[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 147 (Tuesday, November 29, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                             SEVERANCE PAY

  (Mr. MINETA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. MINETA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues--Democrats 
and Republicans alike--to act out of fairness and decency, and to do so 
today.
  One of the unfortunate results of the November 8 election is that 
many committee staff will lose their jobs. Many of these individuals 
have given years of dedicated service to the Congress.
  Many House committee professionals--including some on the Republican 
side--do not know if they will have jobs on January 4 because the House 
has yet to reorganize itself and is not likely to do so until the 
holidays are upon us. These staff people are likely to receive 
terminations with very little notice and in the midst of the holidays.
  The Senate already had adopted, on a bipartisan basis, a resolution 
providing up to 2 months additional time for committee staff to find 
jobs. This merely provides a decent interval of notice to departing 
committee staff, which they will not otherwise have.
    
    
  We will be seeking later today to bring up a similar resolution in 
the House. We recognize that the only way it can be done is by 
unanimous consent and with bipartisan cooperation. There has been a lot 
of talk about making this institution more family-friendly. This is 
something that would simply be minimum decency for more than 1,000 
families of our employees.
  We will be working with both sides of the aisle today to try to 
accomplish that.

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