Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I strongly oppose this amendment. It seeks to waive longstanding prevailing wage requirements that are contained in the Davis-Bacon Act. This act ensures that workers are paid decent wages while preventing contractors from undercutting competitors by offering wages or setting wages below prevailing levels. Davis-Bacon helps protect workers. It helps protect the government. Davis-Bacon applies government-wide, but it does particularly apply to the T-HUD sections of the bill. Hence, I strongly oppose it. I often noted immodestly over these last years when everybody was talking infrastructure--and ``Infrastructure Week'' almost became a punch line--that while everybody else was talking about it, we were doing it. We were doing it on the T-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee and in the Congress, year after year, plugging away at our infrastructure needs. And that is what we have done. We have actually made investments in the annual T-HUD bill, and these investments are practically synonymous with construction. That is what they are about. Construction. Construction workers. There are countless transportation formula and competitive grant programs, as well as affordable housing programs in the bill that follow Davis-Bacon requirements--have done so happily and productively over many years--and they would suddenly face new standards.…”