[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 23 (Monday, March 7, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
NOMINATION OF PROF. BILL GOULD TO BE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL LABOR 
                            RELATIONS BOARD

 Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I rise to commend the Senate for 
confirming President Clinton's nominee to chair the National Labor 
Relations Board, Prof. Bill Gould.
  Professor Gould's qualifications for this position are extensive. His 
experience, fairness, and integrity are well documented. As an 
arbitrator, he has been selected to arbitrate or mediate over 200 labor 
disputes. His fairness and integrity have been shown throughout his 
extensive career--his reputation as a fair and even-handed arbitrator 
is unrivaled. Many of his fellow legal scholars, arbitrators, and 
representatives of management and labor have expressed their 
wholehearted support for his nomination.
  The trust placed in him by labor and management should stand as the 
strongest recommendation possible that Bill Gould will be an impartial 
Chairman and will enforce the National Labor Relations Act strictly 
within the framework of congressional intent and as it has been 
interpreted by the courts. These qualities, along with his extensive 
experience, make him an ideal nominee for this position.
  The National Labor Relations Board needs a Chairman like Bill Gould. 
His impartiality will help alleviate the contentiousness that often 
pervades labor-management disputes. I look forward to an era where the 
board will be more adequately represented by thoughtful people from 
both labor and management backgrounds such as Bill Gould.
  He has stated that one of his main objectives will be to eliminate 
the polarization of labor and management relations and to make the 
Board into an agency that has the full confidence of labor, management, 
and the Federal judiciary, as well as the general public. I applaud his 
commitment to keeping the Board an independent agency working in the 
public interest in enforcing Federal labor law.
  Professor Gould has also stated that he will work to address the 
backlog and delays the Board has historically faced. He would consider 
firm timetables and encourage the other members to spend a larger part 
of their time on the business of the Board. Informal resolutions and 
more effective discovery and settlement efforts by the administrative 
law judges are also goals he has set to reduce delays.
  If we are to remain competitive in the world economy we need to 
improve labor-management relations and the resolution of labor-
management disputes. Bill Gould as Chairman of the National Labor 
Relations Board will facilitate that improvement. His fairness and 
integrity and his commitment to due process of law will serve our 
Nation's employees and employers exceedingly well.

                          ____________________