[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 47 (Tuesday, March 14, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3853-S3854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


AN AMENDMENT TO H.R. 889 TO PROHIBIT FUNDING TO IMPLEMENT THE EXECUTIVE 
 ORDER BANNING THE USE OF PERMANENT STRIKER REPLACEMENTS BY GOVERNMENT 
                              CONTRACTORS.

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, President Clinton recently issued an 
Executive order to ban the use of permanent replacement workers during 
labor disputes involving Government contractors. The Secretary of Labor 
would have the responsibility to enforce the order by asking Federal 
agencies to cancel existing contracts, or ban violators from future 
contracts.
  This Executive order is contrary to current law and, therefore, 
improper. It will deny to Federal contractors a legal right which is 
available to all other businesses; namely, the right to respond to 
union economic warfare by hiring permanent replacement workers. This is 
a fundamental legal right of all employers and should not be eliminated 
by Executive order.
  This administration asserts that the Executive order is simply a 
procurement policy under the discretion of the President. Yet, Congress 
has dealt decisively with this issue over the past 4 years by 
consistently rejecting legislation with the same objective as this 
order. Furthermore, the right to hire permanent striker replacements 
has been Federal law for 60 years. Let me repeat that--60 years. 
Banning the use of permanent replacements by Federal contractors 
through Executive order is an improper intrusion into the province of 
the legislative branch of Government.
  This Executive order violates the congressional mandate of Federal 
Government neutrality in labor disputes. Current Federal labor laws are 
designed to strike a very delicate balance between management and 
labor. The right to replace strikers is just as much a vital part of 
that balance as is the right to strike and the right to bargain. This 
balance has evolved over many years of congressional scrutiny, and this 
intrusion will change the effectiveness of the law without proper 
legislative action.
  Mr. President, it is a sad day for our Nation whenever one branch of 
our constitutional form of Government seeks to encroach upon the 
province of another. The Kassebaum amendment will prohibit the 
administration from spending any appropriated funds to implement this 
Executive order. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this 
amendment and to support cloture.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
   [[Page S3854]] Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, may I have a response 
to the order currently pending from the Chair?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator is 
recognized to speak for up to 30 minutes.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I thank the Chair. I shall not take 
that time.

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