[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9851-9852]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           ACTIONS, NOT WORDS

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I come to the floor to talk about jobs, 
and also to talk about an admonition I got from my father when I was 
growing up: Judge a man by his actions, not his words.
  I intend to apply that, as well. We should all be judged by our 
actions, not just our words. I am very disappointed in what this 
administration is doing now. On the one hand, they are talking about 
jobs being the most important thing America needs. Yet every single 
action of the agencies is a job killer.

[[Page 9852]]

Here is an example: The most recent nominee to be the new Commerce 
Secretary of the United States is a former director of the Boeing 
Aircraft Company. That aircraft corporation is now under a suit from 
the interim general counsel of the NLRB to stop them from opening a new 
plant that will employ 1,000 people in the State of South Carolina, 
alleging they built the plant there to strike back at the unions in 
Washington State, when in fact the Dreamliner, their main airliner, 
which they have tremendous orders for, is being built in Washington, 
but they had to expand another plant to meet the demand for orders. 
They decided, in the interest of the company, to have one on the east 
coast and one on the west coast. They weren't retaliating. They were 
trying to create jobs for a great American product. The NLRB wants to 
stop 1,000 jobs from being created on an allegation that it is some 
type of retribution. That is dead wrong.
  The NLRB this week came out with a new admonition. That is, they are 
going to change election rules so new elections, instead of being 
required to take 38 to 42 days, can have quickie union elections in 10 
to 12 days, making it much more difficult for management to react to a 
union vote or a union movement.
  All these things are job creators. I am not here to demagogue unions 
or to demagogue this President for that matter. I just think fair is 
fair. If you say you want to create jobs, don't stop job creation. If 
you say you want the economy to recover, do those things necessary to 
empower business.
  Let me take another example; that is, the National Mediation Board. 
The National Mediation Board is the agency that regulates employment 
from the standpoint of airlines and railroads and transportation 
entities. The NMB is 75 years old. For 75 years, their rule on a union 
election in a covered company is that 51 percent of the number of 
people employed who would be unionized had to vote in order for a union 
to become established.
  Summarily, 11 days after their appointment under the new 
administration, that 75-year-old rule was struck to become only a 
simple majority of the number of people who vote, regardless of how 
many people are going to be covered in employment. Now, that was 
specifically targeted at Delta Airlines--an Atlanta company that became 
the largest airline in the world after buying Northwest and merging the 
two.
  Northwest had union flight attendants, Delta did not. Delta's flight 
attendants had twice in the last decade rejected unionization in a vote 
of 50 percent plus 1 of all employees covered. The change in this rule 
was specifically targeted to try to force Delta to go from a nonunion 
shop in their flight attendants to a union shop. But even after an 
aggressive change in law and by the unions, the flight attendants still 
voted--under the new rule, which is much easier--not to unionize.
  Still not satisfied, the National Mediation Board has now filed an 
action against Delta alleging improper activities. I find this very 
ironic since in the FAA conference committee, which I am a part of 
today, we are trying to get a chance for airlines and those covered to 
be able to have a legal action against a ruling of the NMB if they 
suspect the NMB ruled unfairly. The NMB has rejected that entirely, the 
leadership of this body has rejected it entirely, and that conference 
report languishes--all over an issue that would create jobs, but 
instead they want to retard jobs.
  My message in coming to the floor is very simple. Actions count, 
words don't matter, simply talking about creating jobs don't mean a 
thing if we are taking actions that stymie business or punish people 
from making investments that bring about employment.
  It is time for this President, it is time for each of us in the 
Senate, it is time for this administration, and it is time for the 
Congress to do what the American people have done: put our shoulder to 
the grindstone and do those things that bring American business back, 
our economy back, and bring jobs back to the greatest country on the 
face of this Earth--the United States of America.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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