William Ford: “I rise in opposition to the amendment. The authors of the amendment, the gentleman from Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, and…”

“I rise in opposition to the amendment. The authors of the amendment, the gentleman from Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, and California, have an admirable aim: to maintain discipline in the budget and prevent increases in the deficit as we provide emergency aid to the victims of the Los Angeles earthquake. But some of the spending cuts they have targeted, already authorized and appropriated by Congress, are ill-considered. I want bring to my colleagues' attention three items within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Education and Labor, which I have the honor to chair. First, the amendment would raise the threshold for application of the Davis-Bacon Act from $2,000 to $100,000. The Davis-Bacon Act, as my colleagues know, requires contractors to pay prevailing wages on Federal and federally assisted construction projects. The act ensures fair competition among contractors and promotes quality work by requiring a wage structure that encourages the use of skilled employees. So-called reform of David-Bacon is not relevant to this appropriations bill.”