[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 35 (Thursday, March 1, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H2042]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         OPPOSITION TO H.R. 800

  (Mr. WALBERG asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. WALBERG. Madam Speaker, it is clearly and cleverly entitled the 
``Employee Free Choice Act,'' but we are about to consider a bill that 
strips away the very tool that protects the sanctity of a free and open 
society, the private ballot.
  Private ballots ensure workers have elections without fraudulent 
interference, coercion, or intimidation. Confidence will be lost with a 
system that forces workers to publicly declare their intentions. The 
AFL-CIO recognized this hypocrisy by expressing support for secret 
ballots when workers are presented the opportunity to decertify a 
union. They have argued that private ballot elections ``provide the 
surest means for avoiding decisions which are the result of group 
pressures and not individual decisions.''
  As a former union steelworker, I believe in the merits of 
unionization, when appropriate. I also believe that every American 
worker should have the right to choose freely and privately. Congress 
has a duty to defeat legislation that strips workers of this important 
right, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 800.

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