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Today, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2013 (H.R.4310) that would prohibit the federal government from mandating the use of a project labor agreement (PLA) or favoring a contractor because of the signing of a project labor agreement (PLA).  AGC  to the House today in support of the amendment. The vote passed (211-209) mostly along party lines with most republicans supporting it and all but one democrat opposing. While Â鶹ÊÓƵneither supports nor opposes PLAs in general, Â鶹ÊÓƵstrongly opposes government mandates for PLAs on publically funded construction projects.  Â鶹ÊÓƵis committed to free and open competition in all public construction markets and believes that publically funded contracts should be awarded without regard to the lawful labor relations policies and practices of the government contractor.  Â鶹ÊÓƵwill continue to work with congress on encouraging free and open competition on all federal contracts. In addition, the House Appropriations Committee passed an amendment, by voice vote, to the FY 2013 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill which was offered by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and is similar to the passed Bartlett amendment. AGC  to the House Appropriations Committee, urging support for the amendment. The bill is expected to see a vote in the House in the next several weeks. An attempt to strip the Flake amendment during the debate is expected. For more information, please contact Jim Young at (202) 547-0133 oryoungj@agc.org.