http://www.circavie.com/timelines/9bc3f523-4977-58f9-beec-6c7e914a5bfe 2007-08-03T13:16:30Z http://www.circavie.com/ http://img.youtube.com/vi/9RULqkB1DMs/default.jpg http://www.circavie.com/timelines/9bc3f523-4977-58f9-beec-6c7e914a5bfe http://www.circavie.com/timelines/9bc3f523-4977-58f9-beec-6c7e914a5bfe/14296 One measure, authored by U.S. Reps. Jason Altmire (D-PA) and Tom Udall (D-NM), would help workers meet their work and family responsibilities when a loved one is deployed to a combat zone. The other measure, authored by U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), would help military families care for a loved one wounded during wartime. The Altmire-Udall legislation allows workers to use Family and Medical Leave to manage issues that arise as a result of the deployment of a spouse, parent, or child to a combat zone like Iraq or Afghanistan. Under current law, workers may only use that time for family illnesses or births. The Woolsey legislation expands the Family and Medical Leave Act to allow family members of wounded soldiers to take up to six months of unpaid leave from their jobs to care for their loved ones. Under current law, workers may only take up to 12 workweeks. The President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors found that the average length of rehabilitation for a wounded service member is 45 days, though rehabilitations often take longer. bee62965-71d4-5342-8b96-2bd316d56afe 2007-12-13T16:37:20Z http://www.circavie.com/timelines/9bc3f523-4977-58f9-beec-6c7e914a5bfe/14238 Left: Speaker Nancy Pelosi signs the bill before sending it to the President. U.S. Reps. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Dale Kildee (D-MI), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, issued the following statement after the President signed the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007. “For four decades, Head Start has been providing millions of children with the opportunity to reach school age ready to learn and succeed – an opportunity that all children richly deserve. Congress acted on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis to strengthen and reaffirm this important national commitment to America’s children by passing the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007. Now, with this important bill signed into law, we have paved the way for a reinvigorated Head Start program that will improve the lives of many more children in the years to come.” 03719976-296f-5933-8c37-ae98caa4b61e 2007-12-12T21:42:03Z http://www.circavie.com/timelines/9bc3f523-4977-58f9-beec-6c7e914a5bfe/14235 The U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval to a comprehensive energy package that includes legislation to help train American workers for jobs in the renewable energy and energy-efficiency industries – industries that could create as many as 3 million green collar jobs over a 10-year period. “By helping green industries to grow by providing them with a strong supply of well-trained, highly-skilled workers, this bill would remove one of the barriers that slows our progress in confronting the serious dangers posed by global warming,” said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, which approved the green jobs legislation on June 27. “This initiative would boost the American economy by creating good-paying jobs in industries that are likely to continue to grow for years.” 78d2b64f-8cf0-565d-aaf9-a41aa041ee8c 2007-12-12T20:35:30Z http://www.circavie.com/timelines/9bc3f523-4977-58f9-beec-6c7e914a5bfe/14234 The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting Our Children Comes First Act by a vote of 408-3. 32e775b3-d3d8-5157-b42c-3ed233349b32 2007-12-12T20:34:29Z http://www.circavie.com/timelines/9bc3f523-4977-58f9-beec-6c7e914a5bfe/14233 The House passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act by a vote of 405-2 to hold employers and foreign labor contractors responsible for foreign workers recruited for jobs in the United States. The measure, which includes many provisions proposed by Chairman Miller earlier in the year, would require clear and accurate disclosure of terms of employment to recruited workers in their native language including location, compensation, job requirements, and commissions paid by employers to recruiters, among other items. It would also outlaw exorbitant fees paid by workers to recruiters that expose workers to bankruptcy or other financial harm. The bill also requires foreign labor recruiters to register with the Department of Labor and gives the Department the ability to exclude unscrupulous recruiters from participating in guest worker programs. 038dc1e3-87f7-528b-9ef5-0dba2d90234a 2007-12-12T20:34:07Z http://www.circavie.com/timelines/9bc3f523-4977-58f9-beec-6c7e914a5bfe/14232 Left: Speaker Pelosi speaks about the 21st Century Competitiveness Act on the floor of the House. The 21st Century Competitiveness Act makes major investments in education and job training programs to help encourage America’s innovative spirit and strengthen the nation’s economic competitiveness. 59b90764-4e2d-5046-b8e9-de7f3ee5c82e 2007-12-12T20:32:01Z http://www.circavie.com/timelines/9bc3f523-4977-58f9-beec-6c7e914a5bfe/14231 House Democrats took the lead in securing emergency financial assistance for schools and colleges in Gulf Coast communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina. A disaster supplemental bill signed into law by President Bush on May 25 included $60 million in federal assistance to address a severe teacher shortage in schools in New Orleans and surrounding areas and to provide funding to schools and colleges in those areas to help them pay off debt and meet other challenges they’ve faced over the past year and a half. Left: Flood-damaged library at Southern University at New Orleans 1b3068f5-cbaa-5a87-80df-60f0d95367cb 2007-12-12T20:28:56Z http://www.circavie.com/timelines/9bc3f523-4977-58f9-beec-6c7e914a5bfe/14229 George Miller, Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee said concerning the increase, "America's minimum wage workers have been waiting a long time for a raise. The last time they saw an increase was nearly 10 years ago. Since that last increase, in 1997, the value of the minimum wage has dropped to its lowest level in over half a century." 0ae1be0a-6166-516e-b744-6bef4f077687 2007-12-12T20:04:02Z http://www.circavie.com/timelines/9bc3f523-4977-58f9-beec-6c7e914a5bfe/13676 Left: Speaker Nancy Pelosi signs the bill before sending it to the President. The U.S. House of Representatives voted to give final approval to bipartisan legislation to improve and reauthorize the Head Start early childhood development and education program. The House approved the legislation by a vote of 381 to 36. “Head Start remains a cornerstone in this country’s efforts to help all children learn, to combat poverty, and to provide all Americans with the opportunity to meet their fullest potential,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “By building on Head Start’s past successes, this bipartisan legislation will help more poor children reach school age ready to learn and thrive.” 6c548dae-1595-565b-a21a-e6de818c2663 2007-12-04T21:50:09Z http://www.circavie.com/timelines/9bc3f523-4977-58f9-beec-6c7e914a5bfe/13675 The U.S. House of Representatives approved historic legislation to end workplace discrimination against Americans on the basis of sexual orientation. “This legislation was first introduced in the House in 1975, more than 30 years ago. In the last three decades, gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans have waged a courageous campaign for their workplace rights,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “They should not have had to wait so long for this vote. This discrimination has no place in American society, and I am proud that the House has taken a stand against it.” 04b5e1cd-8f3a-54a7-abb9-deae48094492 2007-12-04T21:48:11Z