Franklin D. Roosevelt

Proclamation 2088—Suspending the Provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act of March 3, 1931

June 05, 1934

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Whereas section 1 of the Davis-Bacon Act of March 3, 1931 (ch. 411, 46 Stat. 1494), provides:

" * * * Every contract in excess of $5,000 in amount, to which the United States or the District of Columbia is a party, which requires or involves the employment of laborers or mechanics in the construction, alteration, and/or repair of any public buildings of the United States or the District of Columbia within the geographical limits of the States of the Union or the District of Columbia, shall contain a provision to the effect that the rate of wage for all laborers and mechanics employed by the contractor or any subcontractor on the public buildings covered by the contract shall be not less than the prevailing rate of wages for work of a similar nature in the city, town, village, or other civil division of the State in which the public buildings are located, or in the District of Columbia if the public buildings are located there * * *."

Whereas section 206 of the National Industrial Recovery Act (ch. 90, 48 Stat. 195, 204) provides:

"All contracts let for construction projects and all loans and grants pursuant to this title shall contain such provisions as are necessary to insure * * * (2) that (except in executive, administrative, and supervisory positions), so far as practicable and feasible, no individual directly employed on any such project shall be permitted to work more than thirty hours in any one week; (3) that all employees shall be paid just and reasonable wages which shall be compensation sufficient to provide, for the hours of labor as limited, a standard of living in decency and comfort * * *."

Whereas the Secretary of Labor and the Administrator of Public Works have informed me that the concurrent operation of the aforesaid provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act and the National Industrial Recovery Act cause administrative confusion and delay which could be avoided by suspension of the provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act;

Whereas section 1 of the aforesaid Davis-Bacon Act authorizes the President to suspend the provisions of that act in case of a national emergency; and

Whereas I find that a national emergency exists:

Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do by this proclamation suspend until otherwise provided the provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act of March 3, 1931, as to all contracts made or to be made, except those entered into prior to June 16, 1933, and those entered into on or subsequent to June 16, 1933, which contain the provisions required by the said act of March 3, 1931.

And I do hereby suspend until otherwise provided the provisions of Executive Order No. 5778, of January 19, 1932, prescribing certain stipulations to be incorporated into public building contracts.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this 5" day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and thirty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and fifty-eighth.

Signature of Franklin D. Roosevelt
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

By the President:
WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Acting Secretary of State.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Proclamation 2088—Suspending the Provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act of March 3, 1931 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/349381

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