Don Nickles: “Some people have equated this with a patriotic vote because we appreciate the firefighters in New York and Virginia.…”

“Some people have equated this with a patriotic vote because we appreciate the firefighters in New York and Virginia. Certainly we do. The firefighters in Virginia were nonunion. The firefighters in New York were union. That is not the issue. The issue is whether or not the Federal Government is going to go in and preempt States or dictate to the States collective bargaining laws for public employees. We have never passed a law that says we are going to have collective bargaining dictated by the Federal Government for State employees or for city employees. We have never done it in 225 years. We never passed such a law. We have never passed a law that says: Sheriffs, officers, you can have collective bargaining. We have never done that, but we are getting ready to do it. We have never done it to all cities. Right now, this legislation goes to cities with populations of greater than 5,000. Other States have different laws. Every State has a law dealing with collective bargaining, but now we are saying we are going to tell the States what to do, and the States have to pass laws that are basically, substantially equivalent with this law or else it doesn't apply. A Federal bureaucrat is going to decide whether the existing State laws are in compliance. Some States have a local option. The majority of States have a local option. They let cities make that decision. We are trying to say: Cities, you can't make it.”