Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in support of the Bartlett-Flake amendment. Let me just clear something up if I can. What has happened is the President issued an executive order where he encouraged the Federal Agencies to--where they can and where appropriate--employ PLAs. That might seem fine. The problem is some of the Federal Agencies have taken that to mean that they should require PLAs, and some of them have issued guidance to that effect. So they've taken what the President said and taken it one step further. What we're trying to do here is simply say that you cannot favor PLAs, nor can you prohibit them, and that the Federal Agencies will be neutral in this regard. To say that it would prohibit the use of PLAs is simply not true. We're simply trying to keep the President or the Federal Agencies from putting their finger on the scale in favor of PLAs or against them. That's what this amendment does, and I'm proud to support it. Let me just say that this amendment was offered in the Appropriations Committee yesterday in the Military Construction bill, and it was passed by a voice vote. There is a recognition that the President has-- unwittingly or not--put his finger on the scale in favor of PLAs or union shops, and that's just not fair. The President and the Agencies ought to be neutral in this regard. PLAs might make sense; they might not. What we ought to do is ensure that the taxpayer gets the biggest bang for the buck.…”