Date: 2007-03-09
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Chairman. I thank the chairman for yielding. and I thank him and all of the members of this committee for their work on the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007. This a very important piece of legislation. as so many of my colleagues have already testified to. We desperately need. in communities all across the country. the upgrade and the repairing of our Nations wastewater infrastructure. There is not a congressional district in the country where we are not behind the curve on this effort. I also rise because this legislation does continue the prevailing wage laws of this Nation. the DavisBacon law. which guarantees hardworking Americans. those who are working in Federal construction projects. will be paid a livable wage. Today. we see- report after report. economic study after economic study that talks about the precarious state of the American middle class. about how families are struggling to maintain their status in the middle- class. It is one of the imperatives of this new Congress. of the Democratic majority. to grow and to strengthen the middle class. and. clearly. the wages that people pay will play a great part in that. We should not have Federal dollars. Federal contracts and Federal projects. whether they are in conjunction with locales or not. undermining those livable wages. These wages are incredibly important to the �American middleclass family. We see now that the hardworking Americans and middle class. with the greatest productivity gains in recent history. are sharing the very smallest part of that increase in productivity than at any time in recent history. It is imperative that we have today DavisBacon protections in this law. It is imperative that we have the DavisBacon protections for middleclass families in the country. We know middleclass families now are constantly confronting the risk of what is happening to their pensions: Will they be funded? Will they be terminated? Will thekr be frozen? What is their ability to put away -money in a 401(k) plan? What is their ability to purchase health care? How much more of the cost of that health care is going to be shifted from the employer to the employee? How much more of that are they going to be able to afford? Maintaining good wages for good quality work Is important to these families. It is important to these projects. and it is important -to this Nation. I commend the chairman for reporting this bill to the floor with these provisions in it. to ensure that we continue to grow and strengthen the middle class in this country. Madam Chairman. I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. For over 75 years DavisBacon has guaranteed that hardworking Americans working on federal construction projects will be paid a livable wage. I am pleased that the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007 includes DavisBacon prevailing wage provisions and requires that prevailing wage rules be applied to all projects financed in whole or in part through State Revolving Fund programs (SRFs). I vehemently oppose any and all efforts that are intended to strip the prevailing wage provision and undermine the longstanding tradition of DavisBacon. The Water Quality Financing Act of 2007 will be one of approximately 70 Federal laws that include a DavisBacon prevailing wage provision. Throughout these laws DavisBacon has infused fairness into Federal contract work. and it has protected contractors and workers from unjust treatment and unfair competition. As more and more families struggle to pay the bills. it is critical now more than ever that we ensure hardworking Americans earn a livable wage. On a bipartisan. basis Congress has historically stood together in support of DavisBacon. recognizing the obligation that we have to ensure that Americans are paid a livable wage and to ensure the government does not oper.te to undermine those wages. As we consider H.R. 720 today we again have a moral obligation to stand up and set the example for how workers should be treated and the standard by which they should be compensated.