[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 8, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H2816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     PRESIDENTIAL EXECUTIVE ORDER BANNING THE HIRING OF PERMANENT 
               REPLACEMENT WORKERS BY FEDERAL CONTRACTORS

  (Mr. GOODLING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, this morning, President Clinton signed an 
Executive order that would ban Federal contractors from hiring 
permanent replacement workers. I rise today to express my strong 
opposition to the President's action, both in terms of what it means 
for our country's workplace policy, as well as the manner in which it 
was done.
  In terms of workplace policy, the President's order will have serious 
negative implications for our system of collective bargaining. The 
foundation of that system is a balancing of the interests and risks of 
labor and management that allows the bargaining process to prod both 
parties toward a collective agreement on the terms and conditions of 
employment.
  A ban on the use of replacement workers will undoubtedly lead to more 
strikes, and the ripple effects of those strikes will result in lost 
jobs and lost business opportunities throughout industry.
  Beyond its policy implications, the legality of the Executive order 
is also questionable. The Congress has expressed its will with respect 
to the legality of permanent replacement workers and the President's 
order runs completely counter to that will. The responsibility for 
setting employment policy rests in the Congress, not in the White 
House.
  I call on President Clinton to reconsider his decision to pursue this 
dangerous and ill-conceived threat to our national labor policy.

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