By Erika Eichelberger
Last week, House Republicans voted to protect companies that steal workers' wages.
According to the Department of Labor, many big firms that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a year in federal contracts—including Hewlett Packard, AT&T, and Lockheed Martin—have a history of wage theft. Wage theft refers to employer practices such as not paying overtime, paying employees with debit cards that charge usage fees, or requiring workers to arrive to work early to get ready without paying them for that extra time. On Thursday, House liberals introduced an amendment to a defense spending bill that would forbid the government from handing out contracts to companies that jack their employees' pay. The amendment barely passed, with 25 Republicans voting with Democrats in favor of the measure. But most GOPers—204 of them—voted against the change. (The full list is below.)
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), a group of about 70 liberal Dems in the House, has introduced the same anti-wage-theft amendment to other spending bills in recent weeks, in the hope that it will make it into the final version of one of those spending bills and be signed by President Barack Obama.
In May, House Republicans voted down the anti-wage-theft amendment when it was attached to a spending bill that funds several government agencies. (Ten GOPers voted in favor.) That led to some bad press for GOPers—perhaps one reason why, when the CPC added the same provision to a defense spending bill Thursday, it passed, with 15 more Republicans crossing over to vote with Democrats.
Obama has cracked down on federal contractors in other ways this year. In February, the president signed an executive order mandating a minimum wage of $10.10 for federal contractor employees. In April, he signed another directive which forbids contractors from retaliating against workers who discuss their pay with each other.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.)
Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.)
Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas)
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.)
Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.)
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.)
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas)
Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.)
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas)
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.)
Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio)
Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.)
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas)
Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.)
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.)
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.)
Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.)
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.)
Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.)
Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.)
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.)
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.)
Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa)
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas)
Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.)
Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.)
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas)
Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas)
Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.)
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas)
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.)
Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio)
Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.)
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho)
Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.)
Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.)
Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.)
Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas)
Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.)
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.)
Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.)
Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.)
Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.)
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.)
Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah)
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
Rep. John Carter (R-Texas)
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.)
Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.)
Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.)
Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.)
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.)
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas)
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa)
Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.)
Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.)
Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.)
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.)
Rep. Mike D. Rogers (R-Ala.)
Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio)
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas)
Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.)
Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas)
Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.)
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.)
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.)
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)
Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas)
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas)
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.)
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.)
Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas)
Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.)
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.)
Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.)
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.)
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.)
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.)
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)
Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.)
Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.)
Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio)
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.)
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.)
Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.)
Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.)
Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.)
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah)
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.)
Rep. John C. Fleming (R-La.)
Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.)
Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.)
Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.)
Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.)
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.)
Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.)
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.)
Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas)
Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.)
Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.)
Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.)
Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.)
Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.)
Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.)
Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.)
Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.)
Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.)
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.)
Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.)
Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.)
Rep. Dan Benishek (R-Mich.)
Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.)
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.)
Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.)
Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ariz.)
Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.)
Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.)
Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.)
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.)
Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.)
Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas)
Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.)
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.)
Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas)
Rep. Cory Gardner (Colo.)
Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio)
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.)
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.)
Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ariz.)
Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.)
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.)
Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.)
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.)
