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In 1992, two days into a crippling railroad strike, then-Sen. Joe Biden came to the Senate floor and decried the lopsided nature of federal labor laws dealing with the rail industry \u2014 laws, he argued, that essentially allowed corporations, regulators and, ultimately, Congress to run roughshod over workers.\n\u201cWe need to restore a measure of balance to these negotiations,\u201d he said, before voting with just five other senators against halting the strike.\nThirty years later, as president, Biden is turning to those very same laws to prevent another strike and impose a tentative contract agreement that his administration brokered but multiple rail unions voted to reject.\n\u201cAs a proud pro-labor President, I am reluctant to override the ratification procedures and the views of those who voted against the agreement,\u201d the president said in a statement. \u201cBut in this case \u2014 where the economic impact of a shutdown would hurt millions of other working people and families \u2014 I believe Congress must use its powers to adopt this deal.\u201d\nSubscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter\nRaghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.