Nick Rahall: “Here we go again. The majority is continuing what started out in some of the States this year and has been going on with…”

“Here we go again. The majority is continuing what started out in some of the States this year and has been going on with more vehemency in this body. They are continuing attacks on the collective bargaining rights of workers. They are continuing to blame the workers of this country for the economic ills. I think it's worth noting that the gentleman from Texas just noted the trouble that people have had complying with Davis-Bacon over the years. It has been around since 1931 when two Republicans by the names of Davis and Bacon instituted the Davis-Bacon law. Study after study has shown that, despite the opponents' claims, the Davis-Bacon Act has had little or no effect on the total cost of federally assisted construction projects. In fact, there is a study that shows that the high-wage States actually attract more productive, effective, highly skilled, and safe workers, making the cost per mile of highway construction actually cheaper in high-wage States than in low-wage States. It's important to note as well that here we are in an economic recovery, and these Republican continued attacks on our workers of this country at a time when we are slowly, however slowly, pulling out of a recession and entering a recovery do not make any sense at all. I would urge my colleagues to oppose this continued attack on the workers' rights of this country. I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello). The Acting CHAIR.…”