[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 140 (Thursday, October 9, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H8809-H8810]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PAYCHECK PROTECTION ACT

  (Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, yesterday 158 colleagues 
joined me in a bill that I introduced called the Paycheck Protection 
Act. This legislation was introduced to address a problem that occurs 
throughout the country and is a shame when we begin to think about it. 
It is a problem that not many people know about, except those 
individuals who are hard-working wage earners throughout the country 
who happen to belong to labor unions.
  Mr. Speaker, what labor unions are able to do in America today is 
skim off a portion of workers' union dues and put that cash toward 
political purposes to support candidates which the wage earner may, in 
fact, not support, and they do this without securing the consent of the 
worker who earns the cash in the first place.

[[Page H8810]]

  Mr. Speaker, that is what the Paycheck Protection Act is all about 
and designed to help, those hard workers throughout the country who are 
union members who believe they ought to have some say in where their 
political cash goes, which kind of candidates they might decide to 
support, and which kinds of political causes they identify with.
  Mr. Speaker, it is an interesting battle that is about to begin here 
in Congress over the Paycheck Protection Act. This is an issue that 
divides the labor bosses from the rank-and-file union members. The 
Republican party stands firmly behind rank-and-file union workers, and 
we hope to get this legislation passed.

                          ____________________