Hurt speaks on Right to Work legislation
Congressman Robert Hurt (R-VA) today delivered the following remarks on the House floor in support of H.R. 2587, the Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act. As a part of the House’s job creation agenda, H.R. 2587 would remove the federal government as a roadblock to job growth by preventing the National Labor Relations Board from dictating where employers and private businesses can set up their operations. Robert is a co-sponsor of H.R. 2587, which the House will vote on later today. You can watch the video of his floor remarks HERE:
“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank the gentleman from South Carolina for his leadership on this important issue.
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2587, the Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act.
“Over the past two and a half years, this Administration has vastly expanded the size and scope of the federal government and supported policies that have destroyed jobs, stifled investment and innovation, and slowed our economic recovery in Virginia’s 5th District and across the country.
“One of the most recent and troubling examples of this government overreach is the latest move by the unelected National Labor Relations Board to block Boeing from creating thousands of jobs in South Carolina.
“This kind of government intervention is a direct attack on our economic freedom, and has disastrous effects on 5th District Virginians and all Americans.
“It has the potential to cost thousands of jobs at a time when we need jobs most.
“It dangerously and unacceptably inserts the federal government into the business decisions of private companies.
“And it threatens to undermine the economic competitiveness of all states – such as Virginia – that have Right to Work laws.
“Being the northern-most Right to Work state on the East Coast has helped make Virginia the best place in the country to do business and has helped promote job growth and economic investment across the 5th District and our Commonwealth.
“At a time when millions of Americans are out of work and unemployment remains unacceptably high, Right to Work states should not be penalized by an intrusive and overbearing federal government for their ability to attract new business, investment, and jobs.
“As a part of the House’s job creation agenda, H.R. 2587 would remove the federal government as a roadblock to job growth by preventing the NLRB from dictating where employers and private businesses can set up their operations – putting our economic recovery back where it belongs, in the hands of the people instead of the federal government.
“If we are serious about getting our economy back on track, we must support these kinds of policies that help restore certainty to the marketplace and provide our true job creators with the confidence, freedom, and opportunity necessary to do what they do best – innovate, grow their businesses, and get America working again.
“That is why I am proud to co-sponsor H.R. 2587, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.”
Robert Hurt: Protecting jobs by defending Virginia’s right to work status
Over the past two and a half years, the Administration has imposed several unnecessary government regulations and mandates on the private sector that have destroyed jobs, stifled innovation, and slowed our economic recovery.
Despite the fact that unemployment still stands unacceptably high in the 5th District and across the nation, the Administration continues to overstep its bounds, taking steps and pursuing policies that make it more difficult for our job creators to put people back to work.
A recent and troubling example of this is the latest move by the unelected National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to block Boeing from building a new plant in South Carolina. The NLRB’s lawsuit has the potential to cost thousands of jobs. But even more, this government intervention on behalf big union bosses represents a direct attack on our economic freedom.
The federal government should not dictate the business decisions of private companies while destroying jobs in the process. Right to Work states, such as Virginia, should not be penalized by an intrusive and overbearing federal government for their ability to attract new business, investments, and jobs. And the NRLB’s complaint in this case threatens to undermine the economic competitiveness of all states that have Right to Work laws.
That is why I signed on as a co-sponsor of the Job Protection Act, which prevents the NLRB from moving forward with their case against Boeing or attempting similar action against other companies. The Job Protection Act clarifies that the NLRB cannot order an employer to relocate jobs from one location to another and guarantees an employer the right to decide where to do business within the United States.
Virginia is the northern-most Right to Work state on the East Coast, which has made the Commonwealth one of the best places to do business and has helped promote job growth across the 5th District and the state. I remain committed to protecting and defending our Right to Work status at the federal level, which is a critical component to our success as we all work to move our economy forward.
The effort to create jobs also hinges on our ability to identify and eliminate burdensome regulations that are hindering economic growth. One example of such an initiative is my bill H.R. 1082, the Small Business Capital Access and Job Preservation Act, which was favorably reported by the Financial Services Committee this past week with both Republican and Democrat support. H.R. 1082 will help restore confidence and certainty to the marketplace by reducing unnecessary government mandates so that our small businesses can access capital more easily and more jobs can be created and preserved. I look forward to the bill’s consideration by the full House of Representatives.
If you need any additional information on these or any other issues, please visit my website at www.hurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.
Robert Hurt is a United States Congressman.
David Reynolds: Civil War II
If there is to be a war, let it begin here. Or in twenty-two other right-to-work states, including Virginia. Or, best of all, in South Carolina. The reasons we will go to war again is the same reason we went to war 150 years ago – freedom.
Wars are about freedom. For Civil War II the question of freedom goes beyond the color of a worker’s skin. It goes to where the worker’s employer can set up shop. Civil War II is being fought over economic freedom.
Yes, we have made some progress in this freedom business. We no longer enslave workers in the cotton fields – we only tell the master where he can have his plantation.
Civil War I determined that the first word in the name of our country really meant something. That we were united. Now we have become divided between 23 right-to-work states and 27 union-shop states, between the free and the less-than-free. Ohio University economist Richard Vedder found that between 2000 and 2008 4.8 million Americans moved from forced-union states to right-to-work states.
That’s why there is second civil war going on. There are desperate men who have resorted to desperate measures in order to maintain their power and influence. This war is not taking place with shots fired from behind trees killing one soldier at a time. It is being staged on a worldwide battlefield with shots being fired from Washington. If Washington wins, it may be all quiet along the Potomac that night, but not along the Thames and the Seine. In London and Paris they will celebrate in the name of Airbus. And America and Boeing will no longer be competitive in the global aerospace market.
So, will you join in our parade to bring back America, to make it again the envy of the world, to continue to have the world’s most productive workers, or as I heard MLK shout at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, “Let freedom ring!”
It is up to the President of the United States whether freedom will ring. He can continue to sit on the sidelines – and be a one-term president. Or he can split with desperate union leaders – and we will extend his four-year lease on a certain large white house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Which shall it be, the union label or four more years?
As every private or charter school kid knows, Civil War I began in Charleston Harbor at Fort Sumter. Civil War II started just 15 miles inland in North Charleston, where Boeing has built a $1 billion-plus, state-of-the art, 1.2 million square-foot airplane assembly plant. A thousand new workers have already been hired. The first new 787 Dreamliner is scheduled to come off the assembly line in July.
But none of this seems to matter to the federal government and its National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB has told Boeing to pack up and go to a union-shop state, preferably the State of Washington. Or shut down! Translation: We don’t mind making the Dreamliner a nightmare, as long as it serves our interests, forces Boeing to go to court and intimidates others thinking about relocating to a right-to-work state.
I know why the unions are scared. I (a former union member) recently toured a modern BMW plant. It was not in Germany. It, too, was in South Carolina. Between Spartansburg and Greenville skilled and satisfied non-union American workers are building German designed cars. (The tour guide informed us that the robots are also non-union members.) But, don’t feel sorry for the UAW. Think of the Federal Republic of Germany. They lost 7,500 jobs to us!
On November 6, 2012 there will be a vote on whether organized labor will live or continue to slowly drop in numbers. You and I already know what happened in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio at the hands of Republicans. But did you know that Massachusetts Democrats have also tied union’s hands? And next door, New Hampshire may soon be a right-to-work state. (The governor vetoed the right-to-work move by the state legislature.) Union leaders know every member can not be a public school teacher. That’s why the National Association of Machinists and the Aerospace Workers are taking desperate measures to unionize all those who make “Made in USA” planes.
Look at it this way. An American company in excellent standing, one of our largest employers and one of our most successful exporters, a source of national pride, must go to court to carry out a well-researched business decision to expand its operations in one of our united states — a union that was finally formed at a cost of 600,000 lives during Civil War I!
Mr. President, think it over. Divorce your union friends and consider a renewed marriage contract with the American people. Sure, you will take on a few new enemies, but you will also gain millions of new friends – and they vote. America can not let the rest of the world make our planes and we can go back to sewing shirts. It’s your call.
Column by David Reynolds
Saxman vows to protect right to work
Nobody was pushing for gay marriage, either, but that didn’t stop Republicans from pushing for a constitutional amendment to ban it. Ditto now for the latest from Staunton Republican Del. Chris Saxman, who is conjuring up the idea that Virginia’s right-to-work status is under attack and promising to solve the nonissue by proposing a constitutional amendment. Read more
Robert Hurt: We must put an end to Washington’s reckless spending
Posted by afp on July 15, 2011 · 1 Comment
Today I rise to address the urgent need to rein in the out of control government spending that has led this nation into a dire debt crisis that is hindering job creation and threatens the very future of our country.
The people of Virginia’s 5th District understand the importance of this issue. I continually hear from my constituents – Republicans, Democrats, and Independents – who say that that if we are serious about turning this economy around and if we are serious about preserving this country for our children and our grandchildren, we must put an immediate end to Washington’s irresponsible and reckless spending.
Our nation is now facing a 14 trillion dollar debt and 1.5 trillion dollar deficit. We are borrowing over 4 billion dollars a day and over 40 cents on every dollar we spend.
And as the President continues to request an increase in the debt limit while remaining steadfast in his call for hundreds of billions of dollars of job-crushing tax hikes, we are reminded of the need to put in place both short and long term fixes that will help restore fiscal discipline in our nation’s Capitol once and for all.
We need to continue to make significant and immediate cuts to reduce our debt and deficit now. We need to put in place spending caps that limit spending as a percentage of GDP. And we need to pass a balanced budget amendment to force the government to live within its means.
Washington has a spending problem, plain and simple, and we must continue to make the tough but necessary choices to get our fiscal house in order so that we can grow the economy, create jobs, and leave our children and grandchildren with an even better and more prosperous America.
To view a video of this floor speech or if you need any additional information on these or any other issues, please visit my website at www.hurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.
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