Date: 1998-05-20
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. tonight is one of those opportunities for the Members of the Republican freshman class to address the House. to use this special order as an opportunity to discuss many of the topics .that come to our minds as new Members of the 105th Congress. I want to use the occasion to discuss an issue that is very important to me and to members of the constituency that I represent out in the Fourth District of Colorado. and others perhaps may be here to join me tonight. as well. That issue is the Paycheck Protection Act. The Paycheck Protection Act is a measure this House has considered previously this year. and it will come up again within the next few weeks. In fact. as campaign finance reform legislation makes its way to the floor. the Paycheck Protection Act is expected to be an integral part of the overall discussions. I myself intend to see to it that that becomes the case. and to fight vigorously. certainly as vigorously as I possibly can. to bring up the issue. Let me describe the need for it. and what the Paycheck Protection Act is all about. The Paycheck Protection Act is a measure that was inspired by a certain level of abuse that takes place with respect to campaign fundraising. Let me step back one moment and say that this House has spent considerable time discussing how we spend money as candidates. and in political parties. and in the political arena. It has spent time discussing different strategies to get us toward full disclosure. and how we disclose the kinds of campaign finances that candidates and politicians need to raise in order to put together campaigns. This House has spent considerable time talking about how that information is accounted for through the Federal Elections Commission. and the rules that surround the Federal Election Commissions responsibilities. but rarely have we spent time talking about how the cash is actually raised. and who works to raise the money for political purposes. In America. elections are a very important time in our Republic in maintaining a democratic republican form of government. It is a critically important time because it is the one time when the people are actually in charge and assert their authority in deciding which representatives will speak for them on the floor of the House. on the floor of the Senate. and as President. Americans have every right to participate fully and openly and voluntarily in that electoral process That last statement that I mentioned. that last word. "voluntarily". is the operative word here. It really is the basis for the Paycheck Protection Act. Because in America today. it is possible. in fact. it is very likely. that if you belong to a labor union or if you belong to any other political association that raises funds for political causes. and if you allow your membership dues to be collected through automatic wage withholding. it is likely. I say again. that a certain portion of your wages are siphoned off for political causes that you may or may not support. In fact. you may not even know that that is occurring. So to those who find themselves members of these various organizations. the first thing I would do is ask you to doublecheck your paycheck. to look again and see if the money that you are sending to your union is really going toward collective bargaining. toward agency representation. or whether there are associated fees that necessitate spending a certain portion of your paycheck on various political causes. These political causes may be campaigns for candidates like myself or any other Member of the House that runs for office every 2 years. It may be a campaign for a local race in your State. for State legislature. Governor. State Treasurer. county commissioner. city council member. whatever the case may be. It may be a ballot initiative or a ballot issue. one that perhaps is sponsored by a labor organization or a group sympathetic to labor. unions. or it might be some kind of political education initiative. where the goal and motivation is to persuade voters to one degree or another to behave at the polls in a certain way. All of these are legitimate functions of our government. They are essential portions of electing representatives at election time. But what should not occur in America is a condition where anyone is forced to contribute to a political cause either against their will or without their knowledge. Political participation in the United States of America must and should be voluntary. 100 percent voluntary. The Paycheck Protection Act is a bill that is designed to ensure that political participation throughout the country is voluntary. and it does so by addressing the issue of automatic wage withholding and skimming off a certain portion of ones wages for political causes without their consent. It is an issue that many. many Americans are concerned about. In fact. it is a topic that the Committee on Education and the Work Force has spent considerable time investigating. through various hearings at different subcommittee levels throughout the country. It is a topic that the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight has considered It is one that the American people have considered as well. Mr. Speaker. I would direct the attention of my colleagues to this chart here. When we went out in the field with a poll that we had commissioned. those who are working on trying to find a solution to this problem. back in October of 1997. we asked voters in general. .and these are voters. I might add. from throughout the country. and in fact. this sample oversamples union households. we asked whether individuals approve or disapprove of a new Federal law that would protect workers paychecks. As Members can see. the results are pretty overwhelming. In the universe of all voters. 80 percent of them tell us that they support a change in the Federal law that would protect workers paychecks. Only 16 percent of Americas voters oppose such a law. The rest would have no opinion. of course. When we ask members of a union household where their preferences lie in this regard. we find again that the results of union households are no different than the results of voters in general. Eighty percent of union households tell us that they support a Federal law that would protect workers paychecks. When we ask members of the teachers union. the National Education Association being the largest teachers union. and there is one other large one and some other smaller ones. but when we ask members of teachers unions. 84 percent say they would support a Federal law that would protect workers paychecks. When we ask nonunion households in general. once again. the numbers are not surprising. there. given what we have already learned from the other responses. 80 percent of nonunion households approve of a Federal law that would protect workers paychecks. and 16 percent would oppose such a measure. Let me talk about the 16. 16. 13. and 16 percent in these -four different samples that. for one reason or another. support a law that allows the current state of affairs today. that allows a labor organization or any other political entity to siphon cash out of somebodys paycheck without their knowledge. It is hard to believe that there would be anybody in America who supports such a thing. but apparently. when asked. there are about 16 percent of the American public that believes that this is somehow a good idea. There are a number of reasons for that. Labor unions play a very powerful role here in Washington. lobbying in the halls of Congress. We see them all the time. whatever the bill may be. Sometimes it is trade measures. sometimes it is tax issues. Other times it might be matters of environmental regulation. It might be efforts to try to improve public education throughout the country. Sometimes it is work forcerelated issues. It could be a variety of topics. There are labor union lobbyists all over this Capitol. and if you are a member of a labor union and oppose many of the initiatives that have taken place to clean the air. to improve schools. to improve workplace safety and to try to create more jobs and wealth and to improve foreign trade and so on. if you oppose those efforts. as labor unions typically do. as represented here in Washington. then you might want other people who are your coworkers to pay for the message that you agree with here in Washington. But again. it is a very small minority of people who believe that taking cash from an unsuspecting wage earners paycheck is a good idea. Once again. let me restate that. There are a handful of people here in -Washington who believe that they have some kind of right to take your cash. or an unsuspecting wage earners cash. and use it to promote the political objectives of their minority opinions. So that is why we have 16 percent of the American public. when surveyed. who agree with that sort of thing. The vast majority of Americans. however. understand fairness when they are looking at fairness. they understand unfairness when they are looking at such a travesty as involuntary campaign contributions. I would use a different term. and that would be "theft." Union members are fed up with the practice. frankly. of forced union dues and forced union dues being used for political purposes. Multiple national surveys of American workers have revealed widespread support for ending this practice. One of the other questions we asked. and it is very closely related to the previous one that I went through. but this question does not even reference any existing law. It just merely says. should We change or keep the current Federal election laws that allow unions to make political contributions with money deducted from a union members paycheck. Well. 78 percent of the American people think that the current law needs to be changed. 72 percent of union households believe that the current law needs to be changed. 78 percent of teacher union households believe that the current law needs to be changed. And once again. reflected in the previous chart. 80 percent of all nonunion households in America believe that the current law needs to be changed. that something needs to be done to address this issue of political contributions with money deducted from a union members paycheck. Despite the widespread support. even the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee is in the effort. has joined in the effort of trying to prevent paycheck protection from going forward. At the request of AFLCIOs John Sweeney. the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee is considering cutting off campaign funds to any Democrat who supports the Paycheck Protection Act. I would refer the body. in fact I will go through in more detail in a minute or two. the news article from which I take that position. Federal and State paycheck protection efforts will force union bosses to play by the same rules that everyone else plays by. It is about time that labor bosses understand that the Constitution applies to them. too.