Transcripts For CSPAN Labor Secretary Nominee Outlines Policy Priorities At Confirmation Hearing 20170326

Now, the confirmation hearing for labor secretary nominee Alexander Acosta. He takes questions from the Senate Health education and pensions committee. Nearly three hours. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [no audio] Senate Committee on Public Health and education will please come to order. Senate committee on Public Health and education will please come to order. Were holding a meeting on mr. Acosta for secretary of labor. We will have an Opening Statement and then introduce the witness. Then introduce the witness. After our witness testimony, senators will each have two five minute rounds of questions. Just ten years ago in 2007, steve jobs announced that apple had reinvented the mobile phone, just 10 years ago. A microblogging Company Named twitter gained its own separate platform and started to scale globally and amazon released something called kendall all that in 2007 ten years ago the same time ibm began to build a computer called watson that in a few years defeated contestants on the jeopardy tv show and then sequencing in genomes started falling from 100 million in 2001 to 1,0 1,000 in 2015 and a new k New York Times columnist tom friedman puts his finger on the year, 2007, just 10 years ago, as quote the technological Inflection Point and uses the term great acceleration for all the technological changes simultaneously across the globe and argues were living through one of the great Inflection Points in history as a result of. Added that ball states findings that automation is responsible for the loss of 88 of manufacturing jobs and globalization add that. Social cultural and climate changes in terrorism you get a big mismatch between the pace and average ability of the American Worker to keep up and fit into the accelerating forces shaping the workplace. A few weeks ago a group of senators sat around in a forum and listened to very smart scientists talk about their advances in artificial intelligence. After it was all over, one senator asked where are we all going to work . Tom friedman says probably the most important governance challenges the need to develop learning systems, training systems, management systems, social safety net and government regulations to enable citizens to get the most out of these accelerations and cushion their worst impacts end quote. One of the federal governments chief actors in this drama of acceleration should be the secretary of labor. In fact, as many have suggested and the house of representatives have done the title for which alexandria acosta has Alexander Acosta was nominated should be secretary of the workforce. It is down to 7 . The issue not whether they belong to a nonion, whether they have the skills to adapt to a changing marketplace and find and keep a job. To be accurate, to create and keep a job. Nitrogenrati my generation found jobs, this generation likely has to create their own jobs. In his inaugural address, President Trump said he heard from forgotten men and women to fit into the changing world. President obama said he heard the same voices too many in inner cities and Rural Counties left behind, he said. What can we do about it . Most important thing, work with employers and colleges and Community Institutes and improve the ways those earning two year degrees or more. Georgetown University Says by 202065 of the jobs in this country will require some college or more. At the rate were going, georgetown predicts the United States will lack 5 million workers with an adequate Postsecondary Education by 2020. Unfortunately too many of the federal governments actions over the last few years have made it harder for American Work others to keep up, adjust and create and find and keep a job. To begin with the Obama Administration unleashed a regulatory avalanche that held jobs back. President obama issued 130 more rules than the previous administrations Labor Department, average of 85 major rules with more than 1 100 million impact on the economy compared with president bushs 62 a year. Take the overtime rule. In my state its cost would add hundreds of dollars per student in College Tuition and force Small Businesses to reduce the jobs that provides stability families need or joint employer rule and attack on franchising or fishedry rule that makes it finiudishry rule. One at a time mandates on job creat creators. The equal Employment Opportunity commission eeo1 forms providing employers to provide to the government 20 times as much information on how they pay workers. Theres the ridiculous complex fas sa i know the dean is well aware of, the federal aid Application Form that turns away from college many of the people who ought to be going and Affordable Care act that defined full time work only 30 hours, forcing employers to reduce their workers hours or reduce hiring all together. Many like the persuader rule that chills the ability of employers during organizing activities seem destined for labor unions. Were fortunate today to have labor nominee for undersecretary to understands a good job is critical to help workers realize the American Dream for theirselves and their families. Senator rubio and cruz will introduce him in detail so i will not. I do want to recognize after immigrating from miami to cuba, mr. Acostas parents worked hard to create opportunities for their sony the first person in his family to go to college and assistant attorney general for the Justice Department, u. S. Attorney. Dean of international floridas law school. His schools president describes him as conscientious, thoug thoughtful, says he doesnt overreach and hes already been confirmed three times by the United States senate. Mr. Acosta, we welcome you today and i look forward to hearing more on your ideas about how to help American Workers adjust to the changing conditions in our workforce. Senator murray. Thank you very much, chairman alexander. Mr. Acosta, thank you for being here and to you and your family for your willingness to serve. The department of labor is at the heart of one of President Trumps Core Campaign promises which was to put workers first. D. O. L. Pry ortises the best interests of our work force enforces laws that protect workers rights, safety and livelihoods and seeks to expand Economic Opportunity to more workers and families across our country. I would hope any president would share those basic goals but especially one whose made so many promises about fighting for workers. I was very surprised when President Trump selected an due pastner, a fastfood worker for secretary of labor. We heard story after story from people who worked at his restaurants about lost wages and mistreatment. I was deeply concerned as secretary of labor his history of offensive comments and Marketing Campaigns would signal its acceptable to objectify and marginalize women in the workplace. He was uniquely unqualified for this role and im frankly relieved he wont have the opportunity to serve in it. Just because President Trumps first selection for secretary of labor was so deeply unacceptable that doesnt mean we should lower our standards because workers and families across the country certainly are not. They made very clear they want a secretary of labor who will stand up for the core mission of the department and fight for their interests, someone who will be an advocate within this administration for workers if President Trump continues down the path of breaking promise after promise to those he said he would help. With this in mind, mr. Acosta, i have serious concerns about your nomination i want to ask about today and in written followup questions. Firsty the Trump Administration has alreadycemented reputation for flouting ethic rules and attempting to exert political pressure over federal employees. I expect our next secretary of labor to be someone who can withstand inappropriate political pressure and prioritize workers in the mission of the Labor Department over hypothetically speaking mr. Trump trumps, associations or mr. Bannons frightening ideology. A history of your review sugg t suggests when you led the Civil Rights Division at the department of justice you at best ignored an extraordinary polarization of the work and at worst actively facilitated. A formal investigation by the Inspector General showed under your tenure, higher in the Civil Rights Division systematically favored conservative applicants over those who appeared to be more liberal regardless of their professional qualifications. As assistant attorney general you chose to stay silent on a proposed texas redistricting plan instead of allowing political appointees to allow longtime appointees who believe it discriminated against black and latino voters. And late the District Court determined it did violate the act. You later sent a jim crow challenger law four days before the 2004 president ial election although the Justice Department had no role in that lawsuit. By the end of your time at the Civil Rights Division, prosecutions for crimes related to gender and Racial Discrimination had declined by 40 . All together these actions suggest a pattern of allowing political pressure to influence your Decision Making on issues that should rise above partisanship. To me, this raises questions about your commitment to defend the civil rights of all workers which, of course, is fundamental to the role of secretary of labor. Mr. Acosta, im also very interested hearing more from you about your vision for this department and specifically where you stand on a number of key issues. It will be heavily engaged in over the coming years. President trump has spoken out against the updated overtime rule, which would help millions of workers get pay they earned. Our federal minimum wage has fallen far far behind workers needs. Women still make less than their male counterparts, an economic drain on our country that is especially pronounced for women of color. That President Trumps wrongheaded cruel immigration executive order is causing undocumented workers not to come forward for back wages and protections they are owed. I feel strongly we need to ensure undocumented workers are safe and receive fair treatment, especially in this time of heightened fear and uncertainty. These are all challenges i expect the secretary of labor to be committed to working on, and ill be very interested in your thinking and plans on each because, again, the secretary must be an independent voice for workers who will push back on the president s agenda to hurt working families. Dol also plays a pivotal role in making certain there are consequences when Companies Dis criminate or threaten employees safety on the job. It supports job training and the development of new Career Pathways for unemployed workers, over sees the quality of retirement programs impacting millions of workers nationwide, collects and publishes independent foundational data about our economy and workforce through the bureau of labor statistics and much more. In other words, the ability of this department to operate effectively has enormous impact on workers, on families and on our economy. So im concerned about President Trumps proposal to cut more than 20 of the dol budget. It is difficult to see how the department could maintain, let alo alone improve, its performance were such dramatic cuts to go into effect. Under the president s budget, workers would pay the price for a budget designed to help those at the top which is unacceptable, so i will want to hear how you as someone who would be responsible for carrying out the critical work of this kdepartment view the president s proposal. Im looking forward to your testimony and your responses on these and many issues and i hope we receive clear and thorough answers. I firmly believe that workers should have a strong advocate at the department of labor, and that is what i will continue to push for. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator murray. Now we welcome senator rubio and senator cruz, well invite each of you to introduce mr. Acosta. Then i know both of you have other commitments and so youre welcome to stay or welcome to go to your other commitments after that. Well move to his statements. So senator rubio. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, thank you to the Ranking Member for an opportunity to be before the committee today. It is my honor to be able to introduce mr. Acosta and wholeheartedly encourage the committee and senate to support his nomination to be our next secretary of labor. I begin by saying i know alex well. Hes a fellow floridian. As a native of miami, ive been familiar with his work for many, many years and later i came to know him personally as well. As i said when the president nominated him, i think hes an outstanding choice to lead the department of labor. He has a Sterling Record of Public Service to our state and country. Youll learn about that today as you see not just in your materials but his testimony as well. He was a member of the National Labors Relations Board. Appointed by president george w. Bush from 02 to 03. From there he was selected by president bush to serve as assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, the u. S. Department of justice where he also served as the Principal Deputy assistant attorney general in that office. Beginning in august of 2013. But the two places i would refer you and the place i watched the most closely and most proud of his work, the first is he was the u. S. Attorney in one of the most challenging districts in country, floridas Southern District. And i encourage you to look at the numerous cases and the complexity of many of these cases that fall under their jurisdiction, in particular during his time there. Most recently he served as the dean of Florida International universitys college of law where he has been instrumental in getting the school off the ground after its recent founding. Hes raised its profile and its begun to graduate wellprepared young men and women for their careers. Florida International University is a place that i know well. I actually have been an adjunct professor there for over ten years. Where a significant percentage of the students, not just at the law school, but in the school in general, are the first in their family to ever attend or graduate from college. Has a higher percentage of such students than virtually any other college or university in america. And under his constitute lidtut leadership, fsu opened the door for hundreds of young people who would have had to do what i did, take on significant Student Loan Debt in order to get their jurisdictijusris doctor degree. With every challenge hes confronted throughout his distinguished career, alex has continuously demonstrated his ability to effectively tackle the problems at hand with ease. Hes a brilliant, brilliant legal mind, someone with deep knowledge of labor issues. And a proven leader and manager for these reasons and many more, im confident alex acosta will serve the nation admirably. Im proud to introduce him to the committee today and urge you to support his nomination. I think you, mr. Chairman, the Ranking Member for this opportunity. Thank you, senator rubio. Senator cruz, welcome. Thank you, mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, members of this committee. It is a privilege to be before you today and have the opportunity to introduce my friend, alex acosta. Ive known alex for 25 years. He and i went to law school together. Weve been friends a long time. Theres a lot you can know about alex from looking at his resume, looking at his bio. You can know that hes smart, that hes academically accomplished. That hes led a life of Public Service, making a difference in the lives of others. But one of the things you know getting to know someone over the course of 2 1 2 decades is you learn their character. And i can tell you that alex is a man of character. A man who takes very seriously fidelly lity to the law, fidelo the constitution, and a man who has a passion for justice. Alex began his legal career as a law clerk for Justice Samuel alito on the Third Circuit court of appeals. He worked in a variety after of locations and three times confirmed by the United States senate. He was confirmed as a board member on the National Labor Relations Board. He was confirmed as the assistant attorney general for the office of civil rights. And he was confirmed as the United States attorney for the Southern District of florida. All three of those positions are very challenging positions. As each of you know, those are not easy assignments. Those are assignments that almost by their nature guarantee that theres going to be conflict, there are going to be difficult and important issues presented to whoever is entrusted with leading those offices. And one of the remarkable things about alex is that he has been able to lead each of those offices with an impeccable record. A record of distinction. But also a record of inclusion. Alex in leading those offices has demonstrated an ability to bring people together, even if they have disparate political or ideological backgrounds, to bring them together behind a shared vision and a shared commitment to justice. That is an important characteristic in any position. Its been an important characteristic in his role as the dean at Florida International University School of law, which as marco described, is a school that is expanding opportunity to a great many people who would never have had the opportunity otherwise. Thats yet another demonstration of alexs passion for justice, stepping down as u. S. Attorney. He could have cashed out. There would have been plenty of law firms in florida that would have offered him a sevenfigure check and he could have lived in a nice house and driven a big car and had a very, very comfortable life. But he chose, instead, to be dean of the law school. To make a difference in the lives of students. To those of us whove known alex a long time, that is not surprising. That is entirely consistent with the course of his entire life. Ill also tell you on a personal level, alex is a surprisingly good poker player. And not nearly as good a squash player. And one additional observation, alex is a cubanamerican. He understands firsthand how incredible the miracle of freedom is. How incredible this country is. The beacon of freedom that it has served to the world. That is an appreciation that i think is important in any government position, but as secretary of labor, the mandate of secretary of labor, the kind of secretary of labor i expect alex will be will be a champion for working men and women. A champion for people who want jobs, who want more job, who want higher wages, who want more opportunity. Someone who will fight for the working men and women of this country. I will say i take perhaps particular pleasure in the observation that i suspect this is one of the first times, if not the only time, that this committee has had three cubanamericans seated before it and it is a testament of the opportunity that our wonderful nation provides. I commend to you alex acosta who i think will make an excellent secretary of labor. Thank you, senator cruz, and senator rubio, thank you both for coming. Well now move to youre welcomed to go to your other hearings at whatever time you choose to. Mr. Acosta, we welcome you and your family. Youre welcome to introduce your family if youd like. Wed be glad to have your statement then well begin a round or two of questions. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Ranking member murray. Members of the committee. I thank you for the opportunity to appear before you this morning. I know todays a busy day in the senate and there are other ongoing hearings, and so thank you, its an honor to be here as President Trumps nominee to be secretary of labor. I want to take a minute to thank senators marco rubio and ted cruz for their very kind introductions. As both noted, ive known them for many years. I appreciate their support and i deeply admire and respect their dedication to Public Service. Im also grateful for their support today because my family was unable to be here. My wife, jan, is an amazing woman, a fantastic mother. Im deeply grateful for her love and her unending and unyielding support. My eldest daughter, dalia, is in first grade and theres something called an iowa test which is a standardized test thats shes undergoing this week, so my wife is with dalia and with my 5yearold, rosalia, whos going to be in kindergarten next year back in miami. I dont know if theyre watching. I know my girls arent watching. My wife may or may not be. But i really want to reach out to them and thank them for everything that they do for me. I want to thank my parents, in particular, and my parents are very important to me not simply because of what theyve done for me, but because my story really begins with them and informs my perspective on what it means to be a secretary of labor. They fled cuba. They came to the United States seeking freedom and they found it. They met in miami in high school. They fell in love. They married young. My mother was in here te teens she found out she was pregnant. Neither attended college. Growing up, they struggled. My mother started out as a typist at a real estate firm. At times, she commuted 9 0 minutes each way for her job. My father served in the army. Later he tried to start a Small Business but he quickly found his lack of higher education, his lack of ability to deal with forms and rules made it very difficult for him to be a Small Businessowner. And so he went on to hold various jobs and ended his working life as an inventory clerk at a cell phone store. Our family lived paycheck to paycheck. My grandmother cared for me while we grew up and that was an incredibly helpful and loving thing to do because both my parents worked full time. At times, may parents went into debt, deep debt. The kind of debt that they tell you not to go into because credit card Interest Rates are high. But they went into that debt and they took on second jobs to make ends meet. And they did that because they wanted to give me an education. And so im here because of them. And my success is very much their success. They were able to give me these opportunities because even though they didnt have a college education, they had something very important and thats a job. And though at times they lost their job, they were always able to find another job. And that was very important. Well today, americans are facing the same challenges and struggles, but for Many Americans, only worse. My parents had jobs, but not all americans have jobs. Some americans have seen their jobs go overseas. Some americans have seen their jobs filled by Foreign Workers. And ive read and ive seen press reports that not only have they been filled by Foreign Workers but to add insult to injury, theyve been asked to train their foreign replacements. And some americans have seen that jobs are available but that these available jobs require skills. Th they do not have. Helping americans find good j s jobs, safe jobs should not be a partisan issue. In my visits with each of you with each member of this committee, it was Crystal Clear that every member of this committee wants americans to find jobs. Good jobs. Safe jobs. Even if you dont all agree on the how. I share this with you, we may not always agree on the how, but at least let us begin by agreeing on the need. If confirmed, i hope to benefit from an ongoing dialogue with each of you as to how we can advance these goals within the context of, as the chairman mentioned, a Global Economy that is changing rapidly with each passing year and with the constraints of limited resources. Id like to close with a brief discussion of a few items in particular. The first is the skills gap. As i visited with members of this committee, i repeatedly heard that in your states, there are jobs but the skills too often are not there. In one of your states, for example, a Community College was teaching welding techniques, and it turns out that the employers are no longer using that welding technique so why are they teaching an outkadated techniqu . That is not how you teach skills. We can and we must work to reduce that skills gap. We need to make better efforts to align job training with the skills the market demands and the increasingly changing market will demand of its workers. Especially as advancing Technology Changes the types of jobs that are available in our economy. The department of labor cannot do this alone. It has to work with local governments, with industry, with educational institutions, Public Private partnerships that can have substantial positive impact on the American Workforce. This is the vision of the workforce innovation and opportunity act, of Apprenticeship Programs, and of many other programs not only at dol but across government. If confirmed, i will work with you to maximize every taxpayer dollar that is directed toward job Training Programs. Second, good jobs should also be safe jobs. Congress has enacted workplace standard and safety laws. The department of labor enforces these. And if confirmed, i will work to enforce the laws under the departments jurisdiction fully and fairly. As a former prosecutor, my enforcement efforts will always be on the side of the law. Its enacted by congress. It should be enforced fully. It should be enforced fairly. And it should not be enforced in favor or against any particular constituency. Finally, the department of labor was formed a bit more than 100 years ago and its an interesting history because originally it was a department of commerce and labor and then it was split into two. And so why was it split . And the reason was this. That a voice for commerce and a voice for workers, or a workforce, as the chairman mentioned, within the executive branch, would promote better decisionmaking. I think this concept is absolutely correct. Advocates for the American Workforce within the administration are important. Whether its those who are working, those who still seek work, those who are discouraged or unemployed, or those who have retired, if confirmed as secretary of labor, part of my job will be to be one of those advocates. President trump has reached out to both business and to labor in his first 100 days. Im proud to have the support both of several dozen business groups and also of several private sector and key Public Safety unions who remember with respect my work at doj and the norb. They know that while we did not always agree, i was always willing to listen and to think and to consider and to seek out principled solutions. If confirmed, i hope that we, this committee, and the executive branch, can Work Together in the same way to address the need for good jobs and safe jobs and in particular access to training and the skills that the changing workplace will demand of its workforce. I thank you for your consideration and i look forward to answering your questions. Thank you, mr. Acosta. Well now begin a round of fiveminute questions and if senators wish, there will be a second round of fiveminute questions. Mr. Acosta, lets start with the skills gap that you spoke about. If we were to think of you, as i think we should, as secretary of the workforce, to help workers in this headspinning environment that we find ourselves in, adjust to it and fit into it, we already spent a lot of money on helping people get training. We spend more than 30 billion in pell grants. The average pell grant is about the same as the average community College Tuition. We spend a lot of money on student loans. Other countries do other things. Germany has an apprenticeship system. Some people say our Technical Institutes do a better job than our Community Colleges. If youre the secretary of the workforce, and if you see that according to the manufacturing institute, 2 million americans manufacturing jobs will go unfilled over the next ten years due to the skills gap, specifically what are some of the things we should be doing about it . Senator, thank you for the question. First, let me touch on the first part of your comments which are the spending that we spend on education, and i think its critical, if confirmed, that the department of labor work very closely with the deparetment of education because theres a lot of spending thats taking place on education and we want to make sure to the extent possible and feasible that individuals have the opportunity to align their education with the skills the workplace will demand. More specifically, to the second part of your question, you mentioned apprenticeships. So as dean of a law school, im a big fan of learning by doing. We recently started a program which is a full semester internship at a law firm in addition to Public Defenders Office or state attorneys office. And the students have the opportunity to spend a full semester there because they can learn by doing and i think if you look at some of the Apprenticeship Programs where individuals work, they get credit where theyre working or programs available in Community Colleges that focus on vocational opportunities in partnership with individual businesses, those are all options that we should be looking at because there are alternative ways of educating, there are alternative ways of providing skills and importantly it is a way for students to acquire skills and jobs skills to be used in jobs without taking on the enormous debt that were seeing in some secondary in some secondary programs right now. Let me ask you one other question. The overtime rule. Fortunately its not effect thanks to a court. In my view, it was one of the worst examples of regulation by the previous administration. It caused millions of americans to punch time clocks that they didnt want to punch. It raised tuition according to our universities. Hundreds by hundreds of dollars per student because of its cost. It caused my local boy scouts to have to dismiss counselors. It received widespread condemnation around the country and even in congress there was bipartisan opposition. So there was a doubling of the threshold. There was an impact on nonprofits. What are you going to do about the overtime rule . Its pending. Let me offer a few observations. First, the overtime rule hasnt been updated, i believe, since 2004. And i think its unfortunate that rules that involve dollar values can sometimes go more than a decade, sometimes 15 years, without updating because life does become more expensive over time. Let me press you a little bit. Would doubling the threshold, applying so heavily the impact of it to nonprofits, doesnt that concern you . So, mr. Chairman, it does, and the point that i was making is i think its unfortunate that it goes so long without adjusting because when they are adjusted, you see impacts such as a doubling of the amount that does create a, what ill call a stress on the system, as the chairman mentioned, particularly in areas, both industry and Geographic Areas that are lower wage, historically, and so i think one of the challenges we face in addressing the overtime rule is since 2004, theres been no change, now there is a very large change and how should that be addressed as a policy matter i think is a very difficult decision but a very serious one because the economy does feel a substantial impact from such a large change. Thank you. Senator murray . Mr. Chairman, let me follow on that. The department of labor did finalize the updated overtime rule last year and that rule helped restore the 40hour workweek which is the cornerstone of protection for middle class workers. Before that overtime rule, workers could be asked to put in extra hours. 60, 70, 80 hours a week. Without earning a single extra dollar for the overtime hours that they spent away from their families. And that new overtime rule expanded the number of workers who qualify for overtime pay, increasing Economic Security actually for millions of families. After months of republicans in congress and big business fighting to block that overtime rule, as you stated, the court is now considering the rule and blocking additional overtime for workers from taking effect. So let me ask the question a little bit differently. Do you believe that workers should be paid overtime for the overtime hours that they work . Senator, i do believe workers that are entitled to overtime pay should receive pay for their overtime. Will you do fend this rule in court . Senator, as i was saying in response to the chairmans question, the overtime rule hasnt been updated since 2004. We now see an upkate thdate tha very large revision and something that needs to be considered is the impact it has on the economy on nonprofits, on Geographic Areas that have lower wages. But im also very sensitive to the fact that it hasnt been updated since 2004. And if confirmed, i will look at this very closely. Let me also add a related issue to this is the question of whether the dollar threshold is within the authority of the secretary. When Congress Passed the statutes, it provides in essence for a duties test. And one of the questions thats in litigation is does a dollar threshold supersede the duties test and as a result is it not in accordance with the law . And i mentioned that because i think the authority of the secretary to address this is a separate issue from what the correct amount is. And the litigation needs to be considered carefully both with respect to what would be the appropriate amount, if the rule were to be changed or revised, but also what is within the authority of the secretary to do . Okay. Well this is an issue im going to be following closely. I think its an issue of fairness. I really do believe the secretary of labors job is to make sure that workers are treated fairly. Let me move on to another another issue. You have served as a high ranking federal official, one of the few cabinet nominees of this president who has done so. However, in your time leading the Civil Rights Division at the department of justice, staff under your supervision broke federal law by systemically discriminating against individuals based on their political affiliations. An Inspector General investigation found that staff on your Management Team sought out conservative candidates and rejected liberal ones. Your staff referred to conservatives as real americans who were on the team and according to the i. G. Report, your staff called liberal Department Lawyers comis and pinkos and told the subordinate your division shouldnt be limited to hiring Bureau Members who belong to some psychopathic leftwing organization designed to overthrow the government. Your deputy said he should get an award for effectively breaking the will of liberal staff. These were your staffers acting under your supervision. Do you take responsibility for the acts of discrimination that occurred under your leadership . Senator, youre referring to the actions of one of the deputies in the division. I believe the Inspector Generals report found that the other deputies that oversaw the other division, or the other sections of the Civil Rights Division, did not engage in that conduct. That conduct should not have happened. It happened on my watch. It should not have occurred. That language should not have been used. And i deeply regret it. Okay. And it leaves me to ask you, will you stand up to the president or others in the administration if they ask you to use political views on statements and hiring decisions . Senator, political views on the hiring of career attorneys or staff should not be used and the answer to your question is, if i am asked to do that, i will not allow it. Im very aware of the Inspector Generals report of the impact it had on that section and i would not allow the that to happen. Okay. I appreciate that very much. Thank you. Thanks, senator murray. Senator collins then senator bennet. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Acosta, first of all, thank you for sharing your inspiring personal story. It really is the story of opportunity in america and in many ways that is the mission of the department that youve been nominated to lead. To create more opportunities for American Workers. The department has a program known as the trade Adjustment Assistance Program that helps americans who through no fault of their own have lost their jobs as a result of foreign and often unfair competition. In maine, for example, weve lost more than 38 of our manufacturing jobs. Thats nearly 31,000 jobs in total over the last 17 years. The trade Adjustment Assistance Program has been crucial in helping many workers who have been hit very hard by mail closures and shuttered factories get the skills that they need for the jobs in higherdemand industries. For example, in fiscal year 2015, 740 mainers benefited from taa and more than 70 of those who went through taaprovided education or retraining found employment within three months of completing the program. The socalled skinny budget that was released last week proposes large cuts in the department of labor but its unclear what happens to taa. What is your view on that program . Narsenator, thank you for question. I appreciate the way you set up the question because you provided data. If confirmed, something i think i would need to do and do very quickly because budget season has already begun is assess the efficacy of the job Training Programs because the budgets are, you know, to be determined. The skinny budget has been submitted. Congress will have the final say on the ultimate budget. But dollars are going to be more scarce is the reality. And so were going to have to make difficult decisions. You provided data that shows how successful that program has been, and, you know, and i think the principles that need to be used tospending are how successful is the program . Does the program address particular needs such as the needs of displaced individuals who have lost their jobs because of, for example, the closing of a mill . And in that context, the rate of return on the investment of taxpayer dollars in skills i think is particular high, because if you have someone that has been doing a job most of their life and that job no longer exists, and now you provide them the skills to do another job, theyre going to hold that job for a long time and theyre going to become part of our economy again and theyre going to be paying taxes. And so that rate of return on those programs i think is very strong. So based on your information, i hope that that Program Remains because it sounds like its incredibly successful, at least in your state. And let me add, i think theres also room for differences within states where some program might make sense in maine but it might not make sense in another state and i think we need to be very sensitive that one size does not fit all. Thank you for that response. Despite the success of the taa program, there still is the category of workers in my state who are Older Workers, who are in many ways the forgotten story of this economic recovery. Older workers are having increasing difficulties in finding employment. In maine, almost half of the private industry workers are over 44 years old in our paper mills which have lost more than 1,500 jobs over the past 3 years, alone, have a disproportionately high number of Older Workers. And for many of them, working the paper mills been the only job theyve ever known. Their families have worked there for literally generations. And its very difficult to tell someone whos 54 years old whos done this his entire life or her entire life that they need to retrain for a new job or leave a community thats been their home their entire life. If confirmed, what ideas do you have for helping Older Workers in my state and others who have lost jobs due to mill closures and other factors . Senator, ill briefly, because i see the clock, i will just say that i think those ideas cant come from washington. I think what washington needs to do is go to them and ask them what ideas do they see in their local area and then work with them and the local governments to address that. Because i dont think that we here in washington can understand what theyre going through in their small town in maine. Thank you. Thank you, senator collins. Senator bennet . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for holding this hearing. Mr. Acosta, congratulations to you and your nomination and thank you for your willingness to serve. I want to refresh you a little bit on what senator collins was just asking. Let me come back to that in one second. In colorado, we are trying to establish an Apprenticeship Program throughout our universities, Community Colleges, School Districts and businesses and id like to invite you, if youre confirmed, to come out there and meet with the people who are working on that prujt oject to see how the department of labor might help them or help us do that better. So gladly. Good. Thank you. Virtually this entire campaign was about bringing back jobs and wages to places in america where people have suffered huge economic dislocation because of some would argue trade, some might say automation. But the disl locatiolocation ha real. Median Family Income has fallen in many places and theres a hopelessness about what the economy is going to bring. So with respect to you, im not sure the answer that its all up to local communities suffices. The president ran for president saying he was going to make that huge difference. He was going to bring those jobs back. So apart from training, which i stipulate and we talked about in my office, is enormously important thing that we need to do better and i think were wasting billions of dollars not tra training people for jobs that exist in the 21st century. Putting that aside, whats the plan . Senator, thank you for the question, and let me first make the point that one of the reasons that i said its important to go to the local communities is because when the senate and i met in private, she gave me information about the educational background and the abilities and the other opportunities in that area and thats by definition going to be different than whats available in colorado. So i do think its important to visit colorado and visit maine and understand the different areas. Going to your point, i think we need to look at several Different Levels for job creation. You know, the president has made clear that every Cabinet Agency should review regulations for a needed regulatory burden. Small business produces, depending whose numbers you look at between zemseven and eight o of ten new jobs. I think its important to look at the issue that i highlighted about Foreign Workers taking american jobs. Particularly when, you know, in those circumstances that i highlighted where americans are being asked to train their foreign replacements. That is not the intent of the h1b and as a matter of fact, theres an astaation that has to be made that youre not affecting the working conditions of an American Worker when you do that. And so one question that i would have is how often is that happening . And is that something that we should be looking at with greater degree of care . I think we also need to work with, you know, Public Private partnerships. I know there is a lot of discussion about an Infrastructure Program. And an Infrastructure Program will certainly bring back a lot of jobs and for all of these, its not just the jobs as part of an Infrastructure Program, or jobs that are developed for Small Business, but as individuals get jobs, they spend money. And then those individuals that spend money go to restaurants. And you have this Multiplier Effect throughout the economy that i think is incredibly valuable. Let me let me finally touch on education. And i do think its important to touch on education because the economy is changing rapidly and our educational institutions cannot ignore what the workplace is going to be demanding Going Forward. Mr. Acosta, i also just wanted for the record, note, and i appreciate this, that youve been a supporter of Immigration Reform in the past. With senator rubio, i was part of the gang of eight here who passed the senate bill on immigration and part of what you observed in 2012 was that the Current System allowed the abuse of immigrant workers. Do you still feel that way and do you still support Immigration Reform . Senator, i think there is a need to have immigration laws that are transparent and clear. And i do think that we have an issue of abuse with immigrant workers. I think when workers are not part of a system, the system can abuse them. But i also think its important that we that we enforce our immigration laws and i dont see enforcement of immigration laws as separate from Immigration Reform. One mr. Chairman, i realize im 15 seconds over. I apologize. Along those lines as well, you mentioned the h21 program. We is huge difficulties in colorado with the h2a and h2b program that is actually useful to workers and to businesses so i look toward to having the chance to talk with you about that at a later time. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing. Thank you, senator bennet. I was going to call on senator hatch but hes not here, so ill call on senator scott. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for being here, again. Couple questions that ive heard so far during this hearing has to do with the overtime rule. Moving from 23,600 to about 47,000 according to some studies would cost about half a million jobs in the economy. So your comments seem to be a mixed bag. According to tammy mccutchen, who was an hourly and wage person, the department of labor under the bush administration, moving it up from 23,000 to maybe 32,000 would make sense based on the previous formula thats been used for decades. What would be your approach . Senator, thank you for the question. If you were to do a cost of living adjustment and as i mentioned, the world has gotten more expensive and salaries have changed since 2004. So if you were to apply a straight inflation adjustment, i believe that the figure, if it were to be updated, would be somewhere around 33,000, give or take. And so i think the question that i will have to face, if i work to become secretary of labor, is one, what to do with the litigati litigation. Two, if we determine that the rule as it currently stands should not be the rule that eventually takes place within this litigation context, what would be the correct amount . And i understand that theres a desire on the part of members of this committee for me to sort of state this is exactly what i would do. But this is an incredibly complicated rule. This is something that gets updated about every 15 years. And so for me to sort of on the fly at a hearing state with certainty, i dont think its the responsible approach. What i would say is, one, i understand the extreme Economic Impact that a doubling has in certain parts of the economy. I understand that it goes beyond a cost of living adjustment. And i understand as well that because of the size of the increase, there are serious questions as to whether the secretary of labor even has the power to enact this in the first place. Which is what a lot of the litigation not a lot which is what the basis of the litigation is. Those are issues that i would want to consult with the individuals at labor and at justice that are overseeing the litigation before determining. Well, i certainly hope that you already invested a lot of time contemplating what you would do as the next secretary as opposed to not having invested any time in that conversation which will be a very important conversation between the overtime rule and the fiduciary rule. These are things you should be contemplating already. Lets move to a different topic. I think senator bennet mentioned it, perhaps chairman alexander and the Ranking Member as well talked about the importance of Apprenticeship Program. Perhaps one of the leading states in the country on the success of our Apprenticeship Programs. I would love to hear how you would encompass or integrate into your objectives Going Forward an apprenticeship model taking into consideration the one that cory booker and myself have sponsored, the l. E. A. P. Act, over 17,734 apprenticeships and 6,400 participating programs in South Carolina. We have companies throughout the country and South Carolina from bwm, boeing, continental, general electric, blue cross blue shield, bosh, also Industries Like health care and finance that are all integrated in South Carolina and involved in Apprenticeship Programs. Id love to hear your model. Senator, first, let me say South Carolina really is the model of Apprenticeship Programs. Some of the some of the qualities that makes it so successful is the integration or the Public Private partnership where employers are not involved in name but theyre really deeply involved in their directing. These are the types of apprenticeships that we need. This is, you know, this is what the workforce is demanding and i think that that involvement of employers is very, very important. I know that South Carolina at the state level also provides incentives for employers to engage in apprenticeships and to hire apprentices and particularly when someone is learning, when someone is quite literally an apprentice, my understanding is that that makes the South Carolina program particularly noteworthy and attractive for an employer to hire an apprentice. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator scott. Senator baldwin . Thank you, mr. Chairman, and welcome, mr. Acosta. Congratulations on the nomination. One of the first responsibilities, and you alluded to it a moment ago, in terms of the fact that its budget season, one of the first responsibilities of the secretary is going to be identifying where to cut, frankly, because President Trumps budget calls for a 2. 5 billion cut to the department of labor. 21 decrease from current enacted levels. This is really significant. President trumps budget only specifies 500 million of cuts. Mostly to seniors seeking job training and leaves about 2 billion unspecified. So id like to ask you how are you going to approach this incredible task of making this math work . I mean, you could eliminate all or you could eliminate 15 job core centers for vulnerable youth. You could eliminate the entire Employee Benefit Security Administration charged with protecting workers Retirement Funds from fraud or get rid of the women in apprenticeship grant program. How are you going to approach this . Do 20 across the board . Are you going to cut various bureaus . Or what are you going to do . Senator, thank you for the question. First, let me say as a nominee, i havent had any the opportunity to provide input yet into the budget process. And if confirmed, its something im going to have to take on very quickly because its moving. My personal perspectives, and, again, congress will make ultimate decisions on this, and so congress may have a different view. But my personal perspective is this should not be and at the same time it shouldnt focus on particular programs because thae bit too because programs arent quite that low can i put this . You mentioned senator, let me come at it this way. So you mentioned the job core centers and i think theres some job core centers in some states where the job core centers are highly successful and for those states, those job core centers work exceedingly well. Given the population, given the geographic diversity of that state. Those job core centers, from my understanding, are working well. Theres some other job core centers that have a history of Violence Associated with them that concerns me. And as a matter of fact, the department of labor has looked at some of those job core centers and has identified some of those issues. And so i think this requires an analysis on a few levels. I want to just cut you off because we have limited time, but, so youre not going to look at across the board, and what i think i hear you saying, to sum rid summarize, you wouldnt eliminate programs, me say, but w you would look at success. I think you said that earlier in response to the trade adjustment assistance question for senator collins. That would be fair. So, what troubles me is in areas where were not seeing success is pulling it away and offering not offering those programs the answer or is it going in and fixing and adjusting and providing those opportunities . I mean, if you pull it away, youve left people high and dry in training and many other areas. Senator, i understand your question and i think and i dont think we disagree and heres first, its a question of what is success. Right . Because if you have a particularly troubled area, a little bit of movement can be success. But secondly, just because you pull a you know, if theres a job core center in a particular Geographic Area that isnt working, that doesnt mean you pull away from that Geographic Area. That just means that maybe in that area, the money is better spent on another program than on the job core center. So i dont think it would be right to abandon any one area. I think thats why it needs to be an analysis based on the program and the geography to ask what does this state need . What does this part of that state need . And really look at it on a local basis. Thank you, senator baldwin. Senator young . Welcome, mr. Acosta. Great to be with you here today. Id like to first get your thoughts on how we can better link our unemployed americans to job opportunities. As secretary of labor, this is something youll have direct oversight over. There are already programs out there to help facilitate these linkages. Less than half of the available workforce has the appropriate training to fill available jobs. Some communities are innovative in serving local need. In my own state, we have jeffersonville, indiana, they partnered with ford for their nextgeneration learning program. This Partnership Engages businesses, educators, community leaders, various other stakeholders to enhance the workforce system throughout the region, which is in southern indiana. Its going to connect High School Graduates to relevant Postsecondary Education that will directly filter into businesses around that community. Every member here can no doubt cite localized, specific examples of sort of Creative Solutions to this linkage issue which is so important if were going to have flexible, Effective Labor marks which in turn leads to faster Economic Growth and higher wage growth. Perhaps you could speak to how you, as secretary of labor, will foster this sort of engagement and maybe serve as a conduit for information related to best practices so that folks back in the states and our localities can scale up whats working. Senator, thank you for the question. You know, its interesting that even in this hearing, each several members are pointing to successes in their particular states. And youre right, those need to be compiled and put into best practices. So that they can be duplicated. But the other point that i would identify is not only are these successes based on local partnerships, but theyre based on Public Private partnerships. Its not the department of labor going in on its own. It is businesses working at a local level with educational institutions and with other local entities to align the training opportunities with what the workforce with what the employers are demanding. And that partnership, i think, is so critical and so going to senator baldwins question of, you know, wouldnt you be walking away from a particular area if a program isnt working . The point i was trying to make is, no, if theres a program thats not working in a particular state, if theres a program thats not working in indiana, for example, but theres a program thats working fabulously well, then we should look at that program thats working fabulously well and perhaps double down on that program. If that program is going to address the needs that were otherwise addressed by the program that isnt working. I like to hear common sense from my wouldbe secretary of lab labor. That strikes me as common sense. Thats a good thing. Ill look forward to working with you to operationalize that concept through programs or policies or so forth. In my remaining time, perhaps i could pivot to the gig economy. The availability, the preference, for so many of our workers to take multiple parttime jobs, to do freelance work, its just the way so much of our economy is moving. Its creating unique challenges for our workers and we, from a Public Policy standpoint, are going to have to adapt to these challenges. One of those challenges is for parents. Their daycare responsibilities, if, in fact, they either require a job outside of the home, or they wish to work outside of the home. I have four young children. We have some flexibility, my wife and i, in our lives, and some family members that help out. So we figured out a way to make it work. A single father whos caring for a few children, works the nightshift at walmart. I dont know how they do it. I dont know where they find acceptable, available daycare for their children. And so im not asking you to solve this problem, but could you at least speak to this problem as perhaps the next secretary of labor . And how you might explore innovative ways to deal with it, partnering with our states and localities to make the gig economy work for more people . Senator, thank you. The gig economy is something that the deparetment of labor needs to address and on several levels, the rules at dol arent designed, they havent caught up to the gig economy. They assume a more traditional workplace and so i think it goes beyond the issue that you raised to several issues within the department of labor. Its incredibly important. There are individuals in my office who are Single Parents and i see them and theyve got to juggle and they have the means to juggle and its still incredibly difficult. So its something that were going to have to talk about and address, but it has to be at the local level. Thank you, senator young. Senator warren and then senator hatch. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Acosta, you were the president s second choice for secretary of labor. Ill be honest, im glad its not his first choice, Andrew Puzder, whos sitting here today. Its hard to imagine a candidate who would be worse than a man who made his fortune by squeezing workers on wages and benefits. A man who repeatedly broke the laws that he would be charged with enforcing. A man who bragged about replacing his workers with robots, who would never sue him for race or sex discrimination. But that said, the test for secretary labor is not are you better than Andrew Puzder . The test is will you stand up for 150 million American Workers . And that starts by making sure that workers are safe on their jobs. Department of labor rule to protect 2. 3 million American Workers from exposure to lethal cancercausing silica went into effect last summer. So i just want to know, mr. Acosta, will you promise not to weaken the silica rule in any way and not to delay future compliance by even a single day . Senator, as you mentioned, the silica rule went into eff t effect. I should, however, make clear that the president through an executive action has directed all cabinet secretaries to put together a group to review all rules within each Cabinet Agency. Im aware of that. And to examine and so i this is a rule that has gone into effect. Yes, senator, but i just want to make sure youre not going to delay this rule any further. Senator, i understand. The point im trying to make is that the president has directed each cabinet officer to review all so i cannot make a commitment because the department of labor has been ordered to review all rules. I want to understand what that means when you say the the president of labor has been ordered to review all rules. Youre about to be named sec a tear of labor. Either youre going to stand up for 15 American Workers including people being poisoned by silica or youre not. Are you going to stand up for the people . Finally we have a rule in place so people will not be poisoned by silica. Senator and youre saying its open and you dont want to give an answer one way or another on how you look at that . Im saying the rule is in effect. The final there should be no surprise i am asking you about this. And i gave you the same answer, and i look forward to hearing from that staff is confirmed, their views and following their advice . Is that advice is appropriate, yes. And you will decide if that is appropriate . Works the have this let me ask another question. Another huge responsibility of the secretary is to make sure that workers are paid fairly. Last december, a new Labor Department rule requiring employers to pay overtime was set to go into effect. It would mean a raise 4. 2 Million People. Lots of employers were preparing to comply. But days of or the deadline, a citingudge blocked rule, with big companies. Would you protect these workers . I will commit to examining the role and the legal basis of the judges decision. I appreciate you that you said that, because that is exactly what you said to me two weeks ago. It is not a long ruling to read the ruling and look at the comments and look at what went behind this. I think it is time for an answer. Will you appeal it or not . Senator, again, the department of labor has stuff that has spent a long time working on this rule. It is also in litigation. It would be important to consult with the Legal Officers regarding the position that they are taking in litigation we are a minute over, senator. I will say that department advises already made your there position. I just want to know if you will follow through on it. They have prepared an appeal. I just want to know that you will be part of that. You will have time for a second round of questions. Thank you, is to chairman. Senator hatch. Thank you, mr. Acosta. Good to see you again. It is my observation that the ofccp is using Statistical Analysis rather than equal consideration and opportunity in evaluating contractor hiring processes and falling short of addressing real employment discrimination. 16, theiscal year ofccpttee pointed out appears to prioritize the specific Quarter Results equal consideration and opportunity because of its reliance on Statistical Analysis. How would you go about leading the office to enforce nondiscrimination standards on actual evidence of actual discrimination rather than on statistical generalizations . And let me add one more question. How do you propose promoting actual discriminatory treatment instead of preventing discrimination solely based on statistical benchmarks that may not be uniformly applicable . Thank you for your question. Let me say that i remember appearing before your committee in a room very similar to this. Thank you for the courtesies you extended at that time as well. I think it was two floors down. The issue you raise is the risk of disparate impact within ofccp. Impact is arate valid and legally acceptable part of liability in employment litigation. So, without more, i would hesitate to say that ofccp should not use acceptable tools that are generally considered valid in employment contexts in enforcing the executive order that it is charged with enforcing. Okay. Utah has several large employers in tech and financial workers. I have heard you talk about your ideas about how we can modernize one such model. I am working with Ranking Member murray on apprenticeship efforts. In addition to those, what role as employer led best practices . I think it looks to take a leadership role in compiling best practices with employer groups to encourage employers. As you were asking the question, projectremembrance of a that we had with the Restaurant Association around civility compliance. We worked with the Restaurant Division when i was in the Civil Rights Division to encourage restaurants to comply with the ada. The point we made was that compliance could make business sense. And so, working with associations that have access to employers to encourage Apprenticeship Programs and job Training Programs, to learn from them what needs to be done and can be done i think is important. It cannot just be important government. It has to be partnership with employers. I do not think the department of labor can do this alone. The department of education is a key player in this. The funding is somewhat deeper than the department of labors funding. I think it is important to break down the silos not having this department doing this and that department doing that, but to Work Together as one executive branch. Mr. Chairman, i think my time is almost up. You mr. Chairman and Ranking Member murray. Ice to see you here i will add support to the comments you have heard from just about everyone on the committee about the importance of job training. It is critical to the state of. Ew hampshire i had the opportunity to be at our new job centers Graduation Ceremony recently. I hope you will do everything you can to support job training and job corps centers. I want to focus on the menrtance of osha to the and women that make up our department workforce. Strong and dependent women not only save lives that also valuable resources for employers. A body of evidence shows that injuriesces workplace and reduces costs. The federal safety and Health Administration has been about 45 fewer reports today than it did in 1980. In New Hampshire, we have only overseeha inspectors to safety and health at over 50,000 worksites. With these numbers, it would to fully 222 years investigate New Hampshire. Has said that he would cut the budget by 21 . Will you stay will you say that you will advocate for osha funding to stay no less than current levels . Letn certainly commit me come at it this way, i would be very concerned in a situation like you mentioned where there are only seven inspectors. It has a substantial impact. Can i commit to no less than current levels . That is a very precise statement , and something will have to give somewhere in the budget. My background is in law enforcement. I think worker safety is incredibly important. I mentioned it in my Opening Statement for a reason. I would have a lot of concerns if the number of inspectors at any one point fell so that they could not do their job. Thank you. I want to move on to the area that make sure we are including more people with disabilities in the workforce. Often times, this type of employment occurs in a secluded, and some might say segregated, environment known as a sheltered workplace. New hampshire was the first state to eliminate the payment of some minimum wage for disabled employees. There have been efforts in congress as well to eliminate this practice. Do you support this practice of paying individuals with disabilities some minimum wage . Wage . Minimum i certainly support any state employers from paying sub minimum wage. At the federal level, this is a difficult issue. You want to provide incentives and systems to ensure that individuals, that might not otherwise have a job, have access to a job and are trained into a job. I think that is a very difficult balance that i am happy to have a further discussion about. It is not the phrase sub minimum wage that is disrespectful. It is frankly discriminatory to pay someone some minimum wage aced on the fact that they experience a disability. I think it will be very important that we continue this conversation. If you look back at the work of the National Governors association, you find that employers came to us and said this is a population that came to us and asked us why we were allowed to pay them a sub minimum wage. Roberts . R thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Costa, thank you for coming by on your courtesy visit. Thank you for being here today. You have certainly been well introduced. I think you should be confirmed. I will take a different tact some of my than colleagues and ask you about President Trump or whether or not you will follow his orders. Contrary to curtain law, i will not ask you about the budget or campaign. I have ask you different view. Many folks here, not only on this committee, but in washington look at this through a telescope from washington. We have a tire an entire regulatory agenda. It is intended for job safety and nondiscrimination. Entired just go down the outlook that soup of agencies we have here. 105 it gets down to counties in kansas, people wonder what is going on. Here come regulations they have never seen before. I know this, because i go to town hall meeting after town hall meeting and i do not get questions saying soandso is running a business where my safety if i go in is in danger. Or his workforce is in danger. They hold up a piece of paper and ask what this regulation is. I do not understand it. I used to work for my processor in the house. My predecessor in the house. Im one of those people low the swamp. They cannot below the swamp. They cannot drain me out. I had to go in figure out what this osha was. The first osha person went way out west to sharon springs. It is not the end of the world, but you can see it from there. Also have amount sunflower have mount sunflower. The trick is not to climate, but the trick is to find it. Member fell short. He looked high and low for somebody, anybody where he could walk in and say you are not performing your job right. To ae whipped walked in wedding,rer of kansas ing, and they had a stamping machine in there. They fined him i think 1000. He went to the courthouse and gave my predecessor a hard time. So, i go over there and i look at this stamping machine. The fine was because it endangered someones leg in the way it was constructed. It was constructed so that a wounded veteran from korea could work the machine. Obviously, that was not explained to the osha inspector. Paid the fine. Now, multiply that by thousands in the entire business community. I do not need to go down the entire red tape list and agenda. What i want to know is can we get a cost benefit yardstick that makes sense where you have the regulatory cost and benefit . You are on the benefit side. The Small Business community is on the other side. What is yourw overall philosophy on regulation . In behalf of all the people out in kansas who feel they are governed, iand not ,an to you they are in business and they are not performing their job. They are discriminatory and they run a bad business, then they are out of business. That is just the way it works. Can you give me your overall philosophy on regulation . Reflate briefly, the president through executive action has ordered, and i think it is important, that we eliminate regulations that are not important. They are crushing Small Businesses. Small businesses are what are creating jobs in this country. If we want to create jobs, we need to free up Small Business. That would be my big picture view on regulation. Thank you, senator roberts. Senator murphy . Thank you mr. Chairman. Mr. Costa, thank you for joining us. Just a follow on the line of questioning. During this pending review in which you have been charged to look at all regulations and determine which ones are appropriate according to your and the president standards, you still have an opportunity to enforce existing regulations. Senator, we would enforce all rules that are in effect pending that rule. Only because of one item i do not remember to the extent it would affect. Thening there is no stay, yes. Second, to follow up on senator baldwins question about funding i get a little youied when i hear you say would accept a lower amount of funding for job training. Haspresident s budget winners and losers. There is more money for defense and a wall, but it comes at the expense of other programs. I think we hope you would be in thatate for the programs are paid by the department of labor funds. In connecticut, we can build electric submarines, but if we do not have the workforce pipeline, then those jobs will go overseas. The eastern connecticut manufacturing pipeline it is not about mismatched resources. It is about simply not having enough resources. We have a 92 placement rate from the pipeline program. 3000 people are trying to sign up, and they can only take a couple hundred a year. The consequences of not feeling that need is that the jobs or go to the other countries, because we cannot hire folks here. So, do you support the 20 cut that has been opposed to your Apartment Department . Thank you for rephrasing, because i do not recall saying i accepted when speaking with sen. With i wrote myself sen. Baldwin. I request self a note earlier that said we have 20 million in debt. It is not just that a program has to sound good. The program has to be good. I wrote that down, because in talking with the secretary of labor one of the things i want to do is to go through these programs and compile the data, because for a lot of these programs i believe the rate of return on investment of taxpayer dollars is quite significant and would pay for itself very readily in money saved and taxes paid by the fact that individuals have jobs. So, i readily embrace that as part of the job. If confirmed, i will certainly speak up and present all of that information in advocate. Are think youll find there an abundance of programs that are underfunded that will allow you to make that case. Lastly, i appreciate the number of times you had made the intersection you have mentioned the intersection between the department of labor and department of education. You and i had the chance to talk in my office about the migration of public dollars away from notforprofit education to forprofit education and the stunning lack of results we are getting from forprofit job education programs. One third of forprofit graduates are making less than minimum wage over the course of a year. Students who have loan defaults today come from those forprofit schools. I know you thought about this from the context of graduate education in florida, but shouldnt there be a role for the federal government to ask more of all centers for job training . To demand results that we are not currently getting today from these forprofit operations . Ini have thought about it the the context of law. In law school, they are looking for results. Job grade . You are seeing that some of the forprofit law schools are facing challenges with the department of education, because they havent because the results are not necessarily on par. Arehe extent that these department of labor programs, i would certainly want to see the results in the metrics to make sure it is being done appropriately. Thank you. Mr. Chairman . Senator enzi . Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you mr. Costa. I have a number of areas i am interested in. The senator from New Hampshire mentioned job corps. She was the next to last date to finally have one job corps center. We were the last date to have a job corps center. It was placed in the middle between two warring tribes with high unemployment. They are working together to get , and ito this job corps is making a huge difference. They are doing Energy Industry training that features heavy mechanics and welding. Their job placement is tremendous. Im hoping you will take a look at that. Another thing she mentioned was the osha inspectors. Something we keep overlooking is that the ddp program where we allow the Bigger Companies to hire a trained inspector to look at their business, and if anything matters they have to fix it immediately. If they continue to do that, then they continue to be a add ddp company. I would suggest that the Small Companies should be allowed to do something similar. One example is the printing industry. If all the newspapers in wyoming if all the newspapers in wyoming came together and hired ,omeone to be there inspector then they would still get to be part of this program. I am hoping you will take a look at that. Also, the mention of the sub minimum wage. I have worked on that for years as a chairman on this committee. We know the purpose of that was to be able to get a valuation for people who have not yet been evaluated to let them earn their place in the workforce. It was not intended to be a lifetime sub minimum wage. We have done what we can to try to eliminate that and get people trained into the workforce. Are there any of those three things you would like to comment on . Senator, thank you. On thegladly follow up programs you have mentioned. I think it is important that we think outside the box, and that we on the private enforcement matter, i would say that i think ,here can be a role for that but we need to ensure it is under appropriate guidelines. Ok. Thank you. At the start of the Obama Administration, the department of labor ended the longstanding practice of providing opinion letterswhich provided that answer question about specific parts of the labor laws. They were useful to employers and employees who were trying to understand the law. Administration replaced opinion letters with administrators interpretations that only give broad opinions on a subject chosen by the agency which leaves many details on answer. They only ever issued a total of seven interpretations during the entire Obama Administration. Many employers and employees are tried to comply with complex our laws hour laws. They want to maintain compliance, and they would like to see a return to the could to the opinion letter system. Would you make an effort to allow people to spend less time try to understand the laws and more time allowing them to comply with the laws . I think compliance comes from a specific set of facts and not a broad sort of legal premises. So, i see no reason why i would not encourage opinion letters. Make you. One of the innovations thank you. One of the innovations we are the on demand services such as uber which allow users access to a service from their phone. Do you think the bureau of labor statistics is able to capture information about this new industry . Know if the bureau of labor statistics is capturing that information. I think that is in important question, and i will follow up on that. I have other questions that i will submit. Senator kaine . Thank you, mr. Chairman. I think the committee needs to ask about, and i think you are entitled to respond, to an article that appeared in the Washington Post last night and this morning. I will read the opening to it and then ask you some questions, because i think you deserve an opportunity to address it. There was once a time before the investigations of the before the sexual abuse convictions where rich men used theove to hang around multimillion dollar money manager who love to party. They flew on his private jet to party on the caribbean island of saint james, and they even joked about his taste in younger women. President trump said he is a lot of fun to be with and even said he likes beautiful women more than ideal and a lot of them are on the underside. President trump is on the witness list of a court battle on how federal prosecutors handled regulations in regarding to sexual abuse of minors roles between the ages of 13 and 17. The lawsuit questions why the nomination for labor secretary, whose confirmation hearing is scheduled to begin wednesday, cut a nonprosecution deal with epstein a decade ago rather than pursuing a federal indictment that his staff had advocated. I would like to introduce the article for the record. It will be introduced. Like to ask you a couple of questions. My understanding i would like to ask you a couple of questions. My understanding is that there shouldve been a notice entered prior to the plea dealing. My understanding is that there is a pending civil lawsuit. The department has defended the actions of the office in that under the president bush and president Obama Administration. The opening i read suggested that as u. S. Attorney you decided to cut a nonprosecution deal. And that it be held private and not appear in the Public Record. There was an allegation i just read that you did not pursue a federal indictment even though your staff had advocated that you do so. Is that accurate . That is not accurate. One of the difficulties with matters before the department of justice is that the department of justice does not litigate in the Public Record or in the media. Let me set forth some facts. This matter was originally a state case. It was presented by the state attorney to the grand jury in Palm Beach County. The grand jury in Palm Beach County recommended a single nott of solicitation involving minors i believe. That was a result that would result in zero jail time in zero registration as a sexual offender and zero restitution for the victims in this case. Presented to the u. S. Attorneys office. , and as ily unusual was speaking to some of your colleagues who has been involved in prosecution, they mentioned they do not know of any case personally were a u. S. Attorney becomes involved in a matter after it has already gone to a grand jury at the state level. In this case, we deemed it necessary to become involved. On, we had discussions within the office. Sentence hat a how should i put this, that mr. Epstein should plea deal guilty to two years, register as a sex offender, and concede liability so that victims could receive restitution. If that was done, then the federal interest would be satisfied, and we would then defer to the state. That was very early on in the case. I say that, because the article goes on to talk about a few a view that the u. S. Attorneys office was not aggressive in this manner. Can i read one other statement . Federal prosecutors detailed their findings in a 52 page indictment that epstein was never indicted. This agreement will not be made part of any Public Record, the deal between epstein and costa. The document was unsealed as part of a civil suit in 2015. Nominee timee the to answer the question even though it goes over five minutes. Senator, i didnt to address your let me take it generally. It is pretty typical in a prosecution for an indictment, a draft and i than to be written. That does not necessarily mean that the draft invite mint gets filed because it does not often consider the strength of the underlying case. And so, as part of any plea come it is not unusual to have an theset that says are all of the places we can go and get at the end of the day, based on the evidence, professionals within a Prosecutors Office decide that a plea that guarantees that someone goes to jail, that guarantees that someone register generally, and that guarantees other outcomes is a good thing. Was a consensus decision in your office . Mr. Acosta it was a broadly held decision. I am over my time, mr. Chair. I may come back to this in the second round. Thank you. Do you feel like you have had sufficient time to answer . Mr. Acosta i feel i have. We can come back to that if you would like. Senator krakowski. Acosta that, mr. You gave me in my office a week or so ago. The issue of job corps has been issued by a number of my colleagues. We also spoke about that and i indicated that i thought that the job corps we have in alaska has been successful. We have seen good support in that those who graduate are actually finding jobs in the area they are trained for. I noticed that the president s skinny budget does not look as favorably on job corps as i might but i think i would ask you that you have indicated that you are in evaluating the job dunes are able to get jobs that they are trained for and i would urge you in that vein as you are looking at job corps. Issue of ourup the fisheries and the seasonal employment aspect as we have discussed. Have a limited limited limited labor pool in alaska made more complicated by a compressed season where our fisheries are going full tilt and a reality that for us to be able to meet the immediacy of the demand for that labor will, it has been important to rely on these h2 pieces. But we have seen, unfortunately is that we have a processing lefteneck that has been unresolved. Our processors have been in a situation where they have not been able to buy fish from fishermen. The ripple back to affect is detrimental to our seafood industry. Current regulations state employees employers cannot accept obligations prior to 90 days of the first day of employment. Then the number of workers that have requested each application are counted against that cap. The cousin see alaskas fishing season is later, that cap is used up by the time our employers and those in the industry are requesting visas. 2v that, slow add to processing times, it has been very difficult. I would just urge you as you review the situation with the visas, i would urge you to seek Permanent Solutions to this. Can recognize there are administrative remedies that could be made immediately that could help states like alaska and others that face the same seasonal aspect to our labor force but later in the season. I would just ask this morning if you will commit to review the way that these semiannual caps are structured that leave of alaskas Fish Processors at a toar disadvantage simply due the timing of their season. Whether it is quarterly caps s, a b that islve the fix. I would ask you to look to that and also to commit to working with me to ensure that we have more timely processing of these pieces of these applications. We also had an opportunity to discuss the unused worker applications. Prospect of being able to return those to the available pool. Whether there is an audit of that to determine how much of that is out there, again, a commitment that you will be working with us. Situatione have a where if we cannot get the workers, the fishermen cannot fish, the tenders stop tendering , the welding shops are networking come the Grocery Stores are networking, the gear stores are networking, everything stops in the economy. Can you speak on your view . Mr. Acosta i am happy to commit to work with you on any of the issues that you raised. I have a concern which is what you articulated because your local economy in alaska is dependent on these workers. If you are out of cycle, that is not your fault. And you have my commitment to look and understand why this has not been adjusted. Find anossible, to do appropriate solution. I think you that but i would also urge that this be placed as a high and immediate priority because of the timing we are up against. Mr. Acosta i fully understand. Senator franken. Acosta, thank you for coming to my office. I want to talk about pensions. If you are confirmed, you will be the leading federal official charged with protecting the pensions of more than 10 million americans. Among those are 400,000 Central States numbers across the country including 20,000 in minnesota. Fund faces insolvency and could run out of money in less than a decade. I spoke with over 300 retirees in minnesota. These are middleclass workers, warehouse workers, Truck Drivers and other demanding bluecollar jobs. They are very worried about what will happen in if Central States go insolvent and their pensions are slashed. Many art disabled or two elderly to return to work. If this looming crisis is not addressed, these workers could lose their homes, their ability to pay for subs prescription drugs, and their ability to put food on the table. If confirmed, you will be the chair of the pensions guarantee corporation which insures pensions in the central state but also with the current projections it may run out of money before the Central States plan runs out of money. Insolvencies. If youre confirmed, one of the largest crises could land on your death. Yes or no, have you or the Trump Administration proposed a plan to make the ultimate employers fund solvent . Mr. Acosta i have not proposed a plan nor have i seen one that has in proposed and worked in the last decade. What about the plan for the healthy states fund . Mr. Acosta i have not proposed a plan. How about this yes or no, will you commit to ensuring that no one will have their Pension Funds cut from what they are receiving right now . Issueosta this is an that this congress has been working on for years. That the Prior Administration tried to address and had difficulty addressing. I wish i could commit to that. That has a 60 billion dollar price tag as you mentioned and if you expand it further to include city and state Pension Funds, you are talking about approximately a 2 trillion price tag. This is a fundamental issue that we have got to think about and it is not just the executive branch of the executive branch working with congress. Worked,these workers they have expectations. I fully understand that. I get it. I also understand that this is an issue that has not been solved. And if i could come up with a solution on the spot, i wish i could. Thank you. During his campaign, President Trump said he would help working americans. Now, we have a situation where hundreds of thousands of these workers were retirees may lose their pensions. There are a number of ways this could be paid for the so we could fulfill the promise made to these workers. I think we should raise the byds for these workers carrying a loophole that benefits wall street by closing the loopholes that even President Trump wants to get rid of. We would raise more than enough money to fix the Central States fund. Urge that. I will move on to the workforce development. As friday, during a press conference with the german chancellor, the president said germany has done an incredible job training the employees and and employinges its manufacturing and industrial workforce. It is crucial that we provide our American Workers with a really great employment outlook. In this case, i completely agree. With the president. Getting down to my time, so that us review that what we talked about. If you are confirmed, will you work with me on making sure that we follow some of germanys and switzerlands models and that we aboutus and we talked some of the funding cuts but will you work with me to make sure that we have a robust plan to train our workers for the jobs of the present and the future . It acosta we discussed during our meeting and i will recommit to working with you on that. Thank you. We will have time for a second round if you want to follow up on that. Senator paul. Congratulations mr. Acosta on your nomination. We are in a National Debate on how to fix health care. That is an aspect of that may cross your dusk and that you can participate in. The chairman and others have mentioned how the biggest problem we have is in the individual markets. 11 Million People who do not makeinsurance that might an individual market but it is a crummy place to be. You are by yourself. If you get sick, you are worried about prices rising. It is better to be in a group plan. Given a choice, you would rather be in a group plan which gets to the department of labor which gets to a proof whether a health qualify as a health plan under single large cap. To definition is they have be bound together by a commonality of interest. I think that would be would give a significant degree of latitude. I am encouraged to get really involved in this. Imagine that the aarp which has over 30 million members, what if they formed a Health Association and they had one person negotiating with an insurance company. All of a sudden, it is 33 Million People negotiating instead of you and your wife. This could change the whole insurance market. And it may just required someone at the department of labor thing that everyone at the aarp has a commonality of interest. The law may not need to be changed, we could just change the associations. I just wanted to bring that to your attention. I do not expect you to have a fullblown answer on this but i would love it if you assigned someone to look at it and within a month of being approved, i hope someone could come back to on how we canice expand these Health Associations. Are state associations. I was at the chamber recently, and they have 2000 members. I would like to see all of the chambers and the whole country get one representative and have enormous leverage and be a game changer in the marketplace. , ore is no mandate, law subsidy other than enabling people to organize similar to the prospect of what labor did when it wanted to organize to have leverage against management, they organize. Consumers ought to be in the organize. Anything you can do to help that , i would appreciate that and if you would like to make a comment, i would appreciate that. Mr. Acosta senator, let me commit to that and i think the timeline of 30 days is very reasonable. Thanks senator paul. Now, we have time for additional questions if you would like. Senator ensley, two you have additional questions. I do not. Senator murray . I do. Aboutin this country earn . 80 on the dollar of what men do resulting in a gap of nearly 10,470 a year. This is across professions, ages, and education levels and worse for pay is far women in color. The marketplace will not fix this problem alone. Do you believe there is a pay cap and if you do, do you believe it hurts women and families . Datacosta i have seen that reflects the statement that you made to the extent that the pay cap is there, it should not be. You take ass will labor secretary to address that pay discrimination . Mr. Acosta senator, certainly gender discrimination which includes pay discrimination should not occur. I know that there is a womens bureau within the department of , asr and i certainly would a first instance, consult them and charge them with looking at the issue. You commit to maintaining the budget for that womens bureau . Mr. Acosta i make recommendations as to the budget. The recommendations go to omb and ultimately they are issued by the president decided by this congress. I cannot make a commitment as to not the budget may or may look like at the end of the day. I can only talk to my own views and recommendations. And i and so do you think it should be a priority . Mr. Acosta i certainly do think will you fight for that . Mr. Acosta i think it is important to have an office within the department of labor ont focus on that focuses womens issues. We also have an entrepreneurship focus. I am happy to look at that closely and try to make sure that is available. Will that be a priority for you . I can certainly say i hesitate with the word because if everything becomes a priority, there will no longer be any priorities. We talk about Small Businesses. Businessesng small is a great thing. And that is something that the department of labor should focus on and encourage and so certainly, i can say that would be a priority. I worry because your answer and makeu look at it recommendations and then omb and all of this. Either you as secretary say this is a priority for me or not. Mr. Acosta i am happy to say it is a priority. I believe in a unity executive. I dont think any cabinet secretary can make commitments because ultimately, we have a boss. Yes. That is what worries me. So i would just say that you answered me by saying that you would go to the womens bureau to give you advice on this. If it is not there, that will be a problem. But let me go to another question. About an issue that happened in 2004 and i want to go back and give you a chance to answer. Days before the president ial election in 2004, you made a controversial decision to weigh in on an ohio case. It was a departure from the Standard Practice so close to an election. You wrote to an ohio judge saying that laws like ohios would allow some voters to challenge others. Time, the Ohio Republican party had announced plans to use the law to replace 3500 challengers in polling places around the state on election days. Experts testified that a disproportionate number of challengers were to be placed in predominately africanamerican precincts. You wrote the letter even though the Justice Department had no role in this case. The Justice Department is not a party to the case and it had not filed a motion to intervene. Mr. Acosta, you involved the department of justice in a case where it had no role, days before an election and with full knowledge that the law would be used to mount challenges in ways that suppressed the vote of africanamericans in a state where the electoral outcome determined the outcome of the elections. Regretto ask you if you the decision to send that letter in 2004 . Mr. Acosta, the time is up but you may take the time you need to answer that question. Mr. Acosta senator, let me im sorry, iy shouldve brought glasses. There is a sentence that is very important from that letter. And you paraphrased it. Thus a challenge statute permitting objections to united state citizenship, or read this or residency or voting age as appliedt to to challenges under the act because these qualifications are not tied to race. First, we provided amicus information in part because the ohio statute as i recall did not have a provisional voting requirement and early on in the letter we say that if you are going to have a challenge statute need have a provisional voting requirement under the law that was enacted by this congress. It was the first major election where it came into play. I read that sentence, secondly, because that sentence was put there with intentionality. And it was put there to make clear that we would not weigh in on how this was being applied in ohio. We were not taking a position on what was being done in ohio specifically. Was on its face this is permitted but we were not taking a position as applied. We did not take a position as to how this was being applied in ohio. Ok, that was a very legal answer to a question in your own words. Do you regret sending that letter . Senator, as an attorney for the department of justice, sometimes you have to do things that are unpopular but legally correct. The letter is legally correct. The letter was not interpreted the way it is interpreted but the letter is legally and substantively correct. And sometimes, lawyers have to do what is legally correct. I am way over my time but let me finish by saying that as secretary of labor, i want to know if you will and you do not have to answer but it is my concern about political pressure i have seen under this Trump Administration, a considerable amount of pressure. You will have to stand up and that will be your job. Mr. Acosta may i answer . Senator, i have heard that concern a lot. Let me say this. I am a lawyer. I have been a prosecutor. Theve prosecuted ubs, international bank, and as a result of that prosecution, they changed swiss law. I prosecuted major drug cartels for 200,000 cartels the head of the calle cartel for 200,000 kilos of cocaine. I have been in service for the better part of my professional career and i have seen pressure. And i do not for a second believe that senior officials would or should bow to inappropriate pressure. We work for the president. He is our boss. And so all cabinet officials, as i believe in preparation for this hearing, i watched secretary chaos hearing and she made the point that we all work for the president and we all ultimately will follow his dreck unless we feel that we cannot. And if we cannot, then we resign and that is our choice. Thank you. Thank you, senator murray. Senator ensley. Senator murray stepped on a nerve that i am sensitive to and that is the disparity in womens pay. I am interested in the disparity of anyones pay and knowing there is a federal law that says if you are doing the same job at the same company, that you should be getting the same pay. As i travel around by only, i explain to people that when they are not getting paid the same amount, to let me know and i will take it to court. On the other hand, if i have a female engineer working for a coal company and making a lot of money and the guy working in the meal room does not have a case. That is a different job. We have to get people moving up the ladder to where they are getting paid what they ought to be getting page. And in this hearing room, one of my favorite hearings was a young lady that wanted to try something nontraditional. And she became a brick mason. And when she started as a brick mason, she got to do pavers in yards and in courtyards and things like that. But after she had done that for a while, she got to Start Building fountains in new york city. And she was so prolific at it that she got to hang the marble on the outside of skyscrapers. I asked her what her job progression has been through these different things. I can tell you that hanging marble on multiple stories pays a lot better than a United States senator. That is what we want to have for people. In wyoming, we have a program for single moms who want to get into a nontypical job. Jobs illette, the two in my hometown, the jobs they are trained for is a Warehouse Supervisor or a truck driver. Are amazing people that pick up the skills and then make more money than some of the men in our community. At one ofto speak their graduations and it was for the Truck Drivers. And i was amazed at how much because ofmake even, their families, they could only work around town. I think they started at 18 an hour around town. If they could make day trips out a 25. K, it went to and if they were willing to take longdistance trips, it really went up. When i was at the graduation, i said you can do something that i cannot do. Backup a semi trailer. That is one of the requirements and they can do that. Women have more concentration than men do and they have more multitasking than men do and so consequently, we ought to be encouraging them into the markets where they make more than the men do. That is one of the things i think you can encourage through job corps and the other training sessions and i hope you will do that. And i am asking if you will . Mr. Acosta fair enough senator, yes. Over to senator kaine. Would like to close the loop on the previous discussion and i have a question about the bureau of labor statistics. I asked you whether the agreement not to present you federally in exchange for an agreement on other matters was something that was a consensus in your office and i think your testimony was that it was the generally held position in your office. Broadly held a position in the office. To read this in 2000 seven, acosta signed a nonprosecution deal in which he agreed not to pursue federal prosecutors federal against epstein and in exchange epstein agreed to plead guilty to a solicitation charge, register as a sex offender and pay restitution to the victims. Will not be made part of any Public Record. The deal between epstein and a cost ss. What is the reason why ideal of this kind has the specification that it will not be made part of orderal orf public Public Record. Mr. Acosta i wish i could respond to that. I hesitate not because of concerns but rather because it is a matter that is pending litigation. If you could answer it generally, in a different way. In acosta there are times negotiating an outcome there are agreements that are made that are ancillary and so what we saw to and presented at the very beginning was to years plus istration plus individuals victims being able to seek restitution. What was obtained was 18 months, plus registration, plus individuals this is 13 months. Mr. Acosta the agreement called for 18 months. It ended up being 13 months in florida. A separate issue. Ultimately, there were other provisions that are part of that and that is part of the give and take of a negotiation. And i understand your concerns since the matter is still pending but as a general matter, if something is allowed to be part of the Public Record, then more people become aware of that. In this case, there are allegations that eventually somewhat around three dozen women were victimized by the individual. Bethis was allowed to public, it affords opportunities for people to come forward. Frommething is prohibited being part of any Public Record, it has a way of making it more difficult to bring forward claims. Is that accurate . Hasacosta something that changed over time is trust of government. And i think that is relevant to the issue that you raised because there was a time when keeping something one having something confidential was less of an issue. But the public expectation today is that things be very public. If there is something that i have learned or thought about is how careful someone should be when something is not made public. Often, a very positive outcome again, not talking about this case but generally, a very becomingoutcome can be a negative outcome, not because of a change in the underlying substance but because of something not looking positive public, it is looked at with suspicion. The u. S. Attorney position is one of great power and youre dealing with a lot of people that are in vulnerable positions. The secretary of labor position is a position of great power and you will be responsible for situations with a lot of vulnerable people. That is why im asking. During the campaign, president numbers he ridiculed called phony or a hoax. Will you commit to keeping the bureau of labor and statistics independent and maintain and defend the integrity of its conclusions . Mr. Acosta i will answer that question but if i could circle back. Case, ind of this received a telephone call from the special agent in charge of the fbi who had been part of this entire process and had been at the meetings and involved. He called to say congratulations. This was hardfought and hard won. And i say that because this was a point of pride. There was a New York Times article written concurrent to this that said within the attorneys office, we became involved. Last summer, initially mr. Epstein was you later to avoid prison but then the United States office not involved and mr. Epstein got an ultimatum. The government would charge him with sexual terrorism if you did not comply. You are aware that mr. Epstein served that 13 months. He was allowed out during the day and he had to sleep at the county jail but he was allowed to move and go around the community and do whatever he wants and that became a subject of criticism. Mr. Acosta and i am on record saying that was awful. And i think that was wrong. Briefly, the of bureau of labor statistics has kept statistics for decades. And i had a procedure. It makes clear how they calculate. That publishes for Public Comment to any changes that take place. That procedure is important because it keeps data that is used not just for today but for the future. And i think that process is very important. Thank you, mr. Chair. Senator warren. So far you have refused to answer my questions, hiding behind an executive order that President Trump issued asking agency heads to review pending regulations. I am not asking you how you how youll respond to the executive order. You what your priorities will be if you are confirmed as secretary of labor. You will be called on for your judgment. And hardworking americans want to know what your values are. What it is you prioritize. And so far, you have said you cannot commit to enforcing a role to protect 2. 3 million americans from exposure to lethal, cancercausing silica. And you will not commit to appeal an injunction to the Labor Departments overtime rule that would give 4. 2 million raiseans a 1. 5 billion in a single year. Let me try a third one. Let us see if you will protect workers saving for their retirements from Financial Advisors that would cheat them. On april 10, a Labor Department rule is set to go into effect that would require advisers to recommend retirement products that are in the customers best interests in set of products that give advisors highest commissioners or the fanciest prizes. Nowe conflicts of interest caused americans 17 billion dollars every year. The president has said he is currently working on a 60 day delay of the april 10 implementation date. My question is, if you are confirmed for this delay is finalized, will you promise to stop it . Mr. Acosta senator, there is an that addressesn with specificity the fiduciary rule and it has asked the department of labor to look at the rule to assess specific questions. The the rule reduce Investment Options available to investors i believe that was one of them. Will it increase litigation . Will it financially impact retiree investors . The executive action as i recall directs the secretary of labor in the department of labor to repeal or revise the fiduciary rule if any of the criteria laid out in that executive order is found. And so, that criteria really regulates and determines the department of labors approach to the fiduciary rule. That is a question i am asking. 60know for example that a day delay is estimated to cost americans about 3. 7 billion. But they are just going to get treated at a that by unscrupulous retirement counselors. Money they will never get back. That is gone to them. And so that is the question i am trying to ask about where your values lie and how you see what this retirement role does. How committed you are to protecting the american investor here and retirees to they have a chance to retire with some dignity. Mr. Acosta i dont have access to the specific numbers that you have but if the question is do i think it is important to protect the american right to read, absolutely. , the American Retiree absolutely. With the demographic changes we are seeing, retirees are changing from 401 k s to iras. You think it is important to retirees, and so do i. That willrule here protect retirees, documented to the terms of 17 billion a year. I want to know generally if you support this rule and do you think it is a good idea . Mr. Acosta with respect, the rule goes far beyond simply addressing the standard of conduct that investors how does it go beyond addressing the standard of conduct . I have read this rule. It says the standard is an advisor can no longer recommend products that are going to learn a whole lot more money for the Investment Advisor at the cost of giving a worse product to the retiree, the investor. That is all it is about. That is what it is about, the conduct. I am asking on behalf of millions of retirees across the country. Do you support this rule . Mr. Acosta there is an executive action that the part that directs how the department of labor will address this rule. If i am secretary, i believe in support my following executive orders of the president who would be my boss. You know, i have to say mr. Acosta this has been really frustrating. You have gods to everyone a my questions. None of them are trick questions. I asked you the same questions when you were in my office two weeks ago. And you said in all the cases that you would get me answers to these. I understand that you may not want to answer my questions. Millione are about 150 American Workers that are interested in your answers. These are questions that determine whether or not they can go to work every day without having to worry about if they will get lung cancer at their workplace, whether they will be paid fairly so they can put food on their table and send their kids to college, and whether after a lifetime of backbreaking a chancethey will have to retire with some dignity. If you cannot give me straight answers on your views on this and not hide behind in executive order, and commit to stand up for workers on these obvious and very important issues, then i do not have any confidence that you are the right person for this job. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Acosta i would not have any confidence in you if you did answer the question that way. I think the fiduciary role deprives millions of americans from advice. Have you been directed by the president should you be confirmed to review regulations once you are secretary of labor . Mr. Acosta i have been directed pursuant to the executive action. Argued the secretary yet are you the secretary yet . Mr. Acosta i am not. Directives would you be reviewing . To acosta i have not spoken individuals at the department because i am not yet confirmed. Role, youhe fiduciary have specific directions on how to conduct the review. Mr. Acosta that is correct. If you are confirmed, you will conduct the review and you will try to deliver a fair opinion. Mr. Acosta that is correct. I may not like it and the senator of massachusetts may not like it and i hope she does not because i hope you come down on the side that i would like but i think it is very reasonable for the order after you are secretary of labor. That is my own opinion. Senator murray. Mr. Chairman, let me say that i think it is critical that workers have an advocate in the apartment of labor. I have some questions. I hope we get clear that there are responses on that. Ad i do want to ask for unanimous consent to enter letters from 105 organizations expressing concerns about the nomination of mr. Costa. They will be included. Ask to send 19 letters of support does that you . I trumped 19 letters of support representing 85 business groups including some labor unions in support of your nomination. You . 19 lettersi think we have had a, thorough opportunity to ask questions. Questions,urther senator kaine . Senator warren. Senator murray. I have one question and then we will conclude the hearing. I talked at the beginning about Tom Friedmans book which i found very good in trying to capture a lot of the conditions that probably surrounded the last election which is the head spinning acceleration of so many different forces, especially causing American Workers to not be able to fit into the workplace. Workers where american are still able to fit into the workplace is with the franchisees. There are hundreds of thousands. I think the number is 700,000 americans who have franchises. In other words, they have an aportunity to create Restaurant Franchise in their hometown and they typically work 12 hours a day for many years and often it is a family working that long for many years and it is a way that you can still live in your own community and working your own community and be reasonably independent and move your way into the middle class. Thinking, the of administration, the prior joint employers definition that was first established by the National Labor Relations Board begins to up and the whole concept of franchising and to begins to end the whole concept of franchising. That hadant company 800 restaurants for example instead of having 700 franchisors might say under the broad joint employment mlrb ition, it is a makes more sense for the. Appeared company to own it depriving Many Americans the chance to be a franchise owner. Let me ask you these questions. In order to be treated as the employer of an employee, shouldnt the businessperson have direct and immediate control over an employee . Mr. Acosta that is one of the traditional criteria. Believe that indirect control or even unexercised potential to control working conditions could make a franchise or and franchisee joint employers . Mr. Acosta that would be an untraditional approach. Think that the person who hires, fires, pays, sets work hours and issues directions to employees should be considered the employer . Mr. Acosta i am sorry hires and issues directions to employees. Mr. Acosta that is the usual approach, senator. Acosta foru, mr. Your patience and for your answers and for your willingness to subject yourself to a confirmation session. I think all in all, it went very well and i think part of the reason may be your experience, the fact that you have been before the United States senate three times, nominated by the president of the United States, and you have been confirmed by the senate. I have no doubt that you will be this time. I look forward to working with you as the secretary of americas workforce at a time when Many Americans are trying to find a way to fit into work and hopefully working together with congress, we can make this easier. This committee has a broad array of views but many times in the past, important times, we have been able to take our differences of opinions and come such as our law to fix no child left behind which president obama called a christmas miracle, or the 21st century cures act which senator mcconnell called the most important bill of the last congress. A b, some of the most important work we can do in the next couple of years would have to do with helping the American Workforce i just to the head spinning conditions in which we in which we all find ourselves and fit more easily into the workforce. I know that is a concern for the senator from virginia. He spoke to me about that. We used to both be governors. Much of that work has to be done, as you said in your response to the senator from maine, we have to understand what it is like in culpepper and nashville before we issue orders from here but we could have a National Interest from here. If the senators whisk wish to the nominee additional questions, they must submit those for the end of tomorrow, march 23. The record will be open for 10 days. Members may submit items for the record in that time. Mr. Acosta thank you for the courtesy. Senator, do you think it is the job from the congress to set overtime pay threshold . I have not thought about that. He raised the question of whether the secretary is authorized. But i am not certain. In one is that fell swoop is an unrealistic would cost jobs and raise College Tuition. A ridiculous regulation. There was a bipartisan proposal in both the senate and the house to have a sensible approach to the overtime rule and i hope that will be the approach the secretary will take. If it is increased, is that something that Senate Republicans would oppose . I can only speak for myself but senator kaine and i introduced legislation that had a more gradual increase which was less onerous for nonprofits and other organizations. There is a variety of ways you can address the overtime issue without such a radical step which seems to have no understanding of what is happening in the workplace. Can you speak briefly about the Health Care Bill . What may lie ahead will you try to work with that bill . We are already working with it. For the last six weeks, we have been working with the house committees. They have accepted a number of suggestions from senators to try to make the bill as good as it could be as it moves through the house process. This is a reconciliation bill. The Affordable Care act itself passed on two tracks. In had a lot of hearings 2009. One was the reconciliation track in 2010 that took eight days. Already, the reconciliation track is much more extensive than it was when the Affordable Care act was passed. We will continue to try to help the house make the bill as good as we can. Didnt the same sort of Political Forces at work between and among republicans on this side as they have on the other side conservatives wanting one thing and moderates wanting something else