On the recordApril 26, 2018
This is an amendment that this House has seen before in different configurations, but it is known as the Davis-Bacon amendment. What it does, it provides that none of the funds made available by this act may be used to implement, to administer, or enforce the prevailing rate of wage requirements, commonly referred to as the Davis-Bacon Act. Mr. Chairman, I think that we know what this bill does. It was in 1931, it was established for, I will say, trade protectionism, labor protectionism, to lock the African-American labor from Alabama out of the construction trades in New York City that were unionized at that time and strongly protected, and still are, actually, but the substance of it is this. I have a letter here that was written by Grover Norquist, the president of Americans For Tax Reform, and in summary, it says this: Because the Davis-Bacon Act reduces the number of jobs, increases costs, and has a racist history, funds from the FAA Reauthorization Act should not be used to fulfill Davis-Bacon Act requirements. Americans For Tax Reform, therefore, strongly supports Congressman King's amendment. That is one version of description of this bill. Here is another one I thought was a little bit more descriptive. This is an article written by George Will, and it is dated June 19, 2017. He references back to River City, and he says a quote from that, ``The Music Man'': You really ought to give Iowa a try, provided you are contrary.…





