Congressional Record, House — March 9, 2021 (H1163–H1164)

Summary

Congressional Record, House, pages H1163 and H1164, March 9, 2021. The first page ends debate on amendments en bloc to H.R. 842, with Levin of Michigan, Good of Virginia and Foxx speaking on neutrality agreements and Scott of Virginia yielding back. The Speaker pro tempore says the previous question is ordered and the noes appeared to have it; Foxx demands the yeas and nays, and further proceedings are postponed. The Committee on Rules submits a report (Rept. No. 117–11) on House Resolution 198 for the Senate amendment to H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and McGovern opens debate on it.

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“Congressional Record, House — March 9, 2021 (H1163–H1164).” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-03-09-crec-2021-03-09-pt1-pgh1163-ad587371ca/, SHA-256 60412eac247d2cd6d871154492bc891e398f73c7dcebae5de3abd1ca3fd2c736.

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March 9, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H1163
our economy, our global competitive- Neutrality agreements are grounded Madam Speaker, I want to thank my
ness, and the incentive to invest in in the same leftist view that companies Republican colleagues for offering
American workers. are trying to take advantage of their these thoughtful amendments, which
Madam Speaker, I urge my col- employees. Neutrality agreements would protect the interests and rights
leagues to adopt this amendment and should be prohibited. Employees should of workers and employers alike. They
to prevent dangerous disruptions to be permitted to hear both sides, pro negate some of the worst aspects of the
our economy. and con, regarding organizing, and PRO Act.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam then permitted to make informed deci- My colleagues on the other side of
Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gen- sions by secret ballot. the aisle said that the PRO Act gives
tleman from Michigan (Mr. LEVIN). Madam Speaker, I urge my col- workers the right to form a union.
Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. Madam leagues to support these amendments. That right has been around since the
Speaker, this amendment seeks to Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam 1930s, Madam Speaker. Workers are al-
hinder workers’ First Amendment Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gen- ready free to form a union, and Repub-
right to assemble peacefully to better tleman from Michigan (Mr. LEVIN). licans do nothing to try to stop that
their workplace situation. Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. Madam freedom.
No worker wants to go on strike. No Speaker, this amendment is truly What the underlying bill does, how-
worker wants to forgo a paycheck so amazing to me as a longtime union or- ever, is take away the freedom not to
they can walk a picket line, often in ganizer. It seeks to undermine the free- belong to a union. That is a funda-
the frigid cold of winter or in the burn- dom of contract, the ability of employ- mental freedom in this country, and we
ing sun in the summer. Workers strike ers and unions to agree on how to han- ought not to be taking that away from
because they are left with no other op- dle a situation freely together.
the American workers.
tion. The shock of giving the employees’
The right to withhold labor is a core I urge a ‘‘yes’’ vote on the Repub-
addresses and other contact informa-
right, supposedly protected in our lican en bloc amendments and a ‘‘no’’
tion: That is required in every NLRB
labor law, and the PRO Act would re- vote on the underlying bill, and I yield
election, and it has been since the Ex-
store that fundamental right because, back the balance of my time.
celsior Underwear case many decades
in practice, it has been gutted. Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam
ago.
I actually agree with the gentleman The shock of letting the workers Speaker, I yield myself the balance of
that what we need is to restore the bal- have access to hearing from the union my time.
ance that the National Labor Relations on company time: The current law is Madam Speaker, as a group, these
Act sought to create when it was that employers can force employees, on amendments would erode workers’
passed in 1935. company time, to listen to antiunion rights, slow down elections, allow
The things we are changing aren’t propaganda the entire time. If you workers to freeload, or even prohibit
the National Labor Relations Act that refuse to go, you could be fired. But if employers from agreeing not to inter-
was passed. It is not that balance. It is an organizer tries to step on the prem- fere with the election. I would hope
the ways that employees’ freedom to ises of the employer, they could be ar- that we would defeat these amend-
withhold their labor has been gutted in rested. ments, and I yield back the balance of
the interim by State and Federal I have been arrested for trying to my time.
courts and by this body. talk to workers. It was on a public The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu-
We need to restore workers’ freedom sidewalk, but the police said we were ant to House Resolution 188, the pre-
to withhold their labor in order to im- too close. Anyway, that was thrown vious question is ordered on the
prove their situation. That is all this out, as it should have been. We were amendments en bloc offered by the
bill does. Let’s get back to that bal- exercising our First Amendment gentleman from Virginia (Mr. SCOTT).
ance. rights. The question is on the amendments
Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, could I In any event, this amendment is en bloc.
inquire as to how much time is remain- truly astounding in a capitalist soci- The question was taken; and the
ing? ety. We need to let parties be free, and Speaker pro tempore announced that
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gen- I urge rejection of the amendment. the noes appeared to have it.
tlewoman from North Carolina has 21⁄2 Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I reserve Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, on that I
minutes remaining. The gentleman the balance of my time. demand the yeas and nays.
from Virginia has 41⁄2 minutes remain- Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu-
ing. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gen- ant to section 3(s) of House Resolution
Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 tleman from Michigan (Mr. LEVIN). 8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
minute to the gentleman from Virginia Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. Madam Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, fur-
(Mr. GOOD). Speaker, I thank the chairman so ther proceedings on this question are
Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Madam Speak- much for his leadership. postponed.
er, the right to organize is appro- Madam Speaker, at base, what we are Pursuant to clause 1(c) of rule XIX,
priately protected in America, the talking about here is whether workers further consideration of H.R. 842 is
right to organize fairly, honestly, and in this country are free to come to- postponed.
transparently. gether and form a union. All of these
My amendment would provide great- amendments are designed to under- f
er fairness and transparency by prohib- mine that right.
iting so-called neutrality agreements. Let’s get back to the basic concept of b 1500
These prevent an employer from saying a free market for workers, where they,
anything negative about the union and REPORT ON RESOLUTION PRO-
prounion or antiunion, can decide
ensure that workers only hear one side, VIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF
amongst themselves whether they
the union boss’s side. SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R.
want to form a union or not, and not
Neutrality agreements often include 1319, AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN
have the person in the world who has
card check in lieu of a secret ballot, ACT OF 2021
the most power over them, their boss,
permit unions access to company prop- who decides their wages and their Mr. MCGOVERN, from the Com-
erty for organizational efforts, and give hours, to pressure them, to force them mittee on Rules, submitted a privi-
private employee contact information to listen to things, to subject them to leged report (Rept. No. 117–11) on the
to the unions. The company, which was propaganda. resolution (H. Res. 198) providing for

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inevitably threatened with retaliatory The PRO Act simply creates freedom consideration of the Senate amend-
consequences if they didn’t agree to for workers to form unions, at long ment to the bill (H.R. 1319) to provide
the neutrality agreement, will often last, so that the workers who want to for reconciliation pursuant to title II
provide the unions with a captive audi- form a union can do so freely. of S. Con. Res. 5, which was referred to
ence on company time to present the Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield the House Calendar and ordered to be
prounion argument. myself the balance of my time. printed.

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H1164 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE March 9, 2021
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION going hungry. Roughly 12 million chil- Madam Speaker, today’s rule pro-
OF SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R. dren are living in households with food vides for consideration of the Senate
1319, AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN insecurity. Up to 40 million people can- amendment to H.R. 1319, the American
ACT OF 2021 not afford to pay rent and fear evic- Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Mr. MCGOVERN. Madam Speaker, by tion. Over 2 million women have been First, the House considered the budg-
forced to leave the workforce. Eight of et resolution setting the budget rec-
direction of the Committee on Rules, I
10 minority businesses are on the brink onciliation instructions for this mas-
call up House Resolution 198 and ask
of closure. That is what COVID has sive coronavirus relief bill. Then, the
for its immediate consideration.
wrought in America today. House considered and passed, on a par-
The Clerk read the resolution, as fol- This is more than a Band-Aid; this is tisan basis, the budget resolution au-
lows: a lifeline, Madam Speaker. It will put thorizing a deficit increase of nearly $2
H. RES. 198 more vaccines in arms, put more kids trillion. After an all-night vote-a-rama
Resolved, That upon adoption of this reso- back safely in schools, put more money in the Senate, the House will consider
lution it shall be in order to take from the in people’s pockets, and put more peo- this package for the third time.
Speaker’s table the bill (H.R. 1319) to provide ple back to work. It is hard to over- Three times the House will have de-
for reconciliation pursuant to title II of S.
Con. Res. 5, with the Senate amendment
state just how important this is. bated and passed a partisan package,
thereto, and to consider in the House, with-
This bill, Madam Speaker, attacks and only 9 percent is dedicated to actu-
out intervention of any point of order, a mo- inequality and poverty in ways we ally crushing the coronavirus. This
tion offered by the chair of the Committee haven’t seen in a generation. This leg- isn’t just disappointing; it is irrespon-
on the Budget or his designee that the House islation makes the biggest investments sible, and it is unrepresentative of the
concur in the Senate amendment. The Sen- in our workers and our middle class American people.
ate amendment and the motion shall be con- that I have seen in my two-and-a-half Currently, Democrats only hold the
sidered as read. The motion shall be debat- decades of service here. majority by five Representatives. That
able for two hours equally divided among Make no mistake, I am disappointed means that the 211 Republicans, rep-
and controlled by the chair and ranking mi- to see the cut in the unemployment in-
nority member of the Committee on the
resenting nearly 150 million Ameri-
surance made over in the Senate, and cans, have been shut out of this proc-
Budget or their respective designees and the
we are going to keep fighting to raise ess; 150 million Americans are not rep-
chair and ranking minority member of the
Committee on Ways and Means or their re- the minimum wage so that no one who resented in the package before us
spective designees. The previous question works full time lives in poverty. We are today.
shall be considered as ordered on the motion going to keep focusing on the hunger Madam Speaker, we all want to pro-
to its adoption without intervening motion. crisis in this country until we end it vide the resources to successfully
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. once and for all. These should be funda- emerge on the other side of the pan-
JACKSON LEE). The gentleman from mental priorities of the wealthiest na- demic. This bill does include funding
Massachusetts is recognized for 1 hour. tion on the planet. for testing and vaccine deployment, as
Mr. MCGOVERN. Madam Speaker, for But let’s be clear. Today, we are on well as some economic support and aid
the doorstep of history. We are about to those who are unemployed or experi-
the purpose of debate only, I yield the
to send the most sweeping and progres- encing food shortages, but this support
customary 30 minutes to the distin-
sive economic investment in modern is not targeted toward those identified
guished gentleman from Texas (Mr.
times to the President of the United as most vulnerable.
BURGESS), pending which I yield myself States: $1,400 in direct payments, a his-
such time as I may consume. During This bill includes $1,400 in economic
toric child allowance, school infra- stimulus payments to anyone making
consideration of this resolution, all structure, an expansion of the Afford-
time yielded is for the purpose of de- $75,000 a year or less, including those
able Care Act, student loan relief, bil- who may not have lost their jobs or ex-
bate only. lions in rental assistance, aid that will
GENERAL LEAVE
perienced reduced employment. In ad-
cut child poverty in half, and I could go dition, there is no mechanism to en-
Mr. MCGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I on and on and on. sure that these payments go only to
ask unanimous consent that all Mem- Everything included in this final
American citizens.
bers may have 5 legislative days in package is necessary to crush the virus Republicans were pleased that the in-
which to revise and extend their re- and revitalize our economy. frastructure projects in California and
marks. As I have noted, I have been in Con-
New York, projects that had nothing to
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there gress for more than 20 years, but this,
do with coronavirus relief, have been
objection to the request of the gen- Madam Speaker, this is among my
removed. We are glad of that.
tleman from Massachusetts? proudest moments. My Democratic colleagues may argue
There was no objection. I want to thank our distinguished
that these projects would have created
Mr. MCGOVERN. Madam Speaker, Speaker, NANCY PELOSI, and my fellow
jobs, but why then are Democrats also
today, the Rules Committee met and committee chairs who worked so hard
on this bill. I want to thank Budget providing $125 billion to schools even if
reported a rule, House Resolution 198, they remain closed? Teachers want to
providing for a motion to concur with Committee Chair YARMUTH and all of
my colleagues here in the House for teach. Teachers want to be safely in
the Senate amendment to H.R. 1319, their classrooms teaching. The Centers
the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. getting us to this point.
Democrats on both sides of the Cap- for Disease Control has confirmed that
The rule provides 2 hours of debate with appropriate safety precautions,
itol, together with the Biden adminis-
on the motion, equally divided and con- the risk of coronavirus transmission in
tration, have crafted something his-
trolled by the chairs and ranking mi- schools is minimal. In fact, many
toric. In 1 day, with a single vote in
nority members of the Committees on States are prioritizing teachers for vac-
favor of this bill, we will change the
Budget and Ways and Means. lives of millions of Americans for the cines. Madam Speaker, our State of
Madam Speaker, a once-in-a-century better. Texas is doing so. Why are we paying
pandemic brought us the need to act, For all of our important work, day in schools to keep them home?
and a Democratic Congress and a and day out, we don’t get many This bill also provides $362 billion for
Democratic President have seized the chances like this. I urge all of my col- State and local governments. The
moment, not as a chance to help big leagues to join me in voting for this CARES Act, passed on March 27, al-
corporations or the already well-off, as rule and the underlying rescue plan. ready provided a $150 billion
those on the other side have done over Let us rise and meet this moment, Coronavirus Relief Fund to help local
and over again, but as an opportunity and let’s send this historic bill to the entities with lost revenue during the

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to invest in our workers, our students, President’s desk for his signature. shutdowns. However, many local au-
our communities, and the very people Madam Speaker, I reserve the bal- thorities have chosen to keep their
who need help the most. ance of my time. economies shut down, despite a drop in
More than 18 million Americans are Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, I coronavirus cases and the effectiveness
receiving unemployment benefits yield myself such time as I may con- of safety measures like social
today. Nearly 24 million adults are sume. distancing and mask-wearing.

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