Pelosi Statement on New Bush Administration Overtime Regulations

April 20, 2004

Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on new overtime regulations that the Bush Administration announced today:

"While President Bush cuts taxes for the wealthy, he wants to eliminate the right to overtime pay for millions of workers -- money these workers need to put food on the table, to make ends meet, to buy a home, and to send their children to college. The President just does not understand that middle-class families need their overtime pay more than ever in this stagnant economy.

"Bush Administration officials have lost all credibility on this issue. They have grasped at misstatements, evasions, half-truths, and outright falsehoods to justify their efforts to eliminate overtime pay for millions of American workers. The Administration claims that the new rules protect workers who make between $23,600 and $100,000. That is simply not true.

"The Administration did bow to pressure from Congressional Democrats and included partial fixes for some workers, but the new rules actually make it worse for some who earn $23,600 to $100,000 -- denying overtime protection to some registered nurses, claims adjusters, and computer network, Internet, and database administrators, and other specific categories of workers.

"The President has lost 2.6 million jobs, the worst record of job creation of any President since the Great Depression, and these new rules do not encourage job creation. In fact, the new rules discourage businesses from hiring new workers because companies can now overwork their existing employees without having to incur overtime costs.

"Enough is enough. No workers should have their overtime taken away. The only way to ensure that workers keep their right to overtime pay is to support the Democratic proposals that guarantee workers' overtime rights and repeal any part of the regulation that cuts overtime."

###