[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 77 (Thursday, May 22, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H4534]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS: REINSTATING A WORKERS' BILL OF RIGHTS

  (Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 
frustration over the Committee on Rules' failure to allow the Cooper 
Civil Service Bill of Rights to be offered today as an amendment to the 
defense authorization bill.
  On the day that Congress left for the Easter recess, the Department 
of Defense presented Congress with the largest civil service reform 
package in nearly half a century. Impacting nearly 620,000 Department 
of Defense civilian employees, the proposed bill strips workers of 
fundamental protections, including the right to collective bargaining 
and the right to belong to a union without fear of discrimination. In 
fact, it does not even guarantee overtime pay for firefighters.
  Although I agree that the Department of Defense civil service reforms 
are necessary, the manner in which these reforms have been moving 
through this body is disgraceful.
  Congress is doing a disservice to our hard-working men and women at 
the Department of Defense by failing to bring this issue up for a 
debate. The Cooper amendment would have restored, among many things, 
critical worker protections, including veterans' preferences, freedom 
from political patronage, collective bargaining rights, membership in 
labor organizations, and protection from discrimination.
  Mr. Speaker, the leadership in this body has failed our Department of 
Defense employees.

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