James Oberstar: “Mr. Speaker, it has been widely reported that the issue or one of the issues certainly that delayed this bill from floor…”

“Mr. Speaker, it has been widely reported that the issue or one of the issues certainly that delayed this bill from floor consideration was the applicability of the Davis-Bacon Act to the non-Federal contributions to Corps projects. It has always been my belief and experience that Davis-Bacon applies to all aspects of Federal public works projects, regardless of whether the Corps is doing the work, or a non-Federal sponsor is contributing to the work. These are Federal public works projects. Davis-Bacon should apply. The Corps was not consistently applying Davis-Bacon wage protections to the non-Federal contribution for Corps projects, and I was prepared to offer legislative language to remedy the situation. Such action is not necessary now that the Corps, the Department of the Army, the Department of Labor and the White House itself got together, reviewed the matter in a meeting in my office and have come to an agreement that Davis-Bacon does apply.”