Donald Norcross: “I thank the Congresswoman for yielding me time. I rise in strong opposition to this misguided Davis-Bacon amendment. Why…”

“I thank the Congresswoman for yielding me time. I rise in strong opposition to this misguided Davis-Bacon amendment. Why would anybody come to this floor and say: I want to lower the wages for the people I represent? Why would anybody want to do that? We are here to help people raise their local standards of living. That is what this amendment would do: it would lower the wages for the working conditions of those very men and women that we were elected to serve. It would hurt the local economy, devalue the workers' pay. Almost 100 years ago, two Republicans, Congressman James Davis and Robert Bacon, realized there was a problem with the Federal Government and contracts. The contracts were unfair to those local economies. In 1931, unanimously approved, Davis-Bacon prevailing wage, it ensured construction workers coming in are paid the same as local labor--as local labor. It levels the playing field, ensures workers get paid a fair day's pay for a hard day's work--easy answers, very easy answers. For my colleagues supporting this amendment, I have a few questions of you. Do you want the Federal Government to make bad investments? Do you want to cut those wages for the very people who elected you? Do you want local workers to suffer, people coming into your town and your community, and cut the wages? I don't think so. We are not here to lower the standards. We are here to raise the standards. Speaking of President Trump, guess who used and paid prevailing wage?…”