Dan Kildee: “I thank the ranking member. Mr. Chairman, this is actually a pretty simple question, and I know my friend from Iowa…”

“I thank the ranking member. Mr. Chairman, this is actually a pretty simple question, and I know my friend from Iowa tends to see this question through the lens of his own personal experience and his own company, but, frankly, this is a bigger question than that. I think it is right that the Federal Government has a stake in how it spends its money and that the Federal Government ought to be able to say that when we fund construction projects, we don't want contractors to simply pick the cheapest labor they can. Sure, we may want to build more roads, but we want to make sure those roads last. It is not just a matter of how many miles you build, but whether or not they are going to be done in a way that makes sure that the quality of the work matches the investment that this country is making. So, Mr. Chairman, I understand the gentleman's point. I can just tell you about my own experience having done development and construction in one of the toughest markets in America, big construction and small jobs. I always knew when we paid a prevailing wage that the work was going to be done on time and it was going to be done with quality. When it comes to the Federal dollar, doesn't it seem to me and all of us here that cheap is not always better, and that we owe it to the American people to deliver to them a product that is consistent with the quality that they would like to see in their own home?…”