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Partial Transcript
Lou Dobbs Tonight - CNN -- October 24, 2005
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DOBBS: Just minutes ago on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana blasted American contractors who are hiring illegal aliens to help rebuild the Gulf Coast. Senator Landrieu demanded that American workers be hired for those jobs and at the prevailing wage, despite the president's waiver of Davis-Bacon.
Just last week, illegal aliens were found working at the Belle Chasse Naval air station in Louisiana, after higher-paid American workers were fired.
Senator Landrieu joins us now from Capitol Hill. Also joining us again, two of her constituents, Al Knight and Mack Moran, who were hired to supply electricians to rebuild Belle Chasse, but they claim after three weeks of training low-paid, non-English-speaking workers, they were fired. Thank you all for being here. It is good to see you again, Al and Mike, and Senator Landrieu. Your protest on the floor of the Senate, do you think you're going to be able to make headway here?
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D), LOUISIANA: Well, Lou, I hope so. And thanks to programs like yours, the American people are really understanding or learning about a story that I don't think they can quite fathom. And that is that right here in America, on a U.S. military base, these workers, who were skilled and were asked to come to rebuild their own neighborhood, workers who had actually lost their home, were then ushered off the military base so that undocumented workers could take their place.
I mean, Lou, we need jobs in the Gulf Coast. We need jobs in Louisiana. We have people that want to work, that are skilled to work, that want to rebuild their homes and their neighborhoods, and under the current policies, they're actually being prevented from doing so. It is an outrage.
DOBBS: Senator, you wrote Michael Chertoff, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, saying in part that you received compelling evidence that immigration laws are being flagrantly disregarded. In point of fact, this administration waived documentation requirements for hiring. And Al Knight, Mike Moran, as you both know, those requirements put aside and prevailing wage was put aside. Where do you stand with the contractor, a subsidiary of Halliburton, BE&K, and your deal with them? The senator has taken up your cause here. Has it resulted in anything, Al?
AL KNIGHT, KNIGHT ENTERPRISES: No, sir. We still remain out of work, and we're still out of work today. There's 75 guys that lost their jobs to those out-of-state illegal workers. Still don't have a job today. Some of them have gone back to work, but I still receive unemployment documents from the Department of Labor every day at my mail, through a reduction of force.
DOBBS: Mike, Al, at no point during the last -- this is a statement from BE&K's -- from BE&K, referring to you all. Quote: "At no point during the last several weeks, did we ever replace workers from Louisiana with workers who were paid less. We released Knight Enterprises only when its work was substantially done. BE&K is eager to get the facts."
So are we. Mike, Al, Senator, what are the facts?
LANDRIEU: Well, Mike, you go ahead and answer, since you were the one that they asked to leave.
DOBBS: Mike Moran?
MIKE MORAN, GENERAL FOREMAN: Lou, yes, Lou, we were -- we were told that the job was substantially complete after being told it was a 20-month job. All we worked was 20 days. I don't see how anyone could...
DOBBS: And the people you worked with, the people you trained, you said they were non-English-speaking. Do you have any reason to think that they were illegal aliens?
MORAN: I have no way to verify it either way. Lou, but we weren't hired to train them. What they did is go and look at our work and try to duplicate it, which they were not successful at doing.
DOBBS: Senator Landrieu, the issue here, you said you had proof that they're hiring illegal aliens. We do know that there is a federal investigation on this case and others down there. What is your expectation?
LANDRIEU: Well, Lou, first of all, there are many good contractors, as you know, and many good business people in Louisiana trying to rebuild our state. But the issue is, we have federal policies that are actually encouraging the hiring of out-of-state workers, in some cases undocumented workers, to take the place of Americans right there in Louisiana and Mississippi, that are ready to rebuild their neighborhoods. And in this case, it happened to be this dastardly deed done on an American military base, which makes it even worse.
The American taxpayers don't understand this, so, Lou, we're going to get to the bottom of it. We're asking for an investigation. But our American workers deserve better, and they want to work, and I think that we can get to the bottom of this and hopefully stop this practice.
DOBBS: Senator Landrieu, we thank you. We join you, as I know Mike Moran and Al Knight do, in your wish. We thank you, Al and Mike. It is good to talk with you again as we try to learn more about what's going on down there. And hopefully, we will see justice done.
KNIGHT: Thank you, Lou.
DOBBS: Thanks to the efforts in part of Senator Landrieu and your own stalwart advocacy, gentlemen. Thank you very much.
LANDRIEU: Thank you, Lou.
DOBBS: And that of Congressman George Miller as well on the House side.
Still ahead here, the results of our poll tonight. And we'll have a preview of what's coming up here tomorrow. Stay with us.
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