Obama says he'll 'keep on fighting' to pass 'card check' bill

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The Hill:

Obama says he'll 'keep on fighting' to pass 'card check' bill
By Michael O'Brien - 08/04/10 11:36 AM ET

President Obama told the AFL-CIO on Wednesday that he would "keep on fighting" to pass the controversial "card check" bill.

Obama said during a speech to the labor group's executive committee meeting that he continued to support the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA, or "card check") among the litany of proposals he favors to help workers.

"[W]e're going to keep on fighting to pass the Employee Free Choice Act," Obama told the union.

"Getting EFCA through the Senate will be tough. It's always been tough, it'll continue to be tough. But we'll keep on pushing," he said.

The labor organizing bill has languished in Congress over the past year and a half after business groups poured millions into efforts to beat it back. While the legislation had some support in the House, it's failed to muster the 60 votes necessary to survive a filibuster in the Senate.

Lobbying for and against the legislation has continued at a healthy pace. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), a key Democrat and proponent of the legislation, has suggested that some form of the bill could move during the lame-duck Congress between Election Day and early January, when a new Congress is sworn in.

To that end, Republicans and groups like the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) have sought to put their supporters on alert in coming months, putting pressure on lawmakers to swear off lame-duck action on EFCA or other top priorities that will have gone without action until November.