[House Report 109-258]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    109-258

======================================================================

 
REQUESTING THAT THE PRESIDENT TRANSMIT TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
  INFORMATION IN HIS POSSESSION RELATING TO CONTRACTS FOR SERVICES OR 
CONSTRUCTION RELATED TO HURRICANE KATRINA RECOVERY THAT RELATE TO WAGES 
                   AND BENEFITS TO BE PAID TO WORKERS

                                _______
                                

  October 28, 2005.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Boehner, from the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 
                        submitted the following

                             ADVERSE REPORT

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                       [To accompany H. Res. 467]

    The Committee on Education and the Workforce, to whom was 
referred the resolution (H. Res. 467) requesting that the 
President transmit to the House of Representatives information 
in his possession relating to contracts for services or 
construction related to Hurricane Katrina recovery that relate 
to wages and benefits to be paid to workers, having considered 
the same, report unfavorably thereon without amendment and 
recommend that the resolution not be agreed to.

                                PURPOSE

    H. Res. 467, a resolution of inquiry, requests the 
President to transmit to the House of Representatives specified 
information in his possession relating to contracts for 
services or construction related to Hurricane Katrina recovery 
that relate to wages and benefits to be paid to workers.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

109th Congress

    On September 27, 2005, Representative George Miller 
introduced H. Res. 467, a resolution of inquiry requesting the 
President to transmit to the House of Representatives certain 
information in his possession relating to contracts for 
services or construction related to Hurricane Katrina recovery 
that relate to wages and benefits to be paid to workers. Clause 
7 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 
provides that if a resolution of inquiry is not reported by the 
committee(s) of jurisdiction to the House within fourteen 
legislative days of its introduction, a motion to discharge 
such committee(s) from consideration of the resolution shall be 
privileged on the Floor of the House.
    H. Res. 467 was referred to the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce on September 27, 2005. The Committee held no 
hearings on the bill.
    On October 20, 2005, by a roll call vote of 25 ayes to 20 
nays, the Committee on Education and the Workforce reported H. 
Res. 467 unfavorably to the House of Representatives with the 
recommendation that the resolution not be adopted.

                                SUMMARY

    H. Res. 467 directs the President \1\ to transmit to the 
House of Representatives within fourteen days certain specified 
information relating to contracts for services or construction 
related to Hurricane Katrina recovery that relate to wages and 
benefits to be paid to workers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Although the resolution does not so state, a significant 
portion of the information requested is in the possession and custody 
of various administrative agencies named in the resolution and 
presumably is to be transmitted to the House of Representatives via the 
President.
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    Specifically, the resolution calls for the production of: 
(1) copies of any portions of any contracts in the President's 
possession for services or building or other construction 
(including pre-awarded contracts or contracts that were 
modified or extended) related to Hurricane Katrina recovery or 
rebuilding that address wages and benefits to be paid to 
workers pursuant to the Act commonly known as the Davis-Bacon 
Act (40 U.S.C. Sec. 3141 et seq.), the Service Contract Act of 
1965 (41 U.S.C. Sec. 351 et seq.), or the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 201 et seq.) that were awarded by 
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (or at the request of 
such agency) or by the Departments of Labor, Education, 
Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, or Defense, or 
the Army Corps of Engineers; and (2) any communications in the 
President's possession made or received, on or after August 26, 
2005, by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or by the 
Departments of Labor, Education, Homeland Security, Health and 
Human Services, or Defense, or the Army Corps of Engineers, 
related to compliance with or enforcement of the Act commonly 
known as the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. Sec. 3141 et seq.), the 
Service Contract Act of 1965 (41 U.S.C. Sec. 351 et seq.), or 
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 201 et 
seq.) in the geographic areas specified in the President's 
Proclamation 7924 of September 8, 2005.

                     COMMITTEE STATEMENT AND VIEWS

Part A: Background

    Enacted in 1931, the Davis-Bacon Act generally requires the 
payment of ``prevailing wages''--as determined by the 
Department of Labor (DOL)--on construction contracts entered 
into by the federal government or the District of Columbia over 
$2,000.\2\ Since its enactment, the Davis-Bacon Act has been 
expanded via legislation to apply to 38 federal programs, 
commonly referred to as the ``Davis-Bacon Related Acts.'' \3\ 
On contracts subject to the Davis-Bacon Act, federal 
contractors must certify and submit weekly payroll reports to 
DOL to ensure that appropriate wages are being paid. The 
Secretary of Labor determines prevailing wage rates based on a 
survey of local wage rates. The Secretary is responsible for 
gathering the wage rate and publishing and updating the 
data.\4\
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    \2\ See generally 40 U.S.C. Sec. 3141 et seq.
    \3\ See John R. Luckey & Jon O. Shimabukuro, Prevailing Wage 
Requirements and the Emergency Suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act, CRS 
Report No. RS22265 (September 16, 2005) at 2 & 2 n. 11.
    \4\ See 40 U.S.C. Sec. 3141.
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    Section 6 of the Davis-Bacon Act provides that the 
President may suspend the Act's provisions in the case of 
national emergency.\5\ Prior to 2005, the Davis-Bacon Act has 
been explicitly suspended on three occasions: (a) in 1934, 
President Franklin Roosevelt suspended the Act for what appears 
to have been administrative convenience associated with New 
Deal legislation. It was restored to full strength in less than 
30 days with few people, seemingly, aware of the suspension; 
(b) in 1971, President Nixon suspended the Act as part of a 
campaign intended to quell inflationary pressures that affected 
the construction industry. In just over four weeks, the Act was 
reinstated when the President moved on to different approaches 
to the problem; (c) in 1992, in the wake of Hurricanes Andrew 
and Iniki, President George H. W. Bush suspended the Act in 
order to render reconstruction and clean-up in Florida and the 
Gulf Coast and in Hawaii more efficient; the impact of the 
suspension is unclear inasmuch as it was suspended on October 
14, 1992, just days prior to the 1992 election, and reinstated 
by President Clinton on March 6, 1993 (roughly a five month 
period).\6\
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    \5\ See 40 U.S.C. Sec. 3147.
    \6\ The Act may also have been suspended during World War II as 
part of a generalized state of emergency. See William G. Whittaker, The 
Davis-Bacon Act: Suspension, CRS Report No. RL33100 (September 26, 
2005), at 1 n. 1, 3-16.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Service Contract Act of 1965 generally provides that 
contractors and subcontractors providing services on covered 
federal or District of Columbia contracts in excess of $2,500 
must pay service employees in various classes prevailing wages, 
including fringe benefits, as determined by the Department of 
Labor. The Act also requires contractors to pay prospective 
increases contained in a predecessor contractor's collective 
bargaining agreement when taking over a previously held 
contract.\7\ Safety and health standards also apply to such 
contracts.\8\ Section 4 of the Service Contract Act provides 
that the Secretary of Labor may waive the Act with reasonable 
limitations and allow reasonable variation from any or all 
provisions of the Act, where the Secretary determines that this 
action is in the public interest or will avoid the serious 
impairment of government.\9\
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    \7\ See generally 41 U.S.C. Sec. 351 et seq.
    \8\ Id.
    \9\ See 41 U.S.C. Sec. 353(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) generally 
prescribes standards for minimum wage and overtime pay for most 
private and public employees.\10\ The FLSA requires, inter 
alia, that employers pay covered employees who are not 
otherwise exempt at least the federal minimum wage, and 
overtime pay of one-and-one-half-times their regular rate of 
pay. The FLSA also prescribes recordkeeping and child labor 
standards.\11\ The FLSA does not contain any requirement with 
respect to the payment of ``prevailing wages'' nor, apart from 
the minimum wage, does it set any wage ``floor'' for federal 
contracts. The FLSA does not provide either the President or 
the Secretary of Labor with broad authority to waive its 
provisions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ See generally 29 U.S.C. Sec. 201 et seq.
    \11\ Id.
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            Hurricane Katrina and the administration's response

    On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a 
Category Four hurricane, representing the most devastating 
natural disaster in the modern history of the United States. 
The amount of damage to property caused by Hurricane Katrina 
and the subsequent flooding of New Orleans is conservatively 
estimated to be $50 billion, but even that number does not 
catalogue the devastating impact of families and communities of 
this disaster. The most recent reports indicate that more than 
1,200 Americans were killed, and more than one million were 
forced to abandon their homes in the wake of Hurricane 
Katrina's devastation.
    In response to these historic levels of damage, on 
September 8, 2005, invoking section 6 of the Davis-Bacon Act, 
President Bush issued a proclamation suspending the provisions 
of Davis-Bacon and all other acts which apply Davis-Bacon and 
whichprovide for the payment of prevailing wages for contracts 
entered into on or after September 8, 2005 in counties and parishes 
affected by Hurricane Katrina.\12\ The President's proclamation does 
not set any explicit time limitation on the duration of the suspension. 
To date, the Secretary of Labor has not suspended application of the 
Service Contract Act in response to Hurricane Katrina. Neither the 
President nor the Secretary of Labor has suspended (nor could they) the 
Fair Labor Standards Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \12\ See Proclamation of President George W. Bush, To Suspend 
Subchapter IV of Chapter 31 of Title 40, United States Code, Within a 
Limited Geographic Area in Response to the National Emergency Caused by 
Hurricane Katrina, No. 7924 (September 8, 2005). This proclamation 
suspends the application of Davis-Bacon in certain specified parishes 
and counties in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. 
Specifically, the waiver extends to the counties of Baldwin, Choctaw, 
Clarke, Mobile, Sumter, and Washington in the State of Alabama; the 
counties of Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe in the State of Florida; 
the parishes of Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, 
Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Calcasieu, Caldwell, Cameron, 
Catahoula, Clairborne, Concordia, Desoto, East Baton Rouge, East 
Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Iberia, 
Iberville, Jackson, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, La Salle, Lafayette, 
Lafourche, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, 
Orleans, Ouachita, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, Red River, 
Richland, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. 
John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, 
Tangipahoa, Tensas, Terrebonne, Union, Vermilion, Vernon, Washington, 
Webster, West Baton Rouge, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn in 
the State of Louisiana; and the counties of Adams, Alcorn, Amite, 
Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, 
Claiborne, Clarke, Clay, Coahoma, Copiah, Covington, Desoto, Forrest, 
Franklin, George, Greene, Grenada, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Homes, 
Humphreys, Issaquena, Itawamba, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jefferson 
Davis, Jones, Kemper, Lafayette, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Leake, 
Lee, Leflore, Lincoln, Lowndes, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, 
Montgomery, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pearl River, 
Perry, Pike, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, Rankin, Scott, Sharkey, 
Simpson, Smith, Stone, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tippah, 
Tishomingo, Tunica, Union, Walthall, Warren, Washington, Wayne, 
Webster, Wilkinson, Winston, Yalobusha, Yazoo in the State of 
Mississippi.
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Part B: H. Res. 467

    H. Res. 467 directs the President to transmit to the House 
of Representatives within fourteen days certain specified 
information relating to contracts for services or construction 
related to Hurricane Katrina recovery that relate to wages and 
benefits to be paid to workers.
    Specifically, the resolution calls for the production of: 
(1) copies of any portions of any contracts in the President's 
possession for services or building or other construction 
(including pre-awarded contracts or contracts that were 
modified or extended) related to Hurricane Katrina recovery or 
rebuilding that address wages and benefits to be paid to 
workers pursuant to the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract 
Act, or the Fair Labor Standards Act that were awarded by the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency (or at the request of such 
agency) or by the Departments of Labor, Education, Homeland 
Security, Health and Human Services, or Defense, or the Army 
Corps of Engineers; and (2) any communications in the 
President's possession made or received, on or after August 26, 
2005, by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or by the 
Departments of Labor, Education, Homeland Security, Health and 
Human Services, or Defense, or the Army Corps of Engineers, 
related to compliance with or enforcement of the Davis-Bacon 
Act, the Service Contract Act, or the Fair Labor Standards Act 
in the geographic areas specified in the President's 
Proclamation.

Part C: Committee Concerns

    For the reasons set forth below, the Committee opposes 
adoption of H. Res. 467.
    H. Res. 467 Threatens the Release of Confidential Business 
Information (CBI). Foremost, the Committee is concerned that H. 
Res. 467 will result in the disclosure of confidential business 
information and proprietary material, which ultimately could be 
harmful to federal contractors and the federal procurement 
process.
    Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), contractors 
are able to present a case for what should remain confidential 
when a FOIA request is made of an agency. This information 
could include personal data, unit pricing information, 
technology and process description, or general CBI. Inasmuch as 
H. Res. 467 is not a FOIA request, contractors would not be 
consulted as to what information would be produced, and this 
information would be directly transferred to Congress. The 
Committee is deeply concerned about the potential for the 
release of confidential business information inherent in this 
process. Such an inadvertent release could destroy contractors' 
competitive advantage or disclose proprietary information.
    Moreover, inasmuch as the information sought by the 
resolution is obtainable via FOIA, the resolution is 
unnecessary.\13\ The Committee believes that this information 
can be gathered through less intrusive means which would not 
tend to jeopardize confidential and proprietary business 
information and would protect the public interest in an 
efficient federal procurement process.
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    \13\ Indeed, on September 22, 2005, Representative George Miller 
made such a request to the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    H. Res. 467 is Unduly Burdensome and Overbroad. The 
information requested in the resolution would have to be found 
on a case-by-case review of every contract entered into by the 
relevant departments and agencies. This exercise would be 
unduly burdensome to the agencies and executive branch as a 
whole, and would detract from recovery efforts in the Gulf 
Coast region.
    Moreover, the resolution is overbroad. A resolution of 
inquiry can only produce ``facts.'' The communications 
encompassed by the resolution are not limited to ``facts'' and 
thus should not be subject to disclosure in response to the 
inquiry. At a minimum, seeking the production of these 
communications would chill debate between the agencies and the 
President on issues of national importance.\14\
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    \14\ Indeed, it is possible if not likely that the President would 
assert executive privilege to encompass certain documents, such that 
the resolution would not produce the material the Minority is 
requesting.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In light of these facts, the Committee believes that this 
information should be obtained through more narrow and focused 
means that do not unduly burden the capacity of the 
Administration and do not seek to obtain material beyond the 
legitimate scope of inquiry.
    H. Res. 467 Is a Challenge to the Prerogatives of the 
Majority. Finally, H. Res. 467 appears to be not intended to 
procure substantive information but rather merely to delve into 
privileged Administration policy.
    The political nature of this exercise is underscored by the 
fact that the resolution requests information as to contracts 
and communications regarding wages to be paid under the Service 
Contract Act (which has not been suspended) and the Fair Labor 
Standards Act (which likewise has not been suspended, and which 
contains no requirement that workers be paid ``prevailing 
wages''). Similarly, the broad request for ``communications'' 
regarding these laws--dating back to a date before Hurricane 
Katrina hit--suggest that the Minority is attempting to use 
this parliamentary tool for political means.
    Perhaps most importantly, as a matter of procedure, H. Res. 
467 challenges the Majority's prerogatives and its right to set 
the legislative agenda, and for that reason alone should be 
rejected.

                               CONCLUSION

    For the foregoing reasons, the Committee opposes the 
adoption of H. Res. 467, and reports it unfavorably to the 
House of Representatives with the recommendation that the 
resolution not be adopted.

                           SECTION-BY-SECTION

    Section 1. Requests the President to transmit to the House 
of Representatives not later than 14 days after adoption of the 
resolution: (1) copies of any portions of any contracts in the 
President's possession for services or building or other 
construction (including pre-awarded contracts or contracts that 
were modified or extended) related to Hurricane Katrina 
recovery or rebuilding that address wages and benefits to be 
paid to workers pursuant to the Act commonly known as the 
Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. Sec. 3141 et seq.), the Service 
Contract Act of 1965 (41 U.S.C. Sec. 351 et seq.), or the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 201 et seq.) that 
were awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (or at 
the request of such agency) or by the Departments of Labor, 
Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, or 
Defense, or the Army Corps of Engineers; and (2) any 
communications in the President's possession made or received, 
on or after August 26, 2005, by the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency or by the Departments of Labor, Education, 
Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, or Defense, or 
the Army Corps of Engineers, related to compliance with or 
enforcement of the Act commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act 
(40 U.S.C. Sec. 3141 et seq.), the Service Contract Act of 1965 
(41 U.S.C. Sec. 351 et seq.), or the Fair Labor Standards Act 
of 1938 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 201 et seq.) in the geographic areas 
specified in the President's Proclamation 7924 of September 8, 
2005.


                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee reports that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

                    PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    H. Res. 467 does not authorize funding. Therefore, clause 
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is inapplicable.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that the rule 
does not apply because H. Res. 467 is not a bill or joint 
resolution that may be enacted into law.

      CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE RESOLUTION, AS REPORTED

    In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee notes that H. Res. 
467 makes no changes to existing law.

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                              INTRODUCTION

    In response to President Bush's decision to suspend the 
Davis-Bacon prevailing wage law, Ranking Member George Miller, 
along with the entire Minority caucus of this Committee, 
introduced H. Res. 467. This resolution is a first step in 
desperately needed oversight of executive branch actions in the 
wake of Hurricane Katrina--a serious responsibility which this 
Committee's Majority refuses to accept.
    H. Res. 467 requests that the President provide the House 
of Representatives with two distinct sets of information. 
First, the President is requested to produce the provisions in 
Katrina-related construction and service contracts dealing with 
wages to be paid by the contractors, whether those provisions 
are pursuant to the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, 
or the Fair Labor Standards Act. Second, the President is 
requested to produce any communications made or received by the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Labor, 
Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human services, 
Defense, or the Army Corps of Engineers, which relate to 
compliance with or enforcement of the three aforementioned 
federal wage laws.
    This resolution of inquiry is necessary for two fundamental 
reasons. First, the data is critical for the House of 
Representatives to conduct proper oversight of the executive 
branch on the need for and effect of the suspension of the 
Davis-Bacon Act. Second, the form of the request--a 
congressional resolution which would request the President's 
compliance within 14 days--is necessitated by the 
Administration's lackluster track record in producing 
information requested by other means. without the full force of 
Congress.

              THE CONGRESSIONAL DUTY TO CONDUCT OVERSIGHT

    Following Hurricane Katrina, President George W. Bush 
declared a national emergency for one purpose only. On 
September 8, 2005, the President proclaimed that Hurricane 
Katrina constituted a national emergency. He thereby suspended 
the Davis-Bacon Act's prevailing wage law. In the wake of 
Katrina, he exercised no further emergency powers than the 
power to free federal contractors from prevailing wage 
requirements. After all of the devastation wrought by Katrina 
and the poverty and injustice that both the Hurricane and the 
lackadaisical federal response laid bare, the President saw 
only one national emergency: that in his estimation the workers 
of the Gulf Coast were overpaid.
    The Davis-Bacon Act requires federal contractors working on 
construction projects to pay their workers the prevailing wage 
for their work. The prevailing wage is not a union wage, nor is 
it any kind of premium wage. It is a wage set by the market--
the typical wage for that kind of work in that locality. This 
law prevents federal taxpayer dollars from being used to drive 
down an area's wages.
    The prevailing wages along the Gulf Coast are already low. 
For example, the prevailing wage for a truck driver engaged in 
highway construction work in Gulfport, Mississippi, is $6.14 
per hour. In New Orleans, the prevailing wage for such work 
ranges from $10.60 to $13.24 per hour. Meanwhile, the national 
average wage for a truck driver is $13.57 per hour. The 
prevailing wage for a residential carpenter in Gulfport is 
$7.13 per hour. In New Orleans, it is $11.78 per hour. 
Meanwhile, the national average for such a carpenter is $17.83 
per hour. Suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act enables federal 
contractors to ignore even these modest wage requirements and 
take advantage of workers at a very vulnerable time--when they 
have lost everything they own--by either paying them less than 
the pre-Hurricane market rate or not hiring them at all and 
turning to cheaper labor imported from outside of the area.
    In the seven weeks following Hurricane Katrina, the 
Louisiana Department of Labor processed 271,846 eligible 
unemployment claims for hurricane victims. Thanks to the Davis-
Bacon Act suspension, as those newly unemployed individuals 
begin looking for work, federal contractors are well-situated 
to exploit the coming labor surplus, for their own benefit and 
at the expense of both desperate Gulf Coast workers and federal 
taxpayers. The less workers are paid, the more direct relief is 
needed. The less workers are paid, the less quality of work can 
be expected. And the less workers are paid, the higher the 
profits of contractors.
    Suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act has a wide-ranging impact 
on reconstruction and relief efforts. At the same time that 
there are calls for massive and direct federal relief of the 
families of the Gulf Coast, the suspension of the Davis-Bacon 
Act undermines any requirement that those families' 
breadwinners be paid a decent wage for the work they do 
rebuilding their communities. At the same time that there are 
calls for rebuilding cities like New Orleans in a sounder 
fashion, less susceptible to the kind of destruction that 
another hurricane could bring, the suspension of the Davis-
Bacon Act means that federal contractors need not hire the 
best-skilled workers to provide high-quality reconstruction. 
Instead, reconstruction may be done on the cheap. At the same 
time that there are calls for addressing the poverty that left 
so many people with so few resources to deal with the 
hurricane, the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act means that 
federal contractors can hire low-skilled workers at low wages 
with no quid pro quo to enroll those workers in apprenticeship 
programs so that they may gain the kind of long-term job skills 
that will lead to future jobs, with higher pay and benefits. By 
every measure, the Davis-Bacon Act suspension is 
counterproductive.
    The Congress should and must engage in oversight of the 
impact of the President's actions. H. Res. 467 is a first step 
in oversight. It would provide the Congress with insight into 
the number of contracts being let and whether those contracts 
provide for basic wage protections through any one of the core 
federal wage laws. Through this information request, the 
Congress may ascertain the full scope of the contracting 
involved in Katrina-related construction and service projects 
and the extent to which that contracting is explicitly subject 
to any minimal wage requirements. H. Res. 467 would also 
provide Congress with wage-related communications made or 
received by the key federal agencies engaged in Katrina-related 
reconstruction and relief projects. These communications would 
give the Congress further insight into the full scope of the 
enforcement or non-enforcement of our nation's wage laws in the 
rebuilding and relief effort. With this data, the Congress may 
begin answering basic questions: How many contracts have been 
let in Katrina-related relief and reconstruction projects? How 
many of those contracts contain wage provisions? What, if any, 
wage requirements are imposed upon those contracts? To what 
extent are agencies enforcing or not enforcing wage 
requirements on federal contractors?
    The Congress should not shrink from its responsibility in 
conducting oversight of the Katrina reconstruction process. 
Hurricane Katrina may be the most costly natural disaster to 
strike the United States, in terms of both rebuilding a ruined 
infrastructure and providing relief to devastated American 
families. The infrastructure must be rebuilt, and it must be 
rebuilt properly. Lives must also be rebuilt. Cutting wages 
accomplishes neither of these goals. The Congress should be 
asking the Administration tough questions about this Davis-
Bacon Act suspension and the contracting process in general.
    Unfortunately, by voting to unfavorably report H. Res. 467, 
the Majority has abdicated its responsibility. The Minority, by 
its unanimous sponsorship of this resolution and its votes for 
a favorable report, makes clear its commitment to rigorous 
oversight by the Congress. Particularly given the unarguably 
shoddy and incompetent management of the Katrina crisis by the 
federal government, oversight is desperately needed during the 
long reconstruction ahead.

         THE NECESSITY OF RESOLUTIONS OF INQUIRY IN THIS MATTER

    The Majority has suggested that Members rely upon the 
Freedom of Information Act to obtain information from the 
Administration. According to the Majority, ``inasmuch as the 
information sought by the resolution is obtainable via FOIA, 
the resolution is unnecessary.'' But H. Res. 467 is made 
necessary by the Administration's poor track record in 
responding to requests for information made by Members of 
Congress. As the Majority points out, Ranking Member Miller 
filed a FOIA request with the Departments of Labor and Homeland 
Security on September 22, 2005. Under the Freedom of 
Information Act, those Department must determine within twenty 
days whether to comply with such a request and immediately 
notify the requester of that determination. As of this writing, 
more than twenty business days have passed since that request 
was made. There has been no response from either the Department 
of Labor or the Department of Homeland Security to Ranking 
Member Miller's FOIA request. Unfortunately, this lack of 
response is par for the course with this Administration. The 
Administration's disdain for information requests from Members 
of Congress--elected officials representing hundreds of 
thousands of constituents--is outrageous and only renders 
resolutions of inquiry, such as H. Res. 467, more necessary and 
more urgent.

               OTHER UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS OF THE MAJORITY

    The Majority makes a number of other objections to the 
resolution of inquiry, all of which are unfounded.
    The Majority warns that H. Res. 467 would force the 
production of confidential business data in the federal 
contracts, such as personal data, unit pricing information, 
technology and process description, or general CBI. H. Res. 467 
does nothing of the sort. It does not request the complete 
federal contract. It merely requests any wage provisions 
contained within those contracts as a function of the Davis-
Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, or the Fair Labor 
Standards Act. No properietary information would be produced.
    The Majority warns that ``it is possible if not likely that 
the President would assert executive privilege to encompass 
certain documents,'' with respect to the request for 
communications by and to federal agencies regarding compliance 
with or enforcement of the federal wage laws. But the Congress 
should not shrink from its oversight responsibility merely 
because the President may or could claim executive privilege 
with respect to some of what could be encompassed by an 
information request. Some of that information is certainly not 
subject to executive privilege, and any non-privileged 
information should be produced. By arguing that no information 
should be requested because the President might refuse to turn 
over some of its lays bare the Majority's fundamental inability 
to subject this President to any congressional oversight 
whatsoever.
    The Majority calls this resolution of inquiry and 
``exercise'' of a ``political nature.'' Throughout the markup, 
the Majority made this claim. Yet the Davis-Bacon Act has a 
long history of bipartisan support. The President's suspension 
raises widespread and bipartisan concern within the Congress. 
H. Res. 467 is not the only resolution of inquiry concerning 
the impact of the Davis-Bacon Act suspension on wages and 
federal contracting. Members of the Majority party introduced a 
similar resolution, H. Res. 488, on October 7, 2005, referred 
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 
Oversight is not a partisan exercise. It is a duty of the 
legislative branch of government. Refusing to fulfill this 
duty, however, is a plainly partisan exercise, damaging to the 
long-term effectiveness of the Congress and to the country at 
large.

                     DAVIS-BACON ACT REINSTATEMENT

    As of this writing, on October 26, 2005, under pressure 
from a united front of Minority party members, a few Majority 
party members, the religious community, and the labor movement, 
the White House backed down on the suspension of the Davis-
Bacon Act. According to reports, the President will reinstate 
the Davis-Bacon Act for Gulf Coast workers as of November 8, 
2005. The Minority is relieved that the President is now 
planning on reversing this mistake. It should be noted that the 
reversal comes after Ranking Member Miller filed a joint 
resolution under the National Emergencies Act which would force 
a vote on the Davis-Bacon suspension. Many questions remain 
unanswered, however, including the full range of contracts that 
evaded the prevailing wage requirements and how and whether all 
of the federal wage laws were enforced or complied with during 
the suspension period and beyond. This resolution of inquiry 
would being to provide those answers.

                                   George Miller.
                                   Dale E. Kildee.
                                   Susan A. Davis.
                                   Danny K. Davis.
                                   Carolyn McCarthy.
                                   Donald M. Payne.
                                   Bobby Scott.
                                   Dennis J. Kucinich.
                                   Major R. Owens.
                                   Raul M. Grijalva.
                                   Ron Kind.
                                   Lynn C. Woolsey.
                                   Rush Holt.
                                   Betty McCollum.
                                   Robert E. Andrews.
                                   John Tierney.
                                   Chris Van Hollen.
                                   John Barrow.
                                   Timothy Bishop.
                                   Tim Ryan.
                                   Ruben Hinojosa.
                                   David Wu.

                                  
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