[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 134 (Wednesday, October 6, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H9414]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          DAVIS-BACON ACT INFLATES COSTS FOR HURRICANE VICTIMS

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, Hurricanes Floyd and Dennis have dealt a 
devastating blow to the residents along the Eastern Seaboard from 
Florida to North Carolina to New York. The flood waters have resulted 
in billions of dollars in damage and left thousands without homes.
  Last week, a number of my colleagues and I sent a letter to the 
President of the United States asking him to relax the Davis-Bacon 
prevailing-wage requirements in order to facilitate repairs in the 
States hardest hit by the hurricanes.
  The Davis-Bacon Act requires contractors who work on Federal projects 
to use Federal dollars to pay certain prevailing wages. Economic 
studies believe that Davis-Bacon inflates the cost of construction 
projects up to an estimated 38 percent.
  Victims of the hurricanes should have the opportunity to use Federal 
disaster relief in local competitive markets to rebuild their homes and 
communities. In fact, under the Davis-Bacon Act, a man or woman who 
receives $2,500 of Federal disaster funding cannot use that relief to 
rebuild their own house themselves, but must pay the inflated 
prevailing wage to another contractor because of the use of Federal 
dollars.




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