WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today delivered an opening statement at the committee’s second hearing to consider the advancement of Lori Chavez-DeRemer to serve as Secretary of Labor.
We are in an unusual and dangerous moment in American history.
We have a situation where, today, we have more income and wealth inequality then we have ever had in the history of this country. Three people on top have more wealth the bottom half of American society and the gap between rich and poor is growing wider.
We have a situation where people all over this country understand that joining a trade union is a way to get better wages and working conditions. Millions of workers all over this country say, “I want to join a union.” And yet we have large corporations acting illegally to deny workers the right to join unions, which is why one of my major priorities and the priority of many members on this side of the aisle is to pass the PRO Act.
Today, tens of millions of American workers are earning starvation wages. $12, $13 an hour. Nobody in any part of this country can survive on $12, $13 dollars an hour. And yet the minimum wage – the federal minimum wage of $7.25 – has not been raised in a very, very long time.
So what we need is a Secretary of Labor who is going to stand up and say we are going to take on powerful special interests. We are going to stand with the working class of this country.
Unfortunately, Mr. Chairman, Ms. Lori Chavez-DeRemer is not that person.
And the most important point of this hearing is: Today, we are not voting on who the next Secretary of Labor is. The next Secretary of Labor, the next Secretary of Education, the next Secretary of Housing, the next Secretary of the Treasury is Elon Musk. Let us understand that reality and not play along with this charade.
Does anyone here really think that any Secretary of Labor, any Secretary of Education, is going to make decisions by himself or herself?
Just yesterday, the president held a meeting with his cabinet. And who was the star of the meeting? Was it the Secretary of the Defense? Was it Secretary of State?
No, it was an unelected official who happens to be the wealthiest person on Earth. It was Elon Musk.
And at that meeting, President Trump asked his cabinet, “is anybody unhappy with Elon? Well, if you are, we’ll throw them out of here.”
In other words, if any cabinet official has courage to stand up to Mr. Musk and disobey his edicts, they are gone. So, Mr. Chairman, my request to you is a simple one. Let’s be honest. The American people understand it, and it’s time that we understood it as well.
If you want to discuss policies in the Department of Labor, let’s bring in the real secretary. Mr. Chairman, I respectfully request that this committee bring Elon Musk before this committee so that we can really hear what’s going on with the government.
