“Congresswoman Hilda Solis is a strong champion of working families and will be an outstanding Secretary of Labor. Given our enormous economic challenges facing our nation, I urge the Senate to take swift action and confirm her nomination.

“Congresswoman Solis will take the helm of the Department of Labor during an extremely trying time for our nation’s economy and our workers. Just today we learned that 524,000 workers lost their jobs in December for a total of 3.6 million since the recession began. And, economists tell us that we may have not hit bottom.

“This is why our nation’s workers demand a Labor Secretary who understands the everyday struggles Americans are facing. Hilda Solis is the right person for the job. Her record in the California legislature as a leader on labor issues and her excellent work in Congress on behalf our of nation’s working men and women will restore the Department of Labor as an advocate for hard working Americans. 

“I look forward to working with Secretary-designate Solis and the Obama administration to move the country forward on our nation’s workers top priorities: expanding health care, ensuring fair and equal pay, improving worker safety, strengthening retirement security and rebuilding our middle class.”

“Congresswoman Solis will take the helm of the Department of Labor during a very trying time for our nation and our workers. Our nation’s growing economic uncertainty demands a Labor Secretary who understands the everyday struggles Americans are facing.

“The task of rebuilding the Department of Labor after years of neglect will be particularly daunting. As a colleague and former member of the Education and Labor Committee, I am confident that Hilda Solis is the right person to lead this effort to ensure that the Labor Department fights for working people.”

 “I look forward to working with her and the Obama administration to move the country forward on expanding health care, ensuring fair and equal pay, improving worker safety, strengthening retirement security and rebuilding our middle class.”

“During his campaign, President-Elect Obama promised to fix our broken global trading system by insisting on strong, enforceable labor and environmental standards in future trade agreements. He pledged to re-negotiate the deeply flawed North American Free Trade Agreement, hold off consideration of the proposed trade agreement with Colombia until its government shows real progress in addressing and prosecuting the horrific assassinations of labor leaders and union members in its country, and strengthen assistance for U.S. workers who lose their jobs due to trade. These promises are an enormous step in the right direction, and I hope that the President-Elect and Mr. Kirk will deliver on them.

“Our committee looks forward to working with Mr. Kirk and the Obama administration to modernize NAFTA and CAFTA, and to negotiate future trade agreements that will help rebuild and strengthen our economy, restore our competitive edge, and uphold our belief that all workers on this planet deserve basic human rights and labor protections.”

Miller has been a leading voice in calling for the Colombian government to do more to effectively address the horrific assassinations of its country’s labor leaders and union members before the U.S. moves forward with its proposed trade agreement with Colombia. Currently, the country’s impunity rate for such murders remains well above 90 percent, and even many convicted killers remain at large.  For more information on his efforts, click here.

“Today’s devastating news that our nation lost more than a half million jobs in November is further evidence that we need to move quickly and decisively to put Americans back to work. Our economy will not get back on track until Americans are working again and families feel secure about their economic future.

“Our first priority must be to approve an economic recovery plan that will make investments in energy independence, rebuild our neglected infrastructure, and continue to provide relief to families struggling to make ends meet. Economists of every stripe tell us that targeted investments in infrastructure improvements and the green economy will create millions of jobs in the short-term and encourage long-term economic growth.

“But, as our nation builds a more resilient economy, we must also ensure that all workers are able to share in a rebounding economy. Workers must be able to earn a fair wage, decent benefits and have the ability to enjoy a secure retirement. I look forward to working with the new Congress and the Obama administration to improve the economic security of American workers and strengthen middle-class families.”