Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Omnibus Bill

December 18, 2007 -- "The insistence by the White House and Republican minority in the Senate that the omnibus spending bill be written to their exact specifications shows their utter contempt for the will of the American people who clearly voted for change in 2006.

When Democrats captured the House and the Senate last year, we hoped to see cooperation between the White House and Congress to improve the lives of working Americans. But those hopes were founded on confidence that President Bush and congressional Republicans would honor the results of the 2006 election and bend – at least a little – to the will of the American people. Instead, they have done the opposite.

One of the casualties in the final omnibus bill was a move by the Democrats to stop a rank new directive from the Bush Labor Department that adds yet another debilitating burden to unions by requiring more than 100,000 workplace volunteers to report their run-of-the-mill consumer transactions to the federal government. The Labor Department failed to provide even an iota of justification for the new requirement, which can only harass and intimidate the worksite volunteers who are the heart of a healthy labor movement. President Bush and the Senate Republicans yet again invoked their increasingly familiar no-holds-barred obstructionism and refused to back off, while the Democrats, to our great disappointment, did.

As we go into 2008, the Democrats must stand their ground on behalf of the voters who elected them to lead.

If Republicans in Congress refuse to listen to the message for change the American people have been sending loud and clear, our only recourse is to send a louder message – a message backed up by our votes in 2008 – so that no amount of Republican obstructionism can continue to thwart the will of the American people."

Source: AFL-CIO