As a result of yesterdays preliminary session. we found that since the overwhelming number of New Jersey contractors have union contracts. the failure of Federal agencies to require that contractors on Federal projects pay the prevailing wage rates results in severe unemployment in the construction industry among those union contractors. Unscrupulous. flybynight contractors operating out of suitcase and working on Federal projects are hiring cheap. often unlicensed. labor to do electrical. plumbing. and other critical construction work. In several instances. we learned that these contractors employed illegal aliens to work on Federal projects. Mr. Speaker. while I regret being unable to vote on the matters before the House yesterday. unemployment in my district has reached well over 15 percent.
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illegal aliens