[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 12801-12802]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             SECRET BALLOT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. The secret ballot is fundamental to free and 
fair elections--and they're the hallmark of the democratic process. 
Most every time Americans go to the polls to vote, they do so by the 
means of a secret ballot. Secret ballots protect the voter's privacy 
and allow the individual to vote his or her conscience without fear of 
reprisal from those who disagree with the voter's decision.
  As a Nation, we celebrate when the citizens of other countries who 
were previously denied to vote in free and fair elections are finally 
able to do so. We watched with pride several years ago as Iraqis braved 
terrorist threats to cast their vote by secret ballot.
  Mr. Speaker, if the secret ballot is used by Americans in local, 
State, and Federal elections, if the secret ballot is used by citizens 
of other nations for which American soldiers have sacrificed, don't 
American workers also deserve this fundamental right?
  If you can ask Kansans, they will say, Yes, workers do deserve the 
right to a secret ballot election. A recent poll found that 65 percent 
of Kansans surveyed believe that the secret ballot should remain in use 
for union organizing.
  Yet, despite the centrality of the secret ballot to our conception of 
fairness and public support for its use, many in Congress are pushing 
for the passage of legislation that would do away with this 
longstanding principle. In its place, the Employee Free Choice Act 
would allow unions to form if a majority of workers signed 
authorization cards--a process known as ``card check.''
  Without giving workers the protection of a secret ballot, each 
person's choice would be known to others. It is not unreasonable to 
believe that those who choose not to sign authorization

[[Page 12802]]

cards would be subject to intimidation and coercion.
  While this should be reason enough to defeat the Employee Free Choice 
Act, the legislation is further flawed. Provisions within the 
legislation require a mandatory arbitration process that would allow 
the Federal Government to dictate contract terms on businesses if a 
first contract is not agreed to within 120 days. The contract would be 
binding for 2 years and would cover decisions that are best left to 
company leaders that understand the specifics of that business and are 
most familiar with the competitive forces that the business faces.
  In these difficult economic times, the government-imposed and -
written contracts would have an especially devastating impact on 
businesses that would further delay our economic recovery. Allowing the 
government to impose contracts on private firms and their workers would 
effectively allow the government to pick winners and losers in the 
marketplace.
  The Employee Free Choice Act is bad for workers and bad for the 
economy. Congress should reject this legislation and refocus its effort 
on initiatives that would protect the rights and privacy of American 
workers and strengthen the economy by creating conditions in which 
businesses can grow, prosper, and create jobs.

                          ____________________