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Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013

Floor Speech

Location: Washington, DC


Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. The longer I listen to this debate, the more confusing it becomes.

I remember a wise man telling me once, You can't get blood out of a turnip, but you can slice it, you can dice it, whip it, and do everything, but it still ends up being turnip juice.

I rise in strong support of Mr. Grimm's amendment, and I do so because there seems to be a tremendous lack of clarity. It's amazing how we can all read the same words but arrive at a different meaning. And we can read them over and over and over again. So it would seem to me that the best way to have clarity is to make absolutely certain that these agencies understand that yes, they do in fact have the authority to say yea or nay, yes or no, to entering into project labor agreements.

I'm a strong supporter of organized labor. It doesn't mean that I think labor unions are perfect. Oftentimes, many of the people in the community where I live feel that they cannot access labor unions; that they can't get in, that they can't get membership. Yet and still, I think that project labor agreements are the best way to get the quality and the assurance that we're getting the best bang for the buck.

So, again, I reiterate my support for the Grimm amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.


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