Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E913]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020
______
speech of
HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH
of new jersey
in the house of representatives
Thursday, July 11, 2019
The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of
the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2500) to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2020 for military
activities of the Department of Defense and for military
construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for
such fiscal year, and for other purposes:
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Chair, for over 25 years, I have made
multiple oral and written requests to federal contracting authorities
including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to explain why our labor
unions have been systematically excluded from contract awards--
especially at military installations like the Joint Base in New Jersey.
Over the years, everyone we've met in meeting after meeting on the
federal side have always been polite and courteous, but the bottom
line--the highly trained unionized women and men don't get the jobs.
Most recently, I brought labor leaders including Mike Maloney--
Business Manager for the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 9, Mike Ricca--
Business Agent of IBEW Local 400, and others to meet with the Corps of
Engineers regarding contracting processes that make it near impossible
for union members to get work on the base.
I--we--raised deep concerns that nonunion contractors may purposely
be misclassifying workers in order to low bid, which if true could be a
serious violation of federal law and contrary to Davis Bacon.
We are concerned that irresponsible contractors and subcontractors
may be engaging in two different types of misclassification: craft
misclassification and independent contractor misclassification. Craft
misclassification occurs when dishonest contractors misclassify high-
skilled workers as general laborers or lower wage classifications in
order to avoid paying the higher prevailing wage rate applicable to the
high-skilled work actually performed. Independent contractor
misclassification occurs when contractors misclassify employees as
independent contractors to avoid paying prevailing wages in order to
reduce labor costs and avoid state and federal taxes.
Today, I am offering an amendment, joined by my good friend and
colleague Donald Norcross, to task the U.S. Government Accountability
Office (GAO) to investigate the contracting practices of the Corps of
Engineers, with a specific focus on how the Corps complies with and
enforces the requirement to pay prevailing wages on federally financed
construction jobs, and its probe will include:
Any programs or protocols the Corps of Engineers has in place for the
purpose of carrying out its Davis-Bacon Act enforcement obligations as
set forth in the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
Any programs or protocols the Corps of Engineers has in place for the
purpose of identifying and addressing independent contractor
misclassification on projects subject to the Davis-Bacon Act.
The frequency with which the Corps of Engineers conducts site visits
on each covered project to monitor Davis-Bacon Act compliance.
The frequency with which the Corps of Engineers monitors certified
payroll reports submitted by contractors and subcontractors on each
covered project.
Whether the Corps of Engineers accepts and investigates complaints of
Davis-Bacon Act violations submitted by third parties, such as
contractors and workers' rights organizations.
Whether the Corps of Engineers maintains a database listing all
contractors and subcontractors who have, in one way or another,
violated the Davis-Bacon Act and whether the Corps consults this
database as part of its contract award process.
The frequency, over the last five years, with which the Corps of
Engineers penalized, disqualified, terminated, or moved for debarment
of a contractor for Davis-Bacon violations.
How the Corps of Engineers verifies that the contractors it hires for
its projects are properly licensed.
This amendment will require the Comptroller General of the United
States to submit a report to Congress summarizing the results of their
findings, in addition to any recommendations for legislative or
regulatory action that would improve the efforts of enforcing the
requirement to pay prevailing wages on federally financed construction
jobs.
Our military installations deserve quality workmanship, not
substandard facilities that could create potential hazards and diminish
readiness.
The bill, to which I am adding this amendment, authorizes $11.5
billion for military construction projects for fiscal year 2020. Madam
Chair, we need to ensure that taxpayer dollars--and critical investment
in military infrastructure--are being spent in accordance with the law,
including Davis Bacon.
____________________
