[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6752-6753]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT

  (Mr. ROE of Tennessee asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Today, congressional Democrats are introducing 
the curiously named Employee Free Choice Act, which actually does the 
opposite of its title by taking away an employee's free choice to 
choose in secret whether or not to join a union. Union leadership is 
elected by secret ballot, I was elected by a secret ballot, and the 
President of the United States was elected by a secret ballot.

[[Page 6753]]

  In these tough economic times, no one can blame American workers for 
supporting measures they believe will create new jobs for them. I grew 
up in a union household, so I understand why workers support this 
legislation when they hear their leadership talk about how this is 
needed because workers' influence is declining in the United States. 
Unfortunately, their leadership's rhetoric just doesn't square with 
reality. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, union membership 
was just over 16 million in 2008, a 2.6 percent rise over 2007. This 
legislation lays waste to an employee's right to choose whether to join 
a union by secret ballot, which is too steep a price to pay.

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