John Culberson: “I share the gentleman's concerns, but I think his amendment is written so broadly that it is going to have an impact far…”

“I share the gentleman's concerns, but I think his amendment is written so broadly that it is going to have an impact far beyond anything he actually intended. For example, if a very large company like Boeing ever failed to pay somebody overtime on one occasion, the way his amendment is drafted, this would bar Boeing from ever doing any business with the Federal Government. It would bar Lockheed, which is responsible for building the Orion spacecraft for NASA, and they are doing an extraordinarily good job in doing so. It is almost inevitable. None of us are perfect. Everybody, somewhere or somehow, is going to make a mistake. It is just inevitable. In the way the gentleman's amendment is drafted, the Federal Government could not hire any company that was ever dealt with in a proceeding that included the term ``Fair Labor Standards Act.'' It essentially blackballs any contractor who has ever had any violation of any kind, anywhere, anytime. It is too broad. This is not the right place for it. You are going to do great damage to a lot of very good companies that have had very minor, one-time violations a number of years ago. I know that is not the gentleman's intent, but the language before the House that he has drafted is very broad and has implications far beyond what I know he has laid out here tonight.…”