Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, R-Harding, asks that, if we want the most bang for the buck, why are stimulus construction projects subjected to the Davis-Bacon Act? The answer is simple: this is not about getting the cheapest labor.

The act was passed during the Great Depression to reserve jobs on federal projects for local workers and to ensure people were paid prevailing wages.

This was in response to contractors hiring exploited black Americans as cheap labor. Today it would be foreigners.

It is unconscionable that an amendment in the stimulus bill was removed that would have reauthorized the E-Verify system to ensure workers are legal. This will lure more illegals to America.

An amendment prevents banks that receive funds from hiring H-1B visa workers, but any other job can go to foreigners.

Exploited visa workers, paid below a fair market wage, are used to replace fired American workers who have the skills.

Who is this stimulus for? The government will import 2 million visa workers and 1.5 million permanent residents over the next two years competing for 1.2 million to 3.6 million stimulus jobs.

Add in millions of illegals, and it sounds like a losing proposition for Americans. Billions of our tax dollars will provide jobs for foreigners as cheap labor.

LINDA KILCREASE

Dover

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/2009 ... 95/OPINION