Todd Tiahrt: “I rise in support of the Paycheck Protection Act and I do so because I believe as Americans we should have control over…”

“I rise in support of the Paycheck Protection Act and I do so because I believe as Americans we should have control over the money that we earn, especially when the money goes to support a political opinion or a political candidate. Now, there are some, as the previous speaker noted, who would say that this will go so workers do not have a right to speak. Well, that is not true. Workers do have a right to speak. All that this requires is they will have to say, ``Yes, I want you to take my money and I want you to spend it however I see fit.'' And to say that Thomas Jefferson did not say what he said, it was not sacrilegious, it is very clear what he said. He said it was tyranny. It has been said that the unions will not be able to talk to their members because of this bill. Again, that is not true. In my district the unions communicate weekly with their members through newspapers. They talk to them and have union meetings. People freely come and go. All this bill says is that if organizations are going to use money for political purposes, they just have to get permission. You just have to ask people for it. Who is behind this? Eighty percent of union households and about 90 percent of Americans that are not in union households. They want to protect the paychecks that people work so hard for. I think everyone of us should be involved in the political process. But I think you should control how your political support goes.”