Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, I thought I had actually made the statement, I thought my good friend from Virginia would pick this up, that it isn't about shoddy construction work that can be laid at the feet of merit shop operations. I am standing here on my feet in my boots having done all kinds of work for lots of years, and so has my family, going back about five generations. Our work has been competing with and superior to that of many, and there is nothing in the record of our company that anyone could point to other than quality and efficiency. In fact, the reason that he needs an apprentice program is because you can't afford to hire somebody and train them unless the government is willing to let you pay them less than the prevailing wage. That is what the apprentice program is. I have been one, and I have been bounced out of there because of the Davis-Bacon Act. Furthermore, Mr. Chairman, when I listen to the gentleman about how we are going to prevent people from moving people in from a low-wage area to a high-wage area to take a higher wage or perhaps undercut the existing wage that is there, that is what started the Davis-Bacon Act. It wasn't to keep the low wages out. It was to keep African Americans out of New York City during the Depression when there was a large Federal building contract, and a contractor successfully bid that job.…”