After Republicans backed away from an expected filibuster and agreed to stop several weeks of delaying tactics, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday afternoon approved the nomination of Representative Hilda Solis by an 80-17 vote.
Says SMWIA President Michael Sullivan:
The confirmation of Rep. Hilda Solis is a major victory for working Ameircans who will have a secretary of labor that represents working people, not wealthy CEO’s. The SMWIA looks forward to working with a Labor Secretary who promises to put the interests of the American people ahead of Wall Street interests.
The delay of Rep. Solis’s nomination for partisan and ideological reasons was overcome by the grassroots support of millions of Americans who are struggling and desperately need a secretary of labor who will be their voice. On Monday, the SMWIA sent out an email alert to its membership list asking for members to contact their US Senators. The response was overwhelming with members joining unionists from across the labor movement in jamming Congressional phone lines.
In the vote, 54 Democrats, 24 Republicans and two Independents voted for confirmation. All 17 votes against confirmation were cast by Republicans.
Solis, a Democratic member of the U.S. House from California, was announced in December as President Obama’s choice to lead the Department of Labor, and her confirmation hearing took place on January 9th. However, Big Business groups and some far-right Republican senators loudly complained about Solis’s long record of support for working families and unions and delayed the confirmation vote until today.
As a member of the U.S. House, Solis earned a 97 percent AFL-CIO working family voting record.
Before her election to Congress in 2000, Solis served in the California legislature, first in the Assembly and then in 1994 becoming the first Latina elected to the state Senate.