On the recordMay 6, 1997
Mr. Chairman, first let me address the substance of the amendment. The amendment objects to the notion of work without compensation, and if that was what was at issue here, I think the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Watt] would have a valid point. But very carefully this is a proposal--and I would stress again to this body, that was included in the administration's request to the Congress--which from the congressional side was tightened up so that enforcement is enforceable rather than representative of a rhetorical approach. In any regard, the precept at issue is the notion of work for benefit. If you think about economics in general, sometimes one works for pay; sometimes our society has a barter element; that is the same techniques people used before the use of coin--barter--are increasingly used today. And so this is, in effect, a barter arrangement. It is work for benefit, and indeed, it is an untaxed benefit.
Source
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