[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6057]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PAYCHECK PROTECTION ACT

  (Mr. BUDD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, a labor union's purpose is simple: to 
represent its members and to bargain on their behalf. But for millions 
of Americans who are currently paying union dues, their money is 
sometimes being used for political advocacy that they may not support.
  The First Amendment in our Constitution grants workers around the 
country the freedom to donate or not to donate to any political cause. 
As it currently stands, however, union members have to opt out of 
having their dues spent on certain political activity. This process can 
be burdensome, and it can be complicated and time consuming.
  Instead of asking workers to go through a lengthy process just to 
avoid funding political causes they don't support, they should have the 
choice from the start whether to opt in to that spending or not.
  Earlier this week, I introduced the National Paycheck Protection Act 
that would require an employee's consent before their labor 
organization dues are used for any purpose not directly related to 
collective bargaining.
  Mr. Speaker, union members are Americans before they are Republicans 
or Democrats, and this simple change would be the first step in the 
fight for more worker freedom.

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