[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13647]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  VOTE ON H.R. 2587, PROTECTING JOBS FROM GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE ACT

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                          HON. DANIEL WEBSTER

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 14, 2011

  Mr. WEBSTER. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, September 15, 2011, I will be 
absent and unable to cast my vote in favor of H.R. 2587, the Protecting 
Jobs from Government Interference Act, because I will be in Florida 
attending the memorial service for my friend, David I. ``Dave'' Bitner. 
David Bitner was a great Florida statesman, my esteemed colleague in 
the Florida legislature, and my personal friend for over 20 years. I 
was saddened by Dave's death on September 8, 2011, which came soon 
after his diagnosis with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Although I wish to 
cast my vote in favor of H.R. 2587, my long-time friendship with Dave 
and his wife, Wendy, requires me to attend the memorial service in 
Dave's honor.
  I support the Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act, and I 
voted in favor of H. Res. 372, the rule for H.R. 2587, in the Rules 
Committee hearing held on July 26, 2011. (Rules Committee Record Vote 
No. 121.) I strongly believe in the right of American business owners 
to make decisions regarding where and when to conduct business, and the 
right of states to determine the best labor policies for their 
citizens. I oppose excessive governmental regulation and interference 
by federal executive agencies that do not have the authority to 
supplant the best operational judgment of businesses in their 
employment, production, location, and other investment decisions. 
Recently, the National Labor Relations Board has taken unprecedented, 
protectionist actions on behalf of labor unions that fly in the face of 
federalism, and this cannot be allowed to continue. I am proud to 
represent the constituents of the 8th Congressional District of 
Florida, which is a right-to-work state, and I will continue to oppose 
efforts to impede American private enterprise, capitalism, and economic 
freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, I would have voted ``yea'' in favor of H.R. 2587, had I 
been present, rather than in Florida for the memorial service for my 
friend, David Bitner, in support of his wife, Wendy.

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