[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.