National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013

Floor Speech

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Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in strong opposition to the Bartlett-Flake amendment. This amendment would indeed seek to prohibit Agencies from using a PLA. It is not as the gentleman from Arizona has just stated.

Let me clear something up. Large-scale construction projects--look, I was an ironworker for 18 years. I've run work. I was an ironworker foreman, an ironworker general foreman. PLAs are a great advantage to have in a complex construction project.

This amendment and the PLA provision that's already in the President's executive order applies to projects that are $25 million and over. All of those projects below $25 million don't get affected by the PLA executive order. What the PLA does require, as Mr. Courtney has pointed out, is it does require compliance with statutory compliance with workers' comp law, statutory compliance with anti-discrimination law, with proper classification of workers, and with health and safety laws on some very dangerous job sites.

It is a good idea to reject the Bartlett-Flake amendment and allow the PLAs to be used when appropriate.

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