Political Quotes

“But the foundation of the Davis-Bacon wage scale went back to a Federal building contract that was awarded on low bid in New York City. And there was a contractor that brought in labor from Alabama, and it was African American labor from Alabama because they would work cheaper than the union labor in New York City. That's an historical fact. This is a Jim Crow law. And I would appreciate it if the gentleman would join me in repealing it from the books. But it's a practical application today. It's 8-35 percent more money when you go Davis-Bacon wage scale. I average it out to 20 percent. My company, that I sold to my oldest son, has done work on these sites, and we know the costs and we know the skills that are there. And we're developing the skills within our region and our neighborhood because we keep those people 12 months out of the year. They don't always go in and out of the union hall; if they can compete, they do. But we need to develop the skills and intellectual property. We need to develop our fuel so that we aren't importing oil from the Middle East. I urge adoption of this amendment.”