Hearings
This hearing examined strategies – including investments in rebuilding crumbling infrastructure – to create good-paying jobs in order to put the nation’s stalled economy on the road to recovery. More than 2.2 million American workers have lost their jobs in the past 12 months and millions more are still looking for permanent employment.
Archived Webcast »
Witnesses:
- Panel I:
- Hon. Charles E. F. Millard » Director Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
- Panel II:
- Jared Bernstein » Director of the Living Standards Program Economic Policy Institute
- Ron Blackwell » Chief Economist AFL-CIO
- Christopher Hansen » President and CEO AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association)
-
Robert Pollin »
Professor of Economics
Founding Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute University of Massachusetts at Amherst - Dana Stevens » Unemployed Worker Thorofare, New Jersey
-
William W. Beach »
Director
Center for Data Analysis The Heritage Foundation
This hearing, held in San Francisco, CA, further examined how the current financial crisis is impacting pension funds and workers’ directed retirement accounts, such as 401(k) plans.
Witnesses:
- Shlomo Benartzi, Ph.D. » Professor UCLA Anderson School of Management Los Angeles, CA
- Steve Carroll » Retiree Petaluma, CA
- Mark Davis » Partner Kravitz Davis Sansone Encino, CA
- Jacob S. Hacker, Ph.D. » Professor University of California at Berkeley
- Roberta Quan » Retiree Richmond, CA
- Tif Joyce » President Joyce Financial Management Sebastopol, CA
This hearing examined how the current financial crisis is impacting pension funds and workers’ directed retirement accounts, such as 401(k) plans. According to a recent poll by the Associated Press, more than half of all Americans are worried that the ongoing financial crisis will force them to postpone retirement.
Archived Webcast »
Witnesses:
- Jerry Bramlett » CEO BenefitStreet, Inc.
- Dr. Teresa Ghilarducci » Professor of Economic Policy Analysis The New School for Social Research
- Dr. Peter Orszag » Director Congressional Budget Office
- Jack VanDerhei » Research Director Employee Benefit Research Institute
-
Dr. Christian Weller »
Associate Professor of Public Policy
University of Massachusetts-Boston Senior Fellow
Center for American Progress
This hearing explored options to safeguard promised retiree health benefits. With insurance premiums skyrocketing and companies looking to cut expenses, an increasing number of companies have been rolling back or eliminating promised retiree health benefits.
Archived Webcast »
Witnesses:
- C. William Jones » Chairman ProtectSeniors.org
- Bill Kadereit » President National Retiree Legislative Network
- David Lillie » Retiree Raytheon Missile Systems Tucson, Arizona
- Scott Macey » Senior Vice President and Director of Government Affairs Aon Consulting, Inc.
- Norman Stein » Douglas Arant Professor of Law University of Alabama
- Dale Yamamoto » President and Founder Red Quill Consulting
This hearing examined whether the Department of Labor is doing enough to enforce U.S. child labor laws and will explore the impact of child labor on families.
Archived Webcast »
Witnesses:
- Norma Flores » Former child worker Chicago
- Sally Greenberg » Co-Chair Child Labor Coalition
- Alexander Passantino » Acting Wage and Hour Administrator U.S. Department of Labor
- David Strauss » Executive Director Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs
This hearing examined the Department of Labor’s last-minute proposal that would dramatically weaken future workplace health standards and further slow their enactment. The department allowed only 30 days for comment on the proposal and would not hold public hearings.
Archived Webcast »
Witnesses:
- Randel Johnson » Vice President U.S. Chamber of Commerce
- Celeste Monforton, PhD, MPH » The George Washington University School of Public Health
- Margaret “Peg” Seminario » Director of the Department of Occupational Health and Safety AFL-CIO
- Leon Sequeira » Assistant U.S. Labor Secretary for Policy
- Dr. Anne-Imelda M. Radice » Director Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Washington, District of Columbia
- Ms. Suzanne LeBlanc » Executive Director Long Island Children’s Museum Long Island, New York
- Ms. Mary Clare Zales » Deputy Secretary of Education Commonwealth Libraries & Commissioner for Libraries Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
-
Ms. Anna Nunez, MA »
Executive Director
Arizona Health Science Library Librarian University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona - Dr. Eric Jolly » President Science Museum of Minnesota St. Paul, Minnesota
-
Cornelia Ashby »
Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues
U.S. Government Accountability Office -
Anne Campbell Dudro »
Director
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
U.S. Department of Education - Dr. Willard Sakiestewa Gilbert » Chief of Staff National Indian Education Association Washington, DC
- Theodore Hamilton » President Oceti Sakowin Education Consortium Kyle, South Dakota
-
Stanley R. Holder »
Executive Director
Division of Performance and Accountability
Bureau of Indian Education
U.S. Department of the Interior
-
Jared Bernstein »
Director
Living Standards Program
Economic Policy Institute -
Diana Furchtgott-Roth »
Senior Fellow
Center for Employment Policy
Hudson Institute - Robert Greenstein » Executive Director Center on Budget & Policy Priorities
- Nell Minow » Editor and Co-Founder The Corporate Library