Rep. Heather Wilson R-NM

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Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) on why she supports the President’s Gulf Coast Wage Cut (note distinction between ‘permitting’ and ‘requiring’) …

Thank you for contacting me about the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area. I appreciate hearing from you.

The Davis-Bacon Act, which dates back to 1931, requires every construction contract in excess of two thousand dollars to which the federal government is a party to pay all laborers and mechanics not less than the locally prevailing wage. Under Section 6 of the Act, the President may suspend the requirements of the Act during a “national emergency.” Over its long history, the Act has been suspended several times for various types of national emergencies including war, economic emergency, and natural disaster. Suspension of the Act permits, but does not require, that less than the prevailing wage be paid on the covered contracts.

Now that we have entered the cleanup and rebuilding phase following Hurricane Katrina, the evacuees wish to be able to return home as expeditiously as possible. I would like to see this happen and this will require a lot of rebuilding.

The Davis-Bacon act can add weeks to federally financed construction projects and it increases costs to the taxpayers – also producing delays in construction since the available funds will be limited. President George H. W. Bush temporarily suspended the Davis-Bacon Act during the recovery from Hurricane Andrew in 1992 to help rebuild that area of Florida in an expeditious and affordable fashion.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please continue to contact me about issues that are important to you. While I commute from my home in Albuquerque to Washington D.C. , for voting and committee hearings, you can always check my web site for upcoming community events to find where you can catch me around town.

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