Marcy Kaptur: “First, I want to thank Mr. Grimm for offering this bipartisan amendment. Last year, we saw the same effort to attack…”

“First, I want to thank Mr. Grimm for offering this bipartisan amendment. Last year, we saw the same effort to attack project labor agreements in the military construction appropriations bill. This House on a bipartisan basis made the right choice, and we voted to support negotiated contract labor agreements. Why? It's the American way. It's the American way to respect the dignity of the individual. Yes, we respect their lives, their liberty, and indeed their pursuit of happiness. In northern Ohio, we've seen how important project labor agreements are. We use them to save lives as skilled laborers perform extremely dangerous work that I would dare say almost no one in this House is capable of performing. These agreements are absolutely essential for workplace safety, for ensuring quality construction, and protecting the lives and rights of those men and women who perform extremely difficult, sophisticated, and superhuman work on a regular basis. I'm reminded in Toledo, Ohio, not so long ago we were replacing a major interstate lift bridge--the largest transportation project in Ohio history--over $400 million over several years. We knew we needed a project labor agreement to complete the job with as few accidents as possible because we were replacing a lift bridge along one of the region's most important interstate highway systems adjoining three States.…”