[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 114 (Friday, August 2, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       STOP GOVERNMENT ABUSE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 1, 2013

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, here we go again. It's become a ritual 
with the House Republican Leadership to devote the dying hours of the 
legislative calendar to the task of beating up on federal employees.
  You'll remember that the last time we found ourselves in this 
position was on January 1, 2013. As the clock ticked down the minutes 
closing the 112th Congress, instead of addressing the host of pressing 
financial matters that threatened the fiscal health of this nation, my 
Republican colleagues chose to focus those precious minutes on 
legislation to claw-back the meager .5% COLA promised to federal 
employees when the Continuing Resolution expired in March of that year.
  As this country faced a wave of serious economic difficulties, 
instead of spending the time focusing on legislation to address these 
challenges, Republicans in Congress turned their attention to squeezing 
even more out of the hard working federal employees who had already 
contributed $60 billion of their pay as part of a two-year pay freeze. 
By no fault of their own, our dedicated federal workers have become 
pawns in a ritualistic game fashioned to distract the American public 
from the real challenges confronting our country.
  This week, this body considers a number of bills that again scapegoat 
federal employees. I rise today to ask my colleagues not to fall for 
this game again and to reject this gratuitous and disrespectful attack 
on our federal workers.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in opposing H.R. 2879, the Stop 
Government Abuse Act because the bill eliminates due process 
protections for members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) by 
allowing agency heads to fire SES employees without giving them advance 
notice or an opportunity to address the allegations against them. The 
bill would place the burden of proof on SES employees by requiring them 
to prove their innocence when seeking reinstatement. Democrats on the 
House Committee on Oversight tried to amend the bill to preserve 
existing due process protections for these employees, but their efforts 
were rejected.
  Further, the bill would limit bonuses federal workers may receive to 
5% of basic pay during sequestration and limit the number of Senior 
Executives who may receive performance awards to 33% of those eligible 
in each agency. If passed, this bill could further harm our 
government's ability to attract the best and the brightest managers, 
make it more difficult to retain current employees and exacerbate 
personnel shortages in nursing, information technology, cybersecurity, 
and acquisition where shortages have been a major concern for some 
time.
  Federal employees dedicate their lives to the service of our nation. 
They protect our borders, care for our wounded service members and work 
to discover treatments and cures for diseases that touch virtually 
every American family. With their diligence and unwavering devotion, 
they have earned the right to be treated with respect and they do not 
deserve to be the target of arbitrary attacks seemingly just to fill 
space on the legislative calendar.

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