[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 133 (Tuesday, October 1, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7101-S7102]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Brown, Mr. Carper,
Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Hirono, Mr.
Kaine, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Schumer, Mr.
Udall of New Mexico, and Mr. Warner):
S. 1567. A bill to provide for the compensation of furloughed Federal
employees; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Federal Employee
Retroactive Pay Fairness Act. I am pleased to have Senators Boxer,
Brown, Carper, Feinstein, Harkin, Heinrich, Hirono, Kaine, Leahy,
Mikulski, Sanders, Schumer, Udall (NM), and Warner as original co-
sponsors. This bill is a companion bill to legislation Representative
Jim Moran introduced in the House of Representatives, H.R. 3223. The
bill is simple and straightforward. It requires that all Federal
workers furloughed as a result of the lapse in appropriations that
began last night at midnight receive their pay retroactively as soon as
is practicable. It is the right thing to do. It is the fair thing to
do. Federal workers didn't cause this shutdown. Federal workers don't
want this shutdown. They are dedicated public servants who simply want
to do their jobs on behalf of the American people. They shouldn't
suffer because so-called Tea Party Republicans, mostly in the House of
Representatives, suffer from the delusion that shutting down the
Federal Government will somehow prevent the Affordable Care Act from
being implemented.
As the Congressional Research Service has reported, in ``historical
practice'', Federal workers who have been furloughed as a result of a
shutdown have received their pay retroactively ``as a result of
legislation to that effect''. The language in our bill is the language
used to provide pay retroactively to workers furloughed in the Newt
Gingrich-led shutdowns in 1995 and 1996; that language was contained as
part of section 124 of P.L. 104-56 (109 STAT. 553).
Mr. President, Federal workers already have endured a 3-year pay
freeze and ``contributed'' over $90 billion to deficit reduction. That
was before sequestration hit. On top of the pay freeze, hundreds of
thousands of Federal workers have been furloughed because of
sequestration. Their pay hasn't just been frozen; it has been cut. They
have had fewer resources to carry out their missions and administer the
programs they are responsible for.
Now, upwards of 800,000 Federal workers are being furloughed, again,
and the rest of federal workforce is being compelled to work without
pay. And Republicans are threatening that there won't be any
retroactive pay. This is happening to hardworking, patriotic public
servants, mostly middle class and struggling to get by like so many
other Americans. Enough is enough.
Increasingly, Federal workers are asked to do more with less.
According to the Office of Management & Budget, the size of the Federal
civilian workforce relative to the country's population has declined
dramatically over the last several decades. In the 1950s and 1960s,
there were, on average, 92 Americans for every Federal worker. In the
1980s and 1990s, there were 106 Americans for every Federal worker. By
2011, the ratio had increased to 145 Americans for every Federal
worker.
Since the 1950s and 1960s, the U.S. population has increased by 76
percent and the private sector workforce has surged 133 percent, but
the size of the Federal workforce has risen just 11 percent. Relative
to the private sector, the Federal workforce is less than half the size
it was back in the 1950s and 1960s. Now it just got smaller by another
800,000 workers overnight because of Republican action regarding the
fiscal year 2014 continuing resolution.
The picture that emerges is one of a Federal civilian workforce whose
size has significantly shrunk compared to the size of the U.S.
population it
[[Page S7102]]
serves, the private sector workforce, and the magnitude of Federal
expenditures. Yet Republicans are intent on making things even more
difficult for Federal workers and their families across the United
States.
Preventing Federal workers from doing their jobs doesn't just harm
Federal workers; it harms all Americans because Federal workers patrol
our borders, make sure our air and water are clean and our food and
drugs are safe, support our men and women in uniform and care for our
wounded warriors, help our manufacturers compete abroad, discover cures
for life-threatening diseases, prosecute criminals and terrorists,
maintain and protect critical infrastructure, explore the universe, and
make sure Social Security, Medicare, and other social safety-net
programs are functioning properly.
When Federal workers do their jobs, they are helping each and every
American live a safer and more prosperous life. And I would argue that
what Federal workers are able to do on behalf of the American people
often redounds to the benefit of all humankind, whether we are talking
about conducting ground-breaking basic scientific research or
establishing the rule of law.
Our tasks here in Congress are simple--not easy, perhaps, but simple:
we need to end the shutdown and put federal workers back on the job; we
need to raise the debt ceiling so we can continue to pay our bills and
maintain the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government; we need to
return to regular order around here and negotiate a comprehensive
budget deal that spreads the burden of deficit reduction in a fair way;
and we need to hold Federal workers and their families harmless after
subjecting them to so much harm over the past several weeks and months.
We need to stop demonizing and scape-goating and punishing Federal
workers. We need to re-open the government, continue paying our bills,
and replace the sequester with a rational budget. One of the greatest
attributes of the American character is pragmatism. Unlike what some
other Federal workers are actually doing, here in Congress, balancing
the budget is not ``rocket science''. We know the various options.
Former President Lyndon Johnson was fond of quoting the prophet Isaiah:
``Come, let us reason together'' That is what we need to do. We can
acknowledge and respect our differences but at the end of the day, the
American people have entrusted us with governing, with being pragmatic.
Let us do our job so Federal workers can get back to their jobs.
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