    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 36 (Monday, September 12, 2005)]
    [Pages 1363-1364]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 7924--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

    September 8, 2005

    By the President of the United States

    of America

    A Proclamation

        1. Section 3142(a) of title 40, United States Code, provides that
    ``every contract in excess of $2,000, to which the Federal Government or
    the District of Columbia is a party, for construction, alteration, or
    repair, including painting and decorating, of public buildings and
    public works of the Government or the District of Columbia that are
    located in a State or the District of Columbia and which requires or
    involves the employment of mechanics or laborers shall contain a
    provision stating the minimum wages to be paid various classes or
    laborers and mechanics.''
        2. Section 3142(b) of title 40, United States Code, provides that
    such ``minimum wages shall be based on the wages the Secretary of Labor
    determines to be prevailing for the corresponding classes of laborers
    and mechanics employed on projects of a character similar to the
    contract work in the civil subdivision of the State in which the work is
    to be performed . . .''
        3. Under various other related acts, the payment of wages is made
    dependent upon determinations by the Secretary of Labor under section
    3142 of title 40, United States Code.
        4. Section 3147 of title 40, United States Code, provides that
    ``[t]he President may suspend the provisions of this subchapter during a
    national emergency.''
        5. Several areas of the Nation have been recently devastated by
    Hurricane Katrina. The devastation from the hurricane has resulted in
    the largest amount of property damage from a natural disaster in the
    history of the Nation. An enormous but undetermined number of lives have
    been lost, and hundreds of thousands of homes and business
    establishments either destroyed or severely damaged. Hundreds of
    thousands of individuals have lost their jobs and their livelihood. An
    unprecedented amount of Federal assistance will be needed to restore the
    communities that have been ravaged by the hurricane. Accordingly, I find
    that the conditions caused by Hurricane Katrina constitute a ``national
    emergency'' within the meaning of section 3147 of title 40, United
    States Code.
     (a)         Hurricane Katrina has resulted in unprecedented property
                damage.
     (b)         The wage rates imposed by section 3142 of title 40, United
                States Code, increase the cost to the Federal Government of
                providing Federal assistance to these areas.
     (c)         Suspension of the subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40,
                United States Code, 40 U.S.C. 3141-3148, and the operation
                of related acts to the extent they depend upon the Secretary
                of Labor's determinations under section 3142 of title 40,
                United States Code, will result in greater assistance to

    [[Page 1364]]

                these devastated communities and will permit the employment
                of thousands of additional individuals.
        Now, therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of
    America, do by this proclamation suspend, as to all contracts entered
    into on or after the date of this proclamation and until otherwise
    provided, the provisions of subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40,
    United States Code, 40 U.S.C. 3141-3148, and the provisions of all other
    acts providing for the payment of wages, which provisions are dependent
    upon determinations by the Secretary of Labor under section 3142 of
    title 40, United States Code, as they apply to contracts to be performed
    in the following jurisdictions: 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,
    Claiborne, Concordia, De Soto, 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, Holmes, 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.
        And, as to such contracts to be performed in such jurisdictions, I
    do hereby suspend, until otherwise provided, the provisions of any
    Executive Order, proclamation, rule, regulation, or other directive
    providing for the payment of wages, which provisions are dependent upon
    determinations by the Secretary of Labor under section 3142 of title 40,
    United States Code;
        In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of
    September, in the year of our Lord two thousand five, and of the
    Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
    thirtieth.
                                                    George W. Bush

     [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., September
    12, 2005]

      Note:  This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register  on
    September 13.