President Bush has issued an executive order that will allow federal contractors to underpay workers helping to rebuild the Gulf Coast region. Under the Davis-Bacon law federal contractors are required to pay workers at least the prevailing wages in the area where the work is conducted. It applies to federally funded construction projects such as highways and bridges. But on Thursday Bush exempted federal contractors working on the reconstruction of the region. Democratic Congressman George Miller of California said “The administration is using the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to cut the wages of people desperately trying to rebuild their lives and their communities.”