On the recordJune 5, 2012
In response to that I would say again I have worked in this trade for a lifetime, I have been in the room. I know how this works. This is union scale imposed through the Department of Labor. It is not prevailing wage. There is a study I have in front of me that shows that if we repeal Davis-Bacon there would be approximately 25,000 more minorities working in the construction business. In some trades there are many, some trades there are few. It's not something that's balanced across the countryside. But what you don't have is competition coming into the marketplace. You do not have efficiency in your work. You don't get the bang for the buck because you have got a federally mandated wage scale, and it cuts down on the efficiency because you have people on the projects that are looking for the highest-paid scale that's there. And so they will climb on the finish motor grader and drive up and down the road rather than the rough bulldozer to get the production work done. They won't pick up the shovel because it pays less than it does holding the grade stake. {time} 2150 You cannot get willful efficiency out of people when you have the Federal Government deciding what they're going to pay. Additionally, we have some studies also that show when they audited the reports, 100 percent of those wage reports were wrong, Mr. Chairman. So I would urge its adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.
