Federal Employees

First of all, let me say America is advantaged by having two people who work on the Budget Committee who have great intellect, great integrity and care about America: Mr. Ryan from Wisconsin and Mr. Van Hollen from Maryland.

“I stand in solidarity with AFGE and NTEU today - and with all those who serve in our nation’s federal workforce.

“We need to energize our federal employees all over this government. Shutting down the government made no sense, it penalized people who were not responsible for what [House Republicans] don’t like…. But I want to thank each and every one of you.

“I want to thank the gentleman for yielding and I want to thank my colleague Frank Wolf. There's no harder advocate, more effective advocate for federal employees than Frank Wolf. He and I have worked together for over 32 years on behalf of the interests of those people who work for the American people every day to make them safer, healthier, more informed.

“Good afternoon. Of course as we all know, it is not a good afternoon. It is an afternoon filled with angst, anxiety, fear, doubt, lack of confidence, and a concern all over America about whether their government can and does work. I want to thank all of you for being here. I know you share all that anxiety and fear, for your families and for yourselves. We want to thank you for the service you give to our federal government.

“Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Mr. Moran, for yielding.

“While it is disappointing that the Pentagon has had to impose furlough days for civilian defense workers, thanks to cost-saving efforts announced by the Pentagon today, the eleven furlough days employees had been expected to take have now been reduced to six. 

“This Congress has been the worst Congress for federal employees in which I served. The Gentleman who spoke before me said he ran a business. If you treated your employees as we're treating our employees, they would have all quit. They would have all walked out. They would have said that epithets that are used, that ‘bureaucrats’ spit out, as a pejorative term – the people who make this government run.”