Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2587, Protecting Jobs from Government Interferance Act

Floor Speech

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Thank you, Mr. Scott, for your leadership.

The Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act will prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from dictating where private businesses can and cannot choose to create jobs.

The legislation ensures private businesses across America will be able to promote job growth by making decisions based on the best interests of their shareholders and workers. The act prohibits the NLRB from ordering employers to relocate, shut down, or transfer employment. It fosters a positive environment for employers to develop their businesses and the State that offers the best opportunities for growth and job creation.

It's truly sad that this legislation must be created to counter the overreaching agenda of the job-killing NLRB. Earlier this month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the national unemployment rate is at 9.1 percent. This means there were 14 million Americans that were without jobs. So I find it bizarre that in this climate of high unemployment, the NLRB is attempting to destroy thousands of jobs in South Carolina.

In fact, as Politico has reported, the 1.1 million square-foot building is built. I was there for the groundbreaking. I was there for the topping out.

Already, as my colleague, Congressman Scott, has pointed out, 1,100 people are employed today. Another 8,000 people will be employed across this State of South Carolina. This is not a hypothetical issue. It is a completed plant with jobs, with families at risk today.

This year, my birthplace has served as the center of this controversial ruling by the administration that a large manufacturer that's created jobs across the country cannot relocate.

This is now unprecedented. The Boeing complaint is a threat to all right-to-work States, not just South Carolina. The NLRB is chasing jobs overseas. Being a right-to-work State means employees in those States can choose for themselves whether to join a union. The NLRB complaint against Boeing is really without merit. It falsely indicates that Boeing ``transferred work'' of the 787 Dreamliner assembly line from Washington State. However, not a single union employee has lost a job due to the decision to locate a new, second line for 787s.

The NLRB efforts may have an unintended consequence. With the legal theory a business cannot expand from a union State to a right-to-work State, business will get the message never to locate in a union State in the first place. The only safe location is to establish a business in a right-to-work State.

I applaud the proactive efforts of Congressman Scott in introducing the bill. I want to thank the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee, John Kline, along with the distinguished subcommittee chairman of Health, Employment, and Labor, Congressman Phil Roe of Tennessee.

I urge support by my colleagues.

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