Burgess Owens: “on May 22 of this year, the Senate, the other body, heeding the voices of more than 21,000 construction contractors and…”

“on May 22 of this year, the Senate, the other body, heeding the voices of more than 21,000 construction contractors and millions of American workers throughout the Nation, voted to reject any plans to repeal the Davis-Bacon Act. By the overwhelming margin of 99 to zero the Senate endorsed bipartisan reform to preserve Davis-Bacon. I think that is very significant that the Senate, the other body in this Congress, has taken a strong stance in favor of reform, with the assumption that any law, any institution, any structure would benefit from reform. But the Senate is not following the lead of the House and demanding that there be a repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act. I think this is a vindication of the system that was set up by the Founding Fathers when they said that we needed two Houses, one which could accept, and the analogy was made of the saucer and the cup, the pouring of tea or coffee into a saucer to cool it off; and the other, of course, would generate the heat that is in the cup. I think the House of Representatives is a body where there is a great deal of heat and energy. We have 435 Members, after all. When you multiply even the minimal energy of one person by 435, you get a great deal of heat and energy. The heat and energy in this body sometimes spins out of control. We need the wisdom and the patience of the Senate to sometimes bring us back to reality.”