[House Document 109-55]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                     

109th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 109-55

 
   DECLARATION OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY IN RESPONSE TO HURRICANE KATRINA

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

  NOTIFICATION OF HIS DECLARATION OF A NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITHIN THE 
 LIMITED GEOGRAPHIC AREA OF THE STATES OF ALABAMA, FLORIDA, LOUISIANA, 
AND MISSISSIPPI IN RESPONSE TO HURRICANE KATRINA, PURSUANT TO 50 U.S.C. 
                                1621(a)




 September 12, 2005.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the 
   Committee on Education and the Workforce and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
    I hereby report that I have exercised my statutory 
authority under section 3147 of title 40, United States Code, 
to suspend the provisions of 40 U.S.C. 3141-3148 in the event 
of a national emergency. I have found that the conditions 
caused by Hurricane Katrina constitute a ``national emergency'' 
within the meaning of section 3147. I have, therefore, 
suspended the provisions of 40 U.S.C. 3141-3148 in designated 
areas in the States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and 
Mississippi.
    This action is more fully set out in the enclosed 
proclamation that I have issued today.

                                                    George W. Bush.
    The White House, September 8, 2005.
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

                              ----------                              


            By the President of the United States of America

                             A PROCLAMATION

    1. Section 3142(a) of title 40, United States Code, 
provides that ``every contract in excess of $2,000, to which 
the Federal Government or the District of Columbia is a party, 
for construction, alteration, or repair, including painting and 
decorating, of public buildings and public works of the 
Government or the District of Columbia that are located in a 
State or the District of Columbia and which requires or 
involves the employment of mechanics or laborers shall contain 
a provision stating the minimum wages to be paid various 
classes or laborers and mechanics.''
    2. Section 3142(b) of title 40, United States Code, 
provides that such ``minimum wages shall be based on the wages 
the Secretary of Labor determines to be prevailing for the 
corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on 
projects of a character similar to the contract work in the 
civil subdivision of the State in which the work is to be 
performed * * *.''
    3. Under various other related acts, the payment of wages 
is made dependent upon determinations by the Secretary of Labor 
under section 3142 of title 40, United States Code.
    4. Section 3147 of title 40, United States Code, provides 
that ``[t]he President may suspend the provisions of this 
subchapter during a national emergency.''
    5. Several areas of the Nation have been recently 
devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The devastation from the 
hurricane has resulted in the largest amount of property damage 
from a natural disaster in the history of the Nation. An 
enormous but undetermined number of lives have been lost, and 
hundreds of thousands of homes and business establishments 
either destroyed or severely damaged. Hundreds of thousands of 
individuals have lost their jobs and their livelihood. An 
unprecedented amount of Federal assistance will be needed to 
restore the communities that have been ravaged by the 
hurricane. Accordingly, I find that the conditions caused by 
Hurricane Katrina constitute a ``national emergency'' within 
the meaning of section 3147 of title 40, United States Code.
    (a) Hurricane Katrina has resulted in unprecedented 
property damage.
    (b) The wage rates imposed by section 3142 of title 40, 
United States Code, increase the cost to the Federal Government 
of providing Federal assistance to these areas.
    (c) Suspension of the subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 
40, United States Code, 40 U.S.C. 3141-3148, and the operation 
of related acts to the extent they depend upon the Secretary of 
Labor's determinations under section 3142 of title 40, United 
States Code, will result in greater assistance to these 
devastated communities and will permit the employment of 
thousands of additional individuals.
    NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE. W. BUSH, President of the United 
States of America, do by this proclamation suspend, as to all 
contracts entered into on or after the date of this 
proclamation and until otherwise provided, the provisions of 
subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, 40 
U.S.C. 3141-3148, and the provisions of all other actsproviding 
for the payment of wages, which provisions are dependent upon 
determinations by the Secretary of Labor under section 3142 of title 
40, United States Code, as they apply to contracts to be performed in 
the following jurisdictions: 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, 
Claiborne, Concordia, De Soto, 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, Holmes, 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, and Yazoo in the State of Mississippi.
    And, as to such contracts to be performed in such 
jurisdictions, I do hereby suspend, until otherwise provided, 
the provisions of any Executive Order, proclamation, rule, 
regulation, or other directive providing for the payment of 
wages, which provisions are dependent upon determinations by 
the Secretary of Labor under section 3142 of title 40, United 
States Code;
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth 
day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand five, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two 
hundred and thirtieth.

                                                    George W. Bush.

                                  
