[Federal Register: September 13, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 176)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Page 54225-54228]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13se05-148]
[[Page 54225]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Part VI
The President
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Proclamation 7924--To Suspend Subchapter IV of Chapter 31 of Title 40,
United States Code, Within a Limited Geographic Area in Response to the
National Emergency Caused by Hurricane Katrina
Notice of September 8, 2005--Continuation of the National Emergency
With Respect to Certain Terrorist Attacks
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 54227]]
Proclamation 7924 of September 8, 2005
To Suspend Subchapter IV of Chapter 31 of Title
40, United States Code, Within a Limited Geographic
Area in Response to the National Emergency Caused by
Hurricane Katrina
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
1. Section 3142(a) of title 40, United States Code,
provides that ``every contract in excess of $2,000, to
which the Federal Government or the District of
Columbia is a party, for construction, alteration, or
repair, including painting and decorating, of public
buildings and public works of the Government or the
District of Columbia that are located in a State or the
District of Columbia and which requires or involves the
employment of mechanics or laborers shall contain a
provision stating the minimum wages to be paid various
classes or laborers and mechanics.''
2. Section 3142(b) of title 40, United States Code,
provides that such ``minimum wages shall be based on
the wages the Secretary of Labor determines to be
prevailing for the corresponding classes of laborers
and mechanics employed on projects of a character
similar to the contract work in the civil subdivision
of the State in which the work is to be performed . .
.''
3. Under various other related acts, the payment of
wages is made dependent upon determinations by the
Secretary of Labor under section 3142 of title 40,
United States Code.
4. Section 3147 of title 40, United States Code,
provides that ``[t]he President may suspend the
provisions of this subchapter during a national
emergency.''
5. Several areas of the Nation have been recently
devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The devastation from
the hurricane has resulted in the largest amount of
property damage from a natural disaster in the history
of the Nation. An enormous but undetermined number of
lives have been lost, and hundreds of thousands of
homes and business establishments either destroyed or
severely damaged. Hundreds of thousands of individuals
have lost their jobs and their livelihood. An
unprecedented amount of Federal assistance will be
needed to restore the communities that have been
ravaged by the hurricane. Accordingly, I find that the
conditions caused by Hurricane Katrina constitute a
``national emergency'' within the meaning of section
3147 of title 40, United States Code.
(a)
Hurricane Katrina has resulted in unprecedented property damage.
(b)
The wage rates imposed by section 3142 of title 40, United States Code,
increase the cost to the Federal Government of providing Federal assistance
to these areas.
(c)
Suspension of the subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States
Code, 40 U.S.C. 3141-3148, and the operation of related acts to the extent
they depend upon the Secretary of Labor's determinations under section 3142
of title 40, United States Code, will result in greater assistance to these
devastated communities and will permit the employment of thousands of
additional individuals.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the
United States of America, do by this proclamation
suspend, as to all contracts entered into on or after
the date of this proclamation and until otherwise
provided,
[[Page 54228]]
the provisions of subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title
40, United States Code, 40 U.S.C. 3141-3148, and the
provisions of all other acts providing for the payment
of wages, which provisions are dependent upon
determinations by the Secretary of Labor under section
3142 of title 40, United States Code, as they apply to
contracts to be performed in the following
jurisdictions: the counties of Baldwin, Choctaw,
Clarke, Mobile, Sumter, and Washington in the State of
Alabama; the counties of Broward, Miami-Dade, and
Monroe in the State of Florida; the parishes of Acadia,
Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard,
Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Calcasieu, Caldwell,
Cameron, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, De Soto, East
Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline,
Franklin, Grant, Iberia, Iberville, Jackson, Jefferson,
Jefferson Davis, La Salle, Lafayette, Lafourche,
Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches,
Orleans, Ouachita, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Rapides,
Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles,
St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St.
Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa,
Tensas, Terrebonne, Union, Vermilion, Vernon,
Washington, Webster, West Baton Rouge, West Carroll,
West Feliciana, and Winn in the State of Louisiana; and
the counties of Adams, Alcorn, Amite, Attala, Benton,
Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw,
Claiborne, Clarke, Clay, Coahoma, Copiah, Covington,
DeSoto, Forrest, Franklin, George, Greene, Grenada,
Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena,
Itawamba, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis,
Jones, Kemper, Lafayette, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence,
Leake, Lee, Leflore, Lincoln, Lowndes, Madison, Marion,
Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee,
Oktibbeha, Panola, Pearl River, Perry, Pike Pontotoc,
Prentiss, Quitman, Rankin, Scott, Sharkey, Simpson,
Smith, Stone, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tippah,
Tishomingo, Tunica, Union, Walthall, Warren,
Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wilkinson, Winston,
Yalobusha, Yazoo in the State of Mississippi.
And, as to such contracts to be performed in such
jurisdictions, I do hereby suspend, until otherwise
provided, the provisions of any Executive Order,
proclamation, rule, regulation, or other directive
providing for the payment of wages, which provisions
are dependent upon determinations by the Secretary of
Labor under section 3142 of title 40, United States
Code;
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord two
thousand five, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirtieth.
(Presidential Sig.)B
[FR Doc. 05-18238
Filed 8-12-05; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P