The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“Protecting the Right to Organize Act (Executive Session)” mentioning Tommy Tuberville was published in the Senate section on pages S1685-S1686 on March 23.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
Protecting the Right to Organize Act
Mr. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President, last week, I spoke about a deeply flawed and misguided piece of legislation passed by the House--House bill H.R. 1 and now Senate bill, S. 1.
Today, I am going to talk about yet another bill from our colleagues in the House that would be terrible for my State of Alabama and for our country. It is called the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, better known as the PRO Act.
Like H.R. 1, the PRO Act represents a massive power grab by the Democrats here in Washington, DC, to override the will of the voters and State legislatures in a majority of the States in this country. Democrats want to force their ideas on States that refuse to adopt their progressive failed policies. Federal power grabs like these are unconstitutional and go against our entire system of government.
The PRO Act would overrule the right-to-work laws across the country and force tens of millions of employees to join a union. Currently, 27 States have right-to-work laws on their books, including Alabama. More States could join us in the future. Right-to-work laws give workers freedom, and more importantly, they give them the freedom to choose whether to unionize or not.
Alabama's right-to-work law has been a huge benefit for our State and for the people, helping to attract many businesses to our State. Take car manufacturing, for example. Beginning with Mercedes, in 1993, automakers like Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda all have large presences in Alabama. Their investment in our State has created a growing automotive supplier network, supporting roughly 150 companies in our State. Altogether, we have around 40,000 Alabamians employed in the automotive sector alone. Those jobs go on to support thousands more family members, all thanks to Alabama's right-to-work law.
The PRO Act would upend the economic growth we have seen in Alabama and in many States across the country. By forcing unionization on American workers, many industries would grind to a halt, and employers' costs would skyrocket, which could lead to a loss of many, many jobs. According to the State Policy Network, the PRO Act would destroy 57 million American workers who call themselves freelancers, in addition to the millions of salaried workers who would lose their right-to-work protections.
Unions, to some degree, have helped build our great country, but we need to give workers the ability to choose, not force them to be in a union. Right-to- work laws give workers a choice. Choice creates competition, and competition breeds success. Forced unionization creates a monopoly, which only leads to stagnation.
President Biden says he believes that ``every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union,'' but the PRO Act would tip the scales towards unionized labor even further. Among other things, the bill requires that workers' personal contact information be sent to unions; removes vote by secret ballot, subjecting them to union harassment; and limits the information workers may receive during a union-organizing campaign. That doesn't sound free and fair to me; it sounds like they want to ensure a favorable outcome for the union bosses and give them the ability to punish workers who don't go along with them.
On a related note, I want to briefly mention the upcoming unionization vote for nearly 6,000 workers at Amazon's facility in Bessemer, AL, just outside of Birmingham. There has been a lot of attention paid to this lately. We have had Hollywood actors, celebrities, Members of Congress, and even President Biden trying to help tip the scales toward the union's favorable outcome. Let me be clear. These hard-working Alabamians don't need Hollywood elites or Federal Government officials telling them what to do. We should all trust they will make the decision they think is right for them and their families. And that is what right-to-work is all about--the right to choose. This is still a free country, after all.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
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