madam speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
madam speaker , i would like to just say that when we say the republican majority is trying to trivialize the role of osha and the role of safety in the workplace , there is good foundation for this . 
when this administration took power , the present administration in the white house , one of the first acts that they perpetrated was the repeal of ergonomic standards at the urging of , of course , republican members of congress . 
they repealed the ergonomic standards that had been in process with a lot of bipartisan development and support over a long period of years . 
when the secretary of labor was elizabeth dole , great steps were made ; and slowly we reached a point where we had ergonomic standards to pass . 
the current bush administration 's first act was to repeal ergonomic standards , to toss them aside and to send a message that workers in the workplace are not that important , working families are really not important , working conditions in america are not important . 
the history of osha is that step by step they have saved thousands and thousands of lives . 
one of the worst industries for safety before osha came into existence was the construction industry . 
the construction industry is still one of the most unsafe industries , but it has made tremendous strides in terms of saving lives as a result of being forced to follow certain kinds of standards by osha . 
i think we need more light thrown on this subject , and for that reason we have prepared some information for each member of the committee by district , and they can get familiar with the problem in their district with this information that we have compiled . 
for example , according to the bureau of labor statistics in 2003 , there were 200 worker deaths in the state of illinois . 
but in the 13th congressional district of illinois , 69.5 percent of all the state 's deaths took place . 
i think the member of congress from the 13th district ought to know that and take a look at what has happened in that district . 
this packet that we want to prepare for each member includes a chart detailing the statistics . 
the chart also lists the worker deaths according to the industry the person worked in and also the type of incident that was responsible for their death : was it a fall , contact with equipment , et cetera . 
the information is also broken down between government workers and those working in the private industry . 
this packet also includes a census report for each one of the districts showing how it relates to the surrounding areas , et cetera . 
we will prepare this for each member to just let them know how serious a matter this is in terms of their own immediate districts . 
we think working families in america should not be treated as if they lived in a third world country , and a lot of third world countries mores are being attempted by certain u.s. industries . 
particularly the construction industry , the construction industry looks for the most vulnerable people , immigrants . 
illegal immigrants are employed in large numbers in the construction industry . 
and i come from a city where 40 percent of all male blacks are unemployed , according to two studies , two studies that confirm that 40 percent of all male blacks are unemployed . 
yet there is a tremendous amount of construction going on , and if we go around the construction sites , we will find that the workers doing the manual labor , unskilled labor , are immigrants ; and in many cases there are tremendous accidents , and these people are shuffled off and frightened and intimidated to the point where they never even report it . 
they do not have any workman 's compensation , let alone feel that they have the right to be protected under the osha laws . 
a review of more than 2 , 500 osha construction site inspection records in new york state from the year 2003 found that nearly one third of all osha construction violations in the state were of scaffolding or fall protection requirement violations , more than any other standard . 
the organizations involved in the analysis also said the results of this study as well as a separate review reveal troubling data about the plight of immigrant workers in the construction industry . 
their analysis , titled `` lives in the balance -- immigrants and workers at elevated heights at greatest risk in construction , '' was prepared by the new york state trial lawyers association and issued by the new york committee for occupational safety and health and the association of community organizations for reform now , called acorn . 
two other organizations make the road by walking , and the new york immigration coalition , also sponsored the study . 
the study reviewed all construction site osha inspections conducted in the state during 2003 . 
now , personally , i know and i have related on this floor , the total accidents that have taken place since then in new york city . 
five immigrant workers lost their lives in a trench that was being constructed without proper safeguards . 
i want to repeat that there is a class problem developing in america . 
there is a class problem . 
those in power are insensitive to the needs of those who are out there working on the front lines , whether it is in domestic service or in dangerous jobs like construction , trucking and a number of chemical plants . 
these are dangerous jobs , but they have to be done . 
our industries can not survive without people who work in those dangerous jobs . 
they deserve all the protection we can give them . 
just as the soldiers on the front lines in iraq , afghanistan or anywhere else always deserve the best that we can give them . 
every soldier is automatically a hero when he goes out to fight for his country , because for every one who goes out to fight , there are a few hundred thousand left behind who will what we have found in this present war in iraq is that people on the top , with their class-conscious sentiments at work , did not provide at first the kind of protection that should have been provided to the soldiers on the front lines out there . 
the soldiers come from the same working families . 
i can not stress enough the need for all americans to recognize that we are all in this together . 
we have a governor of new york state now whose son was in the national guard in a program that required that , once he came out , he had certain duties and obligations . 
this governor 's son now is asking for a waiver . 
he does not want to go to iraq ; he wants a waiver . 
what kind of a message is that sending to all of the mothers and fathers of young men and women who have gone off to fight in iraq in terms of our society ? 
the person with the power does not want to make a sacrifice of his son . 
