Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, this amendment that is before the House this evening is an amendment that shuts off the funding within this continuing resolution to what we know as the Davis-Bacon Act. The Davis-Bacon Act is an old and archaic act that was generated during the Depression era, the early years of the Depression era, in about 1931. It was designed to keep the African American workers out of the trade unions in New York. That's the source of it. I have dealt underneath this law for my working life as a construction contractor, so my hands-on experience with Davis-Bacon, I believe, is as strong as anyone's in this Chamber. The costs that are added to our construction projects are what we should be thinking about here in this 112th Congress, in this Congress of austerity, on this night that we've had of cutting spending and cutting spending, and it's this: According to Heritage Study, the extra wages that are paid out unnecessarily total $10.9 billion. I have done this study within my own construction company, and have looked at the difference in the cost of the Davis-Bacon Federal wage scale. They will call it 'prevailing wage.' I will tell you we know it's union scale, mandated by Federal law, and there is no reason for us to adhere to a union scale mandated by Federal law. My numbers show this: It increases the cost of a project between 8 and 35 percent depending on how much is materials and how much is labor.”