yet to be uncovered. It's a terrible catastrophe, but we must deal with the truth that our president has abused his powers. The system is flawed, there is no doubt in that, it stems from the human being flawed, and that we cannot fix. It's pessimistic, I know, but the human will forever be flawed, but herein lies the reasons why we have these articles of impeachment. It ties to the vote on whether or not the president should be limited to two terms. It's a paradox in a way that we must control our leader, but it must be done. As for when Nixon becomes a regular U.S. citizen and should he be charged. You could say we can just forget about it and ignore the painful facts that were hidden from us. Or we can deal with the facts, and upon realization of what was before unknown, we'll learn from the mistakes we made and make sure things like this never happen again. Furthermore, should we dig deeper and try to unearth facts about past presidents? Is the pain of the truth worth bearing? Whatever we do, let's not act on our impulses too quickly. Rather, let thorough debate lead us to our answers.


 * History of the committee**


 * For 2/10 - consider the following Truman-era issues:**

12 million veterans need to get back to college or vocational training. Millions of women will be leaving the labor force. What does Congress need to do, if anything, to make these happen? Shall Congress pass the Taft-Hartley Act (1947), ie the Labor Management Relations Act? Shall the wartime //bracero// program to bring Mexican migrant workers north continue? Shall Congress pass the 1946 Employment Act, to create a Council of Economic Advisors?

[[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/06/business/economy/06jobs.html?hp|NY TIMES Labor and ED

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__**Bills Passed in Congress (sec 106)**__


 * Increased Financial Aid for Students who wish to Pursue Higher Education** -- high school students will be granted more aid as reward for more community service enabling more students to further their education. I believe this bill passed both the congressional vote and the presidential vote.


 * Elementary Health Education Act** -- proposed to help end the plague of obesity in America by educating children at a young age how food and exercise effect them in the short and long term. In conjunction with this, body mass index report cards will be sent home and trainers will be assigned by district. This bill was defeated because congress believed "telling a child he was fat would make him less motivated to do something about it," which is the opposite of what is intended. Although this bill did not receive the necessary amount of votes to pass, it did as intended spark brutal debate.


 * Nutritional School Lunch Act** -- This act was written to revolutionize what high school students eat and would work closely with the previous bill. Protein and nutritional foods would replace carbs and unhealthy foods and school breakfasts and lunches would be free in "high risk areas." This bill was reported out and revised. I do not recall the outcome, but I do recall a number of abstaining votes. I feel as though it did pass with a vote from congress.