I'm very proud to be here this afternoon as we introduce this critical legislation. I want to thank my friend Tom Lantos for his leadership on this issue, as well as Congresswoman Solis, whose voice is a welcome and important addition to this debate.

I especially want to thank Sandy Ellis and her colleagues from the Massachusetts Nurses Association for being here. Sandy and I have fought in the trenches together, and she's an extraordinary advocate for her colleagues.

We are here this morning in an effort to protect not just the rights of health care workers, but the safety of their patients. If this country is to truly have the finest health care system in the world, that system must be staffed by qualified professionals who are treated like qualified professionals. Our bill would help us meet that goal.

Recently, my hometown of Worcester experienced a very difficult strike by the nurses at St. Vincent's hospital. Over 600 nurses stood firm and stood together against mandatory overtime. In the end, they won. But more importantly, their patients won. Their patients won the right to treatment from a nurse who hasn't been on his or her feet for 16 hours. Their patients won the right to safe, effective health care. That was the real victory in Worcester, and that is our goal with this legislation.

Our bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to prohibit most mandatory overtime beyond 8 hours in a workday or 80 hours in any 14-day work period. The legislation would not prohibit voluntary overtime.

Too often, our health care system is based on the bottom line, on profits rather than patients. Health care companies can save money by forcing people to work brutal hours. But those savings come with a real and disturbing cost: the increased likelihood of medical errors. Quite simply, that is just too high a price to pay.

Again, I want to thank my colleagues and the health care professionals who have joined us here today.

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