By a vote of 80-17, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed Hilda Solis as the 25th Secretary of Labor. The Department of Laborâs website has posted photos of her arrival at agency headquarters.
Solis served in Congress from 2001-2009, representing Californiaâs 32nd Congressional District. DOLâs press release notes that she authored the Green Jobs Act, which provides funding for green-collar job training for veterans, displaced workers, at-risk youth, and members of families living below 200% of the federal poverty line. She also served for several years in California government, âbecoming the first Latina elected to the California State Senateâ in 1994, and she âled the battle to in increase the state's minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.75 an hour in 1996.â
Weâre looking forward to having the Department of Labor run by someone whoâs willing to go into battle to improve workersâ lives.
Who were the 17 progressives who voted against her? I'm sure all of them voted for and loved the anti-worker policies of Elaine Chao, the lightweight Secretary of Labor under Bush...
According to the Senate website, the Nay votes came from Senators Bond, Bunning, Burr, Coburn, Cornyn, Crapo, DeMint, Ensign, Inhofe, Kyl, Risch, Roberts, Sessions, Shelby, Thune, Vitter, and Wicker.