John Ensign's Blog

Yesterday, Senator Ensign discussed the issue of card check and the Employee "No" Choice Act with Human Events:

Republican leaders continued their campaign against the Democrats' "Employee Free Choice Act" -- their Orwellian name for legislation that will deny free elections in union organizing -- yesterday. Their aim is to kill off the legislation for at least this year. But before we breathe a sigh of relief and add Big Labor to the long and growing list of supporters the president has thrown under the bus when they were no longer convenient, Republican leaders are warning us to be vigilant for a variety of compelling reasons.

In an exclusive interview with HUMAN EVENTS, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) issued a strict warning to watch what senators say when making public statements about opposing the card check legislation.

"We've seen the unions operate in the past, and they don't give up this easily," Ensign said. "Certainly the Employee Free Choice Act -- getting rid of the right to a secret ballot -- is not doing well right now with several Democrats coming out against it and Arlen Specter coming out against it. If you notice, they always say 'in its current form,' and that makes you nervous. What kind of compromise is going to be attempted, because there can be no compromise on this legislation. It is a terrible, un-American piece of legislation. Getting rid of the secret ballot and imposing mandatory arbitration on what the workplace rules are, how much wages are, healthcare benefits are and those kinds of things, it literally is un-American and that is why we cannot afford compromise on this. Compromise always makes you nervous on Capitol Hill, especially when they're trying to compromise and get bad legislation through."

Ensign told us he wasn't aware of any negotiations toward a "card check" compromise. But he warned that will only spur the unions to more intense efforts to grow the Democratic majority in the Senate. "Let's say that it doesn't have a chance this year, that doesn't mean it doesn't have a chance next year or even after the next election. The unions are going to put tremendous resources into the next election. If they can't get 60 votes now, you can bet they're going to go all out. They did in the last election. They're going to put every bit if not more resources into the next election because they know that they already have the White House. They can put 100% of their resources into electing Senate Democrats and getting to that magic 60 number. They know they already have the House, they have the White House, they can focus all of their resources on the Senate."

Senator Ensign has promised: "I will not stop until card check is dead."

Help Senator Ensign stop the Employee "No" Choice Act by joining the Protect The Secret Ballot Facebook group.