49–006 

109TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 109–258 

REQUESTING THAT THE PRESIDENT TRANSMIT TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES INFORMATION IN HIS POSSESSION RELATING TO CONTRACTS FOR SERVICES OR CONSTRUCTION RELATED TO HURRICANE 

KATRINA RECOVERY THAT RELATE TO WAGES AND BENEFITS TO BE 

PAID TO WORKERS 

OCTOBER 28, 2005.—Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed 

Mr. BOEHNER, from the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce, submitted the following 

ADVERSE REPORT 

together with 

MINORITY VIEWS 

[To accompany H. Res. 467] 

The Committee on Education and the Workforce, to whom was 

referred the resolution (H. Res. 467) requesting that the President 

transmit to the House of Representatives information in his possession relating to contracts for services or construction related to 

Hurricane Katrina recovery that relate to wages and benefits to be 

paid to workers, having considered the same, report unfavorably 

thereon without amendment and recommend that the resolution 

not be agreed to. 

PURPOSE

H. Res. 467, a resolution of inquiry, requests the President to 

transmit to the House of Representatives specified information in 

his possession relating to contracts for services or construction related to Hurricane Katrina recovery that relate to wages and benefits to be paid to workers. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

109th Congress 

On September 27, 2005, Representative George Miller introduced 

H. Res. 467, a resolution of inquiry requesting the President to 

transmit to the House of Representatives certain information in his 

possession relating to contracts for services or construction related 

to Hurricane Katrina recovery that relate to wages and benefits to 

2 

1 Although the resolution does not so state, a significant portion of the information requested 

is in the possession and custody of various administrative agencies named in the resolution and 

presumably is to be transmitted to the House of Representatives via the President. 2See generally 40 U.S.C. § 3141 et seq. 

be paid to workers. Clause 7 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives provides that if a resolution of inquiry is not reported by the committee(s) of jurisdiction to the House within fourteen legislative days of its introduction, a motion to discharge such 

committee(s) from consideration of the resolution shall be privileged on the Floor of the House. 

H. Res. 467 was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce on September 27, 2005. The Committee held no hearings 

on the bill. 

On October 20, 2005, by a roll call vote of 25 ayes to 20 nays, 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce reported H. Res. 

467 unfavorably to the House of Representatives with the recommendation that the resolution not be adopted. 

SUMMARY

H. Res. 467 directs the President 1 to transmit to the House of 

Representatives within fourteen days certain specified information 

relating to contracts for services or construction related to Hurricane Katrina recovery that relate to wages and benefits to be paid 

to workers. 

Specifically, the resolution calls for the production of: (1) copies 

of any portions of any contracts in the President’s possession for 

services or building or other construction (including pre-awarded 

contracts or contracts that were modified or extended) related to 

Hurricane Katrina recovery or rebuilding that address wages and 

benefits to be paid to workers pursuant to the Act commonly 

known as the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. § 3141 et seq.), the Service Contract Act of 1965 (41 U.S.C. § 351 et seq.), or the Fair Labor 

Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.) that were awarded 

by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (or at the request 

of such agency) or by the Departments of Labor, Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, or Defense, or the 

Army Corps of Engineers; and (2) any communications in the President’s possession made or received, on or after August 26, 2005, by 

the Federal Emergency Management Agency or by the Departments of Labor, Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human 

Services, or Defense, or the Army Corps of Engineers, related to 

compliance with or enforcement of the Act commonly known as the 

Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. § 3141 et seq.), the Service Contract Act 

of 1965 (41 U.S.C. § 351 et seq.), or the Fair Labor Standards Act 

of 1938 (29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.) in the geographic areas specified 

in the President’s Proclamation 7924 of September 8, 2005. 

COMMITTEE STATEMENT AND VIEWS

Part A: Background 

Enacted in 1931, the Davis-Bacon Act generally requires the payment of ‘‘prevailing wages’’—as determined by the Department of 

Labor (DOL)—on construction contracts entered into by the federal 

government or the District of Columbia over $2,000.2 Since its enactment, the Davis-Bacon Act has been expanded via legislation to 

3 

3See John R. Luckey & Jon O. Shimabukuro, Prevailing Wage Requirements and the Emergency Suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act, CRS Report No. RS22265 (September 16, 2005) at 2 

& 2 n. 11. 4See 40 U.S.C. § 3141. 5See 40 U.S.C. § 3147. 6The Act may also have been suspended during World War II as part of a generalized state 

of emergency. See William G. Whittaker, The Davis-Bacon Act: Suspension, CRS Report No. 

RL33100 (September 26, 2005), at 1 n. 1, 3–16. 7See generally 41 U.S.C. § 351 et seq. 8 Id. 

9See 41 U.S.C. § 353(b). 10See generally 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. 

apply to 38 federal programs, commonly referred to as the ‘‘DavisBacon Related Acts.’’ 3 On contracts subject to the Davis-Bacon Act, 

federal contractors must certify and submit weekly payroll reports 

to DOL to ensure that appropriate wages are being paid. The Secretary of Labor determines prevailing wage rates based on a survey 

of local wage rates. The Secretary is responsible for gathering the 

wage rate and publishing and updating the data.4

Section 6 of the Davis-Bacon Act provides that the President may 

suspend the Act’s provisions in the case of national emergency.5

Prior to 2005, the Davis-Bacon Act has been explicitly suspended 

on three occasions: (a) in 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt suspended the Act for what appears to have been administrative convenience associated with New Deal legislation. It was restored to 

full strength in less than 30 days with few people, seemingly, 

aware of the suspension; (b) in 1971, President Nixon suspended 

the Act as part of a campaign intended to quell inflationary pressures that affected the construction industry. In just over four 

weeks, the Act was reinstated when the President moved on to different approaches to the problem; (c) in 1992, in the wake of Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki, President George H. W. Bush suspended 

the Act in order to render reconstruction and clean-up in Florida 

and the Gulf Coast and in Hawaii more efficient; the impact of the 

suspension is unclear inasmuch as it was suspended on October 14, 

1992, just days prior to the 1992 election, and reinstated by President Clinton on March 6, 1993 (roughly a five month period).6

The Service Contract Act of 1965 generally provides that contractors and subcontractors providing services on covered federal or 

District of Columbia contracts in excess of $2,500 must pay service 

employees in various classes prevailing wages, including fringe 

benefits, as determined by the Department of Labor. The Act also 

requires contractors to pay prospective increases contained in a 

predecessor contractor’s collective bargaining agreement when taking over a previously held contract.7 Safety and health standards 

also apply to such contracts.8 Section 4 of the Service Contract Act 

provides that the Secretary of Labor may waive the Act with reasonable limitations and allow reasonable variation from any or all 

provisions of the Act, where the Secretary determines that this action is in the public interest or will avoid the serious impairment 

of government.9

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) generally prescribes standards for minimum wage and overtime pay for most 

private and public employees.10 The FLSA requires, inter alia, that 

employers pay covered employees who are not otherwise exempt at 

least the federal minimum wage, and overtime pay of one-and-onehalf-times their regular rate of pay. The FLSA also prescribes recVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:20 Oct 30, 2005 Jkt 049006 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR258.XXX HR258
4 

11 Id. 12See Proclamation of President George W. Bush, To Suspend Subchapter IV of Chapter 31 

of Title 40, United States Code, Within a Limited Geographic Area in Response to the National 

Emergency Caused by Hurricane Katrina, No. 7924 (September 8, 2005). This proclamation suspends the application of Davis-Bacon in certain specified parishes and counties in Louisiana, 

Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Specifically, the waiver extends to the counties of Baldwin, 

Choctaw, Clarke, Mobile, Sumter, and Washington in the State of Alabama; the counties of 

Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe in the State of Florida; the parishes of Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Calcasieu, Caldwell, Cameron, Catahoula, Clairborne, Concordia, Desoto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, 

Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Iberia, Iberville, Jackson, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, La Salle, Lafayette, Lafourche, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Orleans, Ouachita, 

Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. 

Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, 

Tangipahoa, Tensas, Terrebonne, Union, Vermilion, Vernon, Washington, Webster, West Baton 

Rouge, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn in the State of Louisiana; and the counties of 

Adams, Alcorn, Amite, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clarke, Clay, Coahoma, Copiah, Covington, Desoto, Forrest, Franklin, George, Greene, 

Grenada, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Homes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Itawamba, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Kemper, Lafayette, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Leake, 

Lee, Leflore, Lincoln, Lowndes, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Neshoba, 

Newton, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, 

Rankin, Scott, Sharkey, Simpson, Smith, Stone, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tippah, 

Tishomingo, Tunica, Union, Walthall, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wilkinson, Winston, Yalobusha, Yazoo in the State of Mississippi. 

ordkeeping and child labor standards.11 The FLSA does not contain 

any requirement with respect to the payment of ‘‘prevailing wages’’ 

nor, apart from the minimum wage, does it set any wage ‘‘floor’’ for 

federal contracts. The FLSA does not provide either the President 

or the Secretary of Labor with broad authority to waive its provisions. 

Hurricane Katrina and the administration’s response 

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a Category Four hurricane, representing the most devastating natural 

disaster in the modern history of the United States. The amount 

of damage to property caused by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of New Orleans is conservatively estimated to be 

$50 billion, but even that number does not catalogue the devastating impact of families and communities of this disaster. The 

most recent reports indicate that more than 1,200 Americans were 

killed, and more than one million were forced to abandon their 

homes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. 

In response to these historic levels of damage, on September 8, 

2005, invoking section 6 of the Davis-Bacon Act, President Bush 

issued a proclamation suspending the provisions of Davis-Bacon 

and all other acts which apply Davis-Bacon and which provide for 

the payment of prevailing wages for contracts entered into on or 

after September 8, 2005 in counties and parishes affected by Hurricane Katrina.12 The President’s proclamation does not set any explicit time limitation on the duration of the suspension. To date, 

the Secretary of Labor has not suspended application of the Service 

Contract Act in response to Hurricane Katrina. Neither the President nor the Secretary of Labor has suspended (nor could they) the 

Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Part B: H. Res. 467 

H. Res. 467 directs the President to transmit to the House of 

Representatives within fourteen days certain specified information 

relating to contracts for services or construction related to HurriVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:20 Oct 30, 2005 Jkt 049006 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR258.XXX HR258
5 

13 Indeed, on September 22, 2005, Representative George Miller made such a request to the 

Departments of Labor and Homeland Security. 

cane Katrina recovery that relate to wages and benefits to be paid 

to workers. 

Specifically, the resolution calls for the production of: (1) copies 

of any portions of any contracts in the President’s possession for 

services or building or other construction (including pre-awarded 

contracts or contracts that were modified or extended) related to 

Hurricane Katrina recovery or rebuilding that address wages and 

benefits to be paid to workers pursuant to the Davis-Bacon Act, the 

Service Contract Act, or the Fair Labor Standards Act that were 

awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (or at the 

request of such agency) or by the Departments of Labor, Education, 

Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, or Defense, or the 

Army Corps of Engineers; and (2) any communications in the President’s possession made or received, on or after August 26, 2005, by 

the Federal Emergency Management Agency or by the Departments of Labor, Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human 

Services, or Defense, or the Army Corps of Engineers, related to 

compliance with or enforcement of the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service 

Contract Act, or the Fair Labor Standards Act in the geographic 

areas specified in the President’s Proclamation. 

Part C: Committee Concerns 

For the reasons set forth below, the Committee opposes adoption 

of H. Res. 467. 

H. Res. 467 Threatens the Release of Confidential Business Information (CBI). Foremost, the Committee is concerned that H. Res. 

467 will result in the disclosure of confidential business information and proprietary material, which ultimately could be harmful 

to federal contractors and the federal procurement process. 

Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), contractors are 

able to present a case for what should remain confidential when a 

FOIA request is made of an agency. This information could include 

personal data, unit pricing information, technology and process description, or general CBI. Inasmuch as H. Res. 467 is not a FOIA 

request, contractors would not be consulted as to what information 

would be produced, and this information would be directly transferred to Congress. The Committee is deeply concerned about the 

potential for the release of confidential business information inherent in this process. Such an inadvertent release could destroy contractors’ competitive advantage or disclose proprietary information. 

Moreover, inasmuch as the information sought by the resolution 

is obtainable via FOIA, the resolution is unnecessary.13 The Committee believes that this information can be gathered through less 

intrusive means which would not tend to jeopardize confidential 

and proprietary business information and would protect the public 

interest in an efficient federal procurement process. 

H. Res. 467 is Unduly Burdensome and Overbroad. The information requested in the resolution would have to be found on a caseby-case review of every contract entered into by the relevant departments and agencies. This exercise would be unduly burdensome to the agencies and executive branch as a whole, and would 

detract from recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast region. 

6 

14 Indeed, it is possible if not likely that the President would assert executive privilege to encompass certain documents, such that the resolution would not produce the material the Minority is requesting. 

Moreover, the resolution is overbroad. A resolution of inquiry can 

only produce ‘‘facts.’’ The communications encompassed by the resolution are not limited to ‘‘facts’’ and thus should not be subject to 

disclosure in response to the inquiry. At a minimum, seeking the 

production of these communications would chill debate between the 

agencies and the President on issues of national importance.14

In light of these facts, the Committee believes that this information should be obtained through more narrow and focused means 

that do not unduly burden the capacity of the Administration and 

do not seek to obtain material beyond the legitimate scope of inquiry. 

H. Res. 467 Is a Challenge to the Prerogatives of the Majority. Finally, H. Res. 467 appears to be not intended to procure substantive information but rather merely to delve into privileged Administration policy. 

The political nature of this exercise is underscored by the fact 

that the resolution requests information as to contracts and communications regarding wages to be paid under the Service Contract 

Act (which has not been suspended) and the Fair Labor Standards 

Act (which likewise has not been suspended, and which contains no 

requirement that workers be paid ‘‘prevailing wages’’). Similarly, 

the broad request for ‘‘communications’’ regarding these laws—dating back to a date before Hurricane Katrina hit—suggest that the 

Minority is attempting to use this parliamentary tool for political 

means. 

Perhaps most importantly, as a matter of procedure, H. Res. 467 

challenges the Majority’s prerogatives and its right to set the legislative agenda, and for that reason alone should be rejected. 

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, the Committee opposes the adoption 

of H. Res. 467, and reports it unfavorably to the House of Representatives with the recommendation that the resolution not be 

adopted. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION

Section 1. Requests the President to transmit to the House of 

Representatives not later than 14 days after adoption of the resolution: (1) copies of any portions of any contracts in the President’s 

possession for services or building or other construction (including 

pre-awarded contracts or contracts that were modified or extended) 

related to Hurricane Katrina recovery or rebuilding that address 

wages and benefits to be paid to workers pursuant to the Act commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. § 3141 et seq.), the 

Service Contract Act of 1965 (41 U.S.C. § 351 et seq.), or the Fair 

Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.) that were 

awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (or at the 

request of such agency) or by the Departments of Labor, Education, 

Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, or Defense, or the 

Army Corps of Engineers; and (2) any communications in the President’s possession made or received, on or after August 26, 2005, by 

7 

the Federal Emergency Management Agency or by the Departments of Labor, Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human 

Services, or Defense, or the Army Corps of Engineers, related to 

compliance with or enforcement of the Act commonly known as the 

Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. §3141 et seq.), the Service Contract Act 

of 1965 (41 U.S.C. § 351 et seq.), or the Fair Labor Standards Act 

of 1938 (29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.) in the geographic areas specified 

in the President’s Proclamation 7924 of September 8, 2005. 

8 


Insert offset folio 8 here HR258.001
9 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee reports that the findings 

and recommendations of the Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the descriptive portions of this report. 

PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

H. Res. 467 does not authorize funding. Therefore, clause 3(c)(4) 

of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is inapplicable. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee finds that the rule does not 

apply because H. Res. 467 is not a bill or joint resolution that may 

be enacted into law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE RESOLUTION, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee notes that H. Res. 467 

makes no changes to existing law. 

(10) 

MINORITY VIEWS 

INTRODUCTION

In response to President Bush’s decision to suspend the DavisBacon prevailing wage law, Ranking Member George Miller, along 

with the entire Minority caucus of this Committee, introduced H. 

Res. 467. This resolution is a first step in desperately needed oversight of executive branch actions in the wake of Hurricane 

Katrina—a serious responsibility which this Committee’s Majority 

refuses to accept. 

H. Res. 467 requests that the President provide the House of 

Representatives with two distinct sets of information. First, the 

President is requested to produce the provisions in Katrina-related 

construction and service contracts dealing with wages to be paid by 

the contractors, whether those provisions are pursuant to the 

Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, or the Fair Labor 

Standards Act. Second, the President is requested to produce any 

communications made or received by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Labor, Education, Homeland 

Security, Health and Human services, Defense, or the Army Corps 

of Engineers, which relate to compliance with or enforcement of the 

three aforementioned federal wage laws. 

This resolution of inquiry is necessary for two fundamental reasons. First, the data is critical for the House of Representatives to 

conduct proper oversight of the executive branch on the need for 

and effect of the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act. Second, the 

form of the request—a congressional resolution which would request the President’s compliance within 14 days—is necessitated by 

the Administration’s lackluster track record in producing information requested by other means. without the full force of Congress. 

THE CONGRESSIONAL DUTY TO CONDUCT OVERSIGHT

Following Hurricane Katrina, President George W. Bush declared a national emergency for one purpose only. On September 

8, 2005, the President proclaimed that Hurricane Katrina constituted a national emergency. He thereby suspended the DavisBacon Act’s prevailing wage law. In the wake of Katrina, he exercised no further emergency powers than the power to free federal 

contractors from prevailing wage requirements. After all of the devastation wrought by Katrina and the poverty and injustice that 

both the Hurricane and the lackadaisical federal response laid 

bare, the President saw only one national emergency: that in his 

estimation the workers of the Gulf Coast were overpaid. 

The Davis-Bacon Act requires federal contractors working on construction projects to pay their workers the prevailing wage for their 

work. The prevailing wage is not a union wage, nor is it any kind 

of premium wage. It is a wage set by the market—the typical wage 

11 

for that kind of work in that locality. This law prevents federal taxpayer dollars from being used to drive down an area’s wages. 

The prevailing wages along the Gulf Coast are already low. For 

example, the prevailing wage for a truck driver engaged in highway construction work in Gulfport, Mississippi, is $6.14 per hour. 

In New Orleans, the prevailing wage for such work ranges from 

$10.60 to $13.24 per hour. Meanwhile, the national average wage 

for a truck driver is $13.57 per hour. The prevailing wage for a residential carpenter in Gulfport is $7.13 per hour. In New Orleans, 

it is $11.78 per hour. Meanwhile, the national average for such a 

carpenter is $17.83 per hour. Suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act 

enables federal contractors to ignore even these modest wage requirements and take advantage of workers at a very vulnerable 

time—when they have lost everything they own—by either paying 

them less than the pre-Hurricane market rate or not hiring them 

at all and turning to cheaper labor imported from outside of the 

area. 

In the seven weeks following Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana 

Department of Labor processed 271,846 eligible unemployment 

claims for hurricane victims. Thanks to the Davis-Bacon Act suspension, as those newly unemployed individuals begin looking for 

work, federal contractors are well-situated to exploit the coming 

labor surplus, for their own benefit and at the expense of both desperate Gulf Coast workers and federal taxpayers. The less workers 

are paid, the more direct relief is needed. The less workers are 

paid, the less quality of work can be expected. And the less workers 

are paid, the higher the profits of contractors. 

Suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act has a wide-ranging impact on 

reconstruction and relief efforts. At the same time that there are 

calls for massive and direct federal relief of the families of the Gulf 

Coast, the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act undermines any requirement that those families’ breadwinners be paid a decent wage 

for the work they do rebuilding their communities. At the same 

time that there are calls for rebuilding cities like New Orleans in 

a sounder fashion, less susceptible to the kind of destruction that 

another hurricane could bring, the suspension of the Davis-Bacon 

Act means that federal contractors need not hire the best-skilled 

workers to provide high-quality reconstruction. Instead, reconstruction may be done on the cheap. At the same time that there are 

calls for addressing the poverty that left so many people with so 

few resources to deal with the hurricane, the suspension of the 

Davis-Bacon Act means that federal contractors can hire lowskilled workers at low wages with no quid pro quo to enroll those 

workers in apprenticeship programs so that they may gain the kind 

of long-term job skills that will lead to future jobs, with higher pay 

and benefits. By every measure, the Davis-Bacon Act suspension is 

counterproductive. 

The Congress should and must engage in oversight of the impact 

of the President’s actions. H. Res. 467 is a first step in oversight. 

It would provide the Congress with insight into the number of contracts being let and whether those contracts provide for basic wage 

protections through any one of the core federal wage laws. Through 

this information request, the Congress may ascertain the full scope 

of the contracting involved in Katrina-related construction and 

12 

service projects and the extent to which that contracting is explicitly subject to any minimal wage requirements. H. Res. 467 would 

also provide Congress with wage-related communications made or 

received by the key federal agencies engaged in Katrina-related reconstruction and relief projects. These communications would give 

the Congress further insight into the full scope of the enforcement 

or non-enforcement of our nation’s wage laws in the rebuilding and 

relief effort. With this data, the Congress may begin answering 

basic questions: How many contracts have been let in Katrina-related relief and reconstruction projects? How many of those contracts contain wage provisions? What, if any, wage requirements 

are imposed upon those contracts? To what extent are agencies enforcing or not enforcing wage requirements on federal contractors? 

The Congress should not shrink from its responsibility in conducting oversight of the Katrina reconstruction process. Hurricane 

Katrina may be the most costly natural disaster to strike the 

United States, in terms of both rebuilding a ruined infrastructure 

and providing relief to devastated American families. The infrastructure must be rebuilt, and it must be rebuilt properly. Lives 

must also be rebuilt. Cutting wages accomplishes neither of these 

goals. The Congress should be asking the Administration tough 

questions about this Davis-Bacon Act suspension and the contracting process in general. 

Unfortunately, by voting to unfavorably report H. Res. 467, the 

Majority has abdicated its responsibility. The Minority, by its 

unanimous sponsorship of this resolution and its votes for a favorable report, makes clear its commitment to rigorous oversight by 

the Congress. Particularly given the unarguably shoddy and incompetent management of the Katrina crisis by the federal government, oversight is desperately needed during the long reconstruction ahead. 

THE NECESSITY OF RESOLUTIONS OF INQUIRY IN THIS MATTER

The Majority has suggested that Members rely upon the Freedom of Information Act to obtain information from the Administration. According to the Majority, ‘‘inasmuch as the information 

sought by the resolution is obtainable via FOIA, the resolution is 

unnecessary.’’ But H. Res. 467 is made necessary by the Administration’s poor track record in responding to requests for information 

made by Members of Congress. As the Majority points out, Ranking 

Member Miller filed a FOIA request with the Departments of 

Labor and Homeland Security on September 22, 2005. Under the 

Freedom of Information Act, those Department must determine 

within twenty days whether to comply with such a request and immediately notify the requester of that determination. As of this 

writing, more than twenty business days have passed since that request was made. There has been no response from either the Department of Labor or the Department of Homeland Security to 

Ranking Member Miller’s FOIA request. Unfortunately, this lack of 

response is par for the course with this Administration. The Administration’s disdain for information requests from Members of 

Congress—elected officials representing hundreds of thousands of 

constituents—is outrageous and only renders resolutions of inquiry, 

such as H. Res. 467, more necessary and more urgent. 

13 

OTHER UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS OF THE MAJORITY

The Majority makes a number of other objections to the resolution of inquiry, all of which are unfounded. 

The Majority warns that H. Res. 467 would force the production 

of confidential business data in the federal contracts, such as personal data, unit pricing information, technology and process description, or general CBI. H. Res. 467 does nothing of the sort. It 

does not request the complete federal contract. It merely requests 

any wage provisions contained within those contracts as a function 

of the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, or the Fair Labor 

Standards Act. No properietary information would be produced. 

The Majority warns that ‘‘it is possible if not likely that the 

President would assert executive privilege to encompass certain 

documents,’’ with respect to the request for communications by and 

to federal agencies regarding compliance with or enforcement of the 

federal wage laws. But the Congress should not shrink from its 

oversight responsibility merely because the President may or could 

claim executive privilege with respect to some of what could be encompassed by an information request. Some of that information is 

certainly not subject to executive privilege, and any non-privileged 

information should be produced. By arguing that no information 

should be requested because the President might refuse to turn 

over some of its lays bare the Majority’s fundamental inability to 

subject this President to any congressional oversight whatsoever. 

The Majority calls this resolution of inquiry and ‘‘exercise’’ of a 

‘‘political nature.’’ Throughout the markup, the Majority made this 

claim. Yet the Davis-Bacon Act has a long history of bipartisan 

support. The President’s suspension raises widespread and bipartisan concern within the Congress. H. Res. 467 is not the only resolution of inquiry concerning the impact of the Davis-Bacon Act suspension on wages and federal contracting. Members of the Majority 

party introduced a similar resolution, H. Res. 488, on October 7, 

2005, referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Oversight is not a partisan exercise. It is a duty of the legislative branch of government. Refusing to fulfill this duty, however, 

is a plainly partisan exercise, damaging to the long-term effectiveness of the Congress and to the country at large. 

DAVIS-BACON ACT REINSTATEMENT

As of this writing, on October 26, 2005, under pressure from a 

united front of Minority party members, a few Majority party members, the religious community, and the labor movement, the White 

House backed down on the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act. According to reports, the President will reinstate the Davis-Bacon Act 

for Gulf Coast workers as of November 8, 2005. The Minority is relieved that the President is now planning on reversing this mistake. It should be noted that the reversal comes after Ranking 

Member Miller filed a joint resolution under the National Emergencies Act which would force a vote on the Davis-Bacon suspension. Many questions remain unanswered, however, including the 

full range of contracts that evaded the prevailing wage requirements and how and whether all of the federal wage laws were enVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:28 Oct 30, 2005 Jkt 049010 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6604 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR258.XXX HR258
14 

forced or complied with during the suspension period and beyond. 

This resolution of inquiry would being to provide those answers. 

GEORGE MILLER. 

DALE E. KILDEE. 

SUSAN A. DAVIS. 

DANNY K. DAVIS. 

CAROLYN MCCARTHY. 

DONALD M. PAYNE. 

BOBBY SCOTT. 

DENNIS J. KUCINICH. 

MAJOR R. OWENS. 

RAU ́ L M. GRIJALVA. 

RON KIND. 

LYNN C. WOOLSEY. 

RUSH HOLT. 

BETTY MCCOLLUM. 

ROBERT E. ANDREWS. 

JOHN TIERNEY. 

CHRIS VAN HOLLEN. 

JOHN BARROW. 

TIMOTHY BISHOP. 

TIM RYAN. 

RUBE ́ N HINOJOSA. 

DAVID WU. 

Æ