[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8806]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         ABC'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY

 Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate 
the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) as they approach their 
50th Anniversary. ABC was founded by seven contractors in Baltimore, 
Maryland on June 1, 1950, and is today a national trade association 
representing over 22,000 contractors, subcontractors, material 
suppliers and related firms from across the country and from all 
specialties in the construction industry.
  ABC is the construction industry's voice for merit shop (open shop) 
construction as ABC is the only national association devoted to the 
merit shop philosophy. Merit shop companies employ approximately 80 
percent, or four out of five, of all American construction workers and 
seek to provide the best management techniques, the finest 
craftsmanship, and the most competitive bidding and pricing strategies 
in the industry. ABC believes that union and merit shop contractors and 
their employees should work together in harmony and that work should be 
awarded to the lowest responsible bidder regardless of labor 
affiliation.
  I greatly appreciate ABC's commitment to developing a safe workplace 
and high-performance work force through quality education and training 
with comprehensive safety and health programs. I also appreciate ABC's 
dedicated efforts to secure free enterprise, fair and open competition, 
less government, more opportunities for jobs, tax relief, increased 
training, and the elimination of frivolous complaints and over-
regulation.
  Accordingly, I thank ABC for their efforts and wish them continued 
success in their efforts to ensure that the American construction 
industry continues to afford the finest work product and greatest 
opportunity in the world.

                          ____________________