Dems to Force House to Vote on Pres's Gulf Coast Wage Cut

[LiviaOlivia]

Rep. Miller to Force House to Vote on President's Gulf Coast Wage Cut
Invokes never-before-used parliamentary procedure to force vote
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Press Release
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ed31_democrats/rel102005.html


WASHINGTON, DC -- Representative George Miller (D-CA) and other House Democrats today employed an unprecedented parliamentary procedure that will force the House to vote by November 4 on whether or not to overturn President Bush's Gulf Coast wage cut.

In September, the President issued a proclamation suspending the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act for workers in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. Davis-Bacon requires federal contractors to pay construction workers the locally prevailing wage for their job function. Suspending the law, as Bush has done at the request of 35 House Republicans and Republican activist Grover Norquist, means that federal contractors can pay workers less than they would usually have to pay for the same work and with no obligation to pass any savings on to federal taxpayers.

Miller introduced legislation in September to overturn the President's proclamation. Every single Democratic lawmaker in the House (as well as one independent) has co-sponsored the bill but not one Republican has done so.

Now, Miller is finally able to force a vote in the House on the wage cut issue. Miller today introduced a Joint Resolution under the 1976 National Emergencies Act, which provides for fast track action by Congress when the President unilaterally suspends a law, as he did with Davis-Bacon. Although the National Emergencies Act is nearly 30 years old, this is the first time that a lawmaker has ever invoked its fast track procedures. By law, Congress must act on Miller's Joint Resolution within 15 calendar days-in this case, by November 4.

"This extraordinary action is necessary because the Republican leadership is failing to fulfill its responsibility to investigate the wages being paid in the Gulf and to honor the will of at least half of the members of the House that oppose the President's wage cut to hard-working Americans helping to rebuild roads, bridges, schools and hospitals," said Miller, the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee that oversees the nation's wage and labor laws. Miller noted that 37 Republicans have written to the President opposing his suspension of the Act.

"The President has exploited a national tragedy to cut workers' wages, a long-sought goal among his right-wing cronies," Miller said. "The prevailing wages along the Gulf Coast were already among the lowest in the country. How does the President think that $11.01 per hour is too much to pay a dump truck driver in New Orleans or that $7.45 an hour is too much to pay a pipe layer in Mississippi? It is amazing that the President and Republicans in Congress see no problem with awarding billion-dollar no-bid contracts to cronies like Halliburton, but think that local workers in the Gulf struggling to get back on their feet after Katrina are being overpaid."

Miller's resolution applies only to the President's Davis-Bacon suspension, and has no effect on any other Katrina-related disaster relief actions undertaken by the Bush Administration. The resolution must also be introduced in the Senate. If the House and Senate pass the resolution, it would be sent to the President for his consideration.

Visit http://edworkforce.house.gov/democrats/katrinalocalwages.html for background information on President Bush's Gulf Coast wage cut.

[villager]

1. cajones? Democrats? wha?

n/t

[Supersedeas]

14. you mean to tell me Pelosi is finally standing up

[villager]

15. the mind reels!

Cajones, ovaries -- wherever the "stones" come from! Can it be Dems are actually using some of the Cowardly Lion's "courage?"

[texpatriot2004]

2. Another example of Dems doing something. Thank you. nm

[texastoast]

3. Do let's publish the tally

And make large note of how the Democrats were looking out for working people. We need to see more of this.

[sui generis]

4. I like "issued a proclamation"

I say we round up some pitchforks and torches and go get the monster . . .

[LiviaOlivia]

5. On the repug side

TPM Cafe
By Nathan Newman
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/10/20/15326/084
Oct 20, 2005 -- 03:03:26 PM EST

~snip~

37 Republicans have written to the President opposing his suspension of the Act, more than enough to overturn Bush's action, and they may have to put their votes where there's mouths are if the Democrats succeed with this maneuver.

A key to GOP unity has been avoiding tough votes on labor issues for Republicans in labor-friendly districts. But that gambit may be coming to an end.

~snip~

[leesa]

6. Good move...make the Republicans own it.

[napi21]

7. Miller must have a GREAT staffer to have dug this one up!

Great job...who ever you are!!!!

I bet if all the Dem staffers looked really hard they'd find some other moves like this that would shove the Pubs off their arrogant pedestals!!!!

[OneTwentyoNine]

8. Way to go DEM'S!! Fight back instead of just shrugging sholders...n/t

[electron_blue]

9. finally

Wonderful!

[nashville_brook]

10. imagine what it would look like if our leaders used the DISASTER

as an opportunity to IMPROVE workers' compensation.

imagine if our leadership actually did something that could HELP those people down there instead of exploiting them to fatten their cronies.

what would that look like?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5114942

THE HOMEBOY REVOLUTION: families as economic units instead of sexual units

[gulfcoastliberal]

11. Note how it's the rank&file - not "leadership" doing this. Pelosi sucks

Can't speak coherently during interviews, and sucks as the house minority leader. Why isn't she championing this move, besides cosigning it with all the other house dems? Has she even commented on it?

Edit: She's all talk, no action:

Pelosi: Bush Administration Undermines Workers Rights for Livable Wages in Hurricane Stricken Areas

Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement this evening in response to President Bush’s executive order rescinding the Davis-Bacon Act in hurricane stricken areas, allowing employers using federal disaster assistance money to pay unfair wages to workers in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.

“The Davis-Bacon Act was signed into law in the Great Depression, a time when scurrilous employers were taking advantage of the desperation of American workers to care for their families. At that time, and for more than 70 years since then, the federal government has demanded that when taxpayer money is spent, workers should be paid a livable wage.

“But today, the Bush Administration demonstrated the latest example of its anti-worker agenda, with an executive order rescinding the requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act for areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. That means that as workers return to their lives and livelihoods on the Gulf Coast, the Bush Administration wants to use federal money to exploit them by paying less than the prevailing wage.

“It's this simple: Hurricane Katrina took away their jobs, now President Bush will take away their wages when they find new jobs. This is a partisan and punitive decision that will make economic recovery much harder for workers and their families.

“Now is a time to come together to rebuild and restore, not undo years of hard-won worker's rights. Democrats call on President Bush to immediately rescind this order, so that American families can get on with the hard work of rebuilding their lives.”
http://democraticleader.house.gov/press/releases.cfm?pressReleaseID=1163

She "calls" on Bush rescind the order but she doesn't come up with a plan to force the issue like Miller did. Useless.

[LiviaOlivia]

12. kick

[Roland99]

13. Are the Dems leaving the "No Spine Zone"?

:D