[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 137 (Saturday, October 5, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6296-H6305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 0945
FEDERAL EMPLOYEE RETROACTIVE PAY FAIRNESS ACT
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 371, I call up
the bill (H.R. 3223) to provide for the compensation of furloughed
Federal employees, and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 371, the bill
is considered read.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3223
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
[[Page H6297]]
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Employee Retroactive
Pay Fairness Act''.
SEC. 2. COMPENSATION FOR FURLOUGHED FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.
Federal employees furloughed as a result of any lapse in
appropriations which begins on or about October 1, 2013,
shall be compensated at their standard rate of compensation,
for the period of such lapse in appropriations, as soon as
practicable after such lapse in appropriations ends.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for 40 minutes,
equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member
of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Turner) and the gentleman from Maryland
(Mr. Cummings) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.
General Leave
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
on H.R. 3223 and to include extraneous material thereon.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Ohio?
There was no objection.
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The House remains actively engaged in finding a solution to end the
current impasse. The House has passed a number of commonsense bills to
fund our troops, continue funding for veterans' benefits, and allow the
District of Columbia to spend its own funds. The House has also passed
legislation to bring defense civilian employees back to work.
Unfortunately, the administration appears to be purposefully refusing
to use the authority granted by the Pay Our Military Act, meaning
roughly 400,000 defense civilian employees remain at home, unable to
work.
While we wait on the President and Senate to reach across the aisle,
it is important to provide needed certainty to Federal employees who
have been furloughed without pay. Each and every one of us has Federal
employees in our district, most of whom are guided by a sense of civic
duty and take pride in helping make their country a better place.
Civilian defense personnel at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,
doctors and nurses at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, records
management professionals at the National Archives, and countless other
dedicated men and women throughout my community are employed by Federal
agencies and have been subject to furlough.
In the gulf coast region and other disaster-prone areas, NOAA
employees help prepare for and monitor major storms. In the aftermath
of these natural disasters, FEMA workers are sent into horrible and
hazardous conditions to help restore broken communities.
At NASA, employees help us, figuratively and literally, to reach for
the stars. They encourage future generations to not be bound by
seemingly physical and intellectual barriers.
Our law enforcement agencies work tirelessly to investigate and
capture those who seek to do harm to the homeland as well as our allies
abroad. The list goes on.
H.R. 3223 ensures the Federal civilian workers will receive
retroactive pay for the duration of the Federal Government shutdown
regardless of their furlough status. Federal workers who have been
furloughed under a shutdown have historically received their pay
retroactively. H.R. 3223 provides today's workforce a guarantee that
their pay will resume once the President and Senate Democrats agree to
meaningful discussions that will ultimately resolve this impasse.
I urge support for this bill as we continue to work on legislation to
reopen critical operations of the Federal Government, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 3223, the Federal Employee
Retroactive Pay Fairness Act. This legislation would provide backpay to
800,000 hardworking and dedicated Federal employees furloughed as a
result of the government shutdown we are now enduring.
Today is day five of the shutdown created by the Tea Party extremists
who are harming our country by holding our government hostage. They're
placing our economy and our national security in jeopardy by waging an
ideological war to overturn the law of the land and put insurance
companies back in charge of health care decisions for tens of millions
of our fellow Americans.
Our dedicated public servants ought to be at their duty stations
serving the American people right now. They want to be working. They
should be working. Instead, they are locked out because the House
Republican leadership refuses to allow a vote on a clean bill to fund
the government, a bill that would pass today.
Seventeen years ago, Federal workers were given backpay after Newt
Gingrich's record 21-day shutdown in 1995 and 1996. It was the fair
thing to do then, and it is the fair thing to do now.
Our Federal employees have been under relentless and unfair attack in
recent years and have sacrificed much already. They have contributed
nearly $100 billion to deficit reduction through the 3-year pay freeze.
New employees have seen their retirement benefits slashed. On top of
that, Mr. Speaker, many have suffered through sequester-imposed
furloughs. And now many families have seen their lives needlessly
disrupted by this shutdown. The least we can do for our fellow citizens
who work for this great country is to give them the reassurance of
knowing that they will receive backpay.
The irresponsible, piecemeal approach to government funding being
pursued by our House Republicans omits huge parts of the government in
attempts to pick and choose those who will be paid and those who won't.
That is not an efficient or effective way to run the government, and
the American people are sick of it, and they must be heard.
I give great credit to my colleagues, Mr. Moran and to Mr. Wolf, a
bipartisan group of great Virginians. I applaud them. H.R. 3223 would
ensure that all Federal workers will be paid once this manufactured
crisis is over and the government is reopened. This is not their fault,
and they should not suffer as a result.
It's long past time for Republicans to reopen the government. Instead
of disrupting the lives of our fellow citizens and wasting time and
taxpayer money, House Republicans should reopen the government today--
not yesterday, right now--by simply bringing to the floor a measure
that funds the entire government without taking away the health care of
our fellow citizens.
For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to join all of us in
supporting H.R. 3223, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Wolf), the author of the bill we're considering today
that would retroactively restore pay to Federal workers.
(Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Turner and Chairman
Rogers and his staff. I also want to thank Leader Cantor and his staff
and Mr. Moran and Mr. Cummings and the others and all the staff, my
staff included, but all the staff who did this very quickly.
This was done during the Reagan administration. It was done during
the Clinton administration.
Who are the Federal employees? The Federal employees are the FBI
agents that everyone would call if they got a call and found out their
loved one was kidnapped. The first person they would call would be an
FBI agent, a Federal employee.
I was with Mr. Hoyer 2 weeks ago at the Navy Yard. The 12 people who
were killed at the Navy Yard and those who were wounded, they were all
Federal employees. Mr. Hoyer can tell you, when the CNO talked about
it, he said they were a part of the fleet.
The Capitol Hill policemen that we all got up the other day and gave
a standing ovation, they are Federal employees.
The VA doctors that are working out at Walter Reed, working on young
men and women who have lost limbs and served in Afghanistan and Iraq,
they are Federal employees.
I remember, I was again with Mr. Hoyer when we were down at OPM
earlier this year when they had stars on the wall of 27 Federal
employees who
[[Page H6298]]
have died since 2012, and since that time the number of stars have
increased tremendously.
I saw the movie ``Zero Dark Thirty.'' If you looked at that movie, it
was about catching bin Laden. The woman who did it, Maya, has she been
furloughed? Where is Maya? We don't know where she is. But has she been
furloughed? Should she not get paid?
Lastly, I remember being at the memorial service. Seven families
walked in; seven individuals died. I saw the young families, the
families who were mourning their parents, and they were Federal
employees.
There are 12,000 CIA employees who have been furloughed and are gone,
maybe missing that one communication from al Shabaab or al Qaeda.
I strongly urge a strong vote for this.
I also want to thank Chairman Issa, Chairman Rogers and the
leadership, including Congressman Eric Cantor--who has quickly
scheduled this measure--and their staffs, and mine, for their efforts
to prepare this bill.
This bill--which Mr. Moran and I have introduced with strong
bipartisan support--follows in the bipartisan tradition of precedents
set during the Reagan and Clinton Administrations: that we ensure that
Federal employees, who are out of work and unpaid by no fault of their
own, are made whole once the government reopens.
Despite the difficult and unfortunate circumstances that have shut
down our government currently, there is bipartisan agreement that
signal to the millions of Federal employees that they will be paid for
the duration of this shut down.
Who are these Federal employees? They are the Navy Yard employees
killed and wounded last month. They are the Secret Service and Capitol
Police officers who ran into harm's way earlier this week.
They are the FBI agents, DEA agents, Border Patrol agents, Weather
Service meteorologists, Park Rangers, NASA astronauts and engineers, VA
doctors and nurses.
I think we can all agree that they deserve the confidence of knowing
that they will receive back pay for the time they have worked or have
been furloughed.
My hope is that by moving this legislation now we can provide some
reassurance to our valuable workforce and their families.
By passing this bill today, Republicans and Democrats can come
together to send a powerful message to the Federal workforce.
In April my friend, Congressman Steny Hoyer, and I went to the
Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building, otherwise known as OPM
Headquarters. We were there to recognize the lives of 27 Federal
employees who died in the line of duty since January 2012. Twenty-
seven.
Two weeks ago I was at the Marine Barracks honoring the 12 people
killed at the Navy Yard. The speakers did not talk about military or
civilian. They talked about ``one Navy'' serving the fleet.
A hurricane watch was posted on Thursday. Who is monitoring that?
Federal employees. What happened after the hurricane watch was posted?
Furloughed Federal employees started to be recalled.
Who is working around the clock to protect us from another terrorist
attack? Federal employees?
It has been reported that 70 percent of civilians working for our
intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the Defense Intelligence
Agency will be furloughed. This could include 12,500 employees at the
CIA.
This will impact our ability to protect our nation and disrupt plots
by Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
In the movie Zero Dark Thirty, there is a scene where seven CIA
employees were killed in Khost, Afghanistan.
I went to the memorial service at Langley, which is in my district. I
saw the families. I saw the young children mourning the death of their
parents.
The first American killed in combat during the Afghanistan invasion?
Michael Spann, a CIA employee--from my district.
What about NASA astronauts and scientists? Or DOE lab employees? This
legislation will provide piece of mind to their families that, when the
government reopens things will be okay. As their board of directors we
should do what we can.
If a member of your family was kidnapped, who would you call? The
FBI. What about the DEA Agents stopping drug runners and human
trafficking. Customs and Border Patrol Agents stopping illegal
immigrants. Prison guards working in a dangerous environment who, every
day, keep violent felons behind bars.
All Federal employees.
The doctors and nurses at our VA hospitals and clinics helping
wounded warriors recover and our veterans live with dignity.
Federal employees.
Who else? The defense civilians repairing sophisticated electronic
weaponry systems at Army depots and Air Force. The firefighters you
call when a lighting strike sets a national forest on fire and homes
and business are in danger.
The park service rangers who help with a rescue in a National Park.
The air traffic controllers and DOT crash investigators.
Let's not forget the NIH researchers working to find a cure for
breast cancer, and prostate cancer, and Alzheimer's and Autism.
This bill will provide some piece of mind to the researchers trying
to find a cure, and who's work supplements thousands of businesses,
large and small.
I know that all my colleagues recognize that Federal employees aren't
just nameless faces behind desks, they are real people, out in the
field, who work day-in and day-out to make our Nation a better and
safer place.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from the State of Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding.
I want to thank my colleague, Frank Wolf. There's no harder advocate
or effective advocate for Federal employees than Frank Wolf. He and I
have worked together for over 32 years on behalf of the interest of
those people who work for the American people every day to make them
safer, healthier, more informed. I want to thank the majority leader; I
want to thank the ranking member; I want to thank the gentleman who
offers his support of this bill; and I want to thank my colleagues.
Mr. Speaker, we're 5 days into a government shutdown caused by--well,
I'm not sure what it's caused by. As a result, approximately 800,000
middle class workers who serve the American people are furloughed
without pay. All of us talk about working Americans, how we want to
make sure they have the jobs that they need to support themselves and
their family.
Our Federal employees have already been asked to accept COLA freezes
for the past 4 years, and they've endured changes to retirement
benefits as well as the furloughs imposed by the irrational policy of
sequester. I'm glad to see the chairman of the Appropriations Committee
on the floor. There's been no more stronger voice on the irrationality
of the sequester than my friend from Kentucky.
Only my colleagues on the other side of the aisle can say with
certainty, if they can, when our Federal Government will be able to go
back to work, but the American people are already noticing their
absence, whether safeguarding our national parks, performing
groundbreaking medical research at NIH, overseeing disaster relief
efforts after a storm or wildfire, making sure nutrition assistance
gets to the children and seniors who need it, or enforcing the laws
that keep our community safe. Federal employees make a critical
contribution to the country and communities and the American people
they serve.
We saw their selfless nature and devotion of country on display this
Thursday when, as the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) said, U.S.
Capitol Police personnel, Federal employees who are deemed essential
for security and are currently on the job without the promise of pay,
protected all of us who work in the Capitol complex during a security
incident.
I am proud to represent 62,000 hardworking Federal employees in my
district, yet most of the Federal employees are not in the Washington
metropolitan area. Eighty percent of them are dispersed throughout this
country, serving in every area, every community of our great land, many
of whom serve in civilian defense roles at critical military
institutions like Pax River, Indian Head, and Webster Field in my
district. Each one of you could name a facility in your district.
One of them wrote to me to express his frustration of those who are
preventing the government from reopening. He writes:
I'm quite tired of being punished when my only crime is
supporting our great Nation with my labor.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.
{time} 1000
Mr. HOYER. I want to thank my Republican colleagues for recognizing
that pain and unfairness and bringing this bill to the floor. I hope
all of us will support this bill.
[[Page H6299]]
Another constituent of mine who works at Pax River said this:
``Please continue to work toward a solution that ends the furloughs for
all Federal employees affected by the shutdown, not just a select
few,'' as we're doing.
Mr. Speaker, we must reopen our government, and we could do so today,
this hour. But until the majority allows a vote on the bill to reopen
the government, let us at least provide the dedicated, patriotic
Federal employees who want nothing more than to go back to work with
the peace of mind that they will still be paid for their service.
I want to thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran). Mr. Moran,
like the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), has been an extraordinary
leader on behalf of Federal employees, as well as Congressmen Gerald
Connolly and Steve Lynch who sit here and others on the Republican side
who have been aligned on that effort as well. Surely, surely we, the
board of directors of the greatest enterprise on Earth, can take care
of our employees and give them the confidence that they deserve.
I thank the gentleman from Maryland for the additional time.
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from
Kentucky (Mr. Rogers).
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I thank the chairman for yielding me the
time.
Mr. Speaker, this is a bipartisan bill, and I hope every Member in
this House will be happy to support it.
I'm glad to see that, at the very least, the Senate has plans to take
up this bill. Stop the presses. The Senate's going to take up a bill,
even if they won't consider most of our other bills.
And as we wait for the Senate to come to the negotiating table on
shutting the shutdown down, our Federal workforce should not wait to
find out whether or not they'll be paid. This bill will provide backpay
for those workers who have been furloughed in a fair, full, and timely
manner after the shutdown ends. The House has made great strides toward
this end. And in fact, as of yesterday, the House has approved 15
different options to fund the government. We have sent them over to the
Senate. Sadly, the only response has been a loud snore.
I hope this bill, which I know is a priority for my colleagues on
both sides of the aisle, will encourage this Congress to find that
spirit of bipartisanship that seems to have evaporated over the last
few weeks. It will demonstrate that we are able to let level heads
prevail and that we can unite in our responsibility to care for the
hundreds of thousands of people who serve this Nation day in, day out.
I want to thank the gentlemen from Virginia, Messrs. Wolf and Moran,
two very fine members of our Appropriations Committee, for bringing
this bill to the floor, and I salute them. I urge my colleagues to
provide our workforce with some certainty for their futures and pass
this bill.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished
sponsor of the bill from Virginia (Mr. Moran).
Mr. MORAN. I thank my very close friend from Baltimore, Maryland, for
yielding me the time.
Mr. Speaker, this bill is truly bipartisan. We have 177 cosponsors,
32 Republicans. It ensures that all Federal employees will be paid for
the duration of the Federal Government shutdown.
The issue is fairness. It's just wrong for the hundreds of thousands
of Federal employees not to know whether they're going to be able to
make their mortgage payment, not to know whether they're going to be
able to provide for their families. Many of them live from paycheck to
paycheck, and they're absolutely committed to paying their bills when
they come due.
I'm sure that this experience has been shared by many of our
colleagues. They come to our offices. In fact, just 2 days ago, a woman
came in and she started to kind of matter of factually explain the
financial situation she had. And she just broke down sobbing. ``I don't
know how I can provide for my children if I don't get my paycheck.'' It
wasn't through her fault. She didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't
through any kind of performance. She's a hardworking employee. She's
got commendations.
But we decided, because we haven't been able to fix the budget
situation, that we're going to allow this government to shut down. So
she's collateral damage. It's wrong--800,000 people are suffering. This
would relieve their anxiety. That's why it's a simple matter of
fairness, Mr. Speaker.
Now of course on this side of the aisle, we feel strongly that if we
could just bring up a simple appropriations bill today, tomorrow, it
would pass because there are enough Republicans that want to do that,
combined with virtually all of the Democrats. But whether that happens
or not, when it happens, this bill does need to happen.
It should be borne in mind, keeping these individuals at home is
costing us about $300 million a day in lost productivity. Hundreds of
Federal workers have come to our offices, asking us to do this, asking
us more importantly to let them go back to their work. They're
dedicated to their jobs. So that's the underlying message, let them get
back to work.
But in the meantime, let's get this passed. And let's bear in mind
that this bill is introduced in a context that over the last 4 years,
the Congress has frozen Federal employees' pay. We've cut their pension
benefits, and we've furloughed thousands as a result of the sequester.
The cumulative impact actually of these punitive measures will cost
each Federal employee an average of $50,000 over the budgeted period. I
don't think that's fair. It's not right to punish a workforce of civil
servants for whom we are the board of directors. We're responsible for
this. Let's do the right thing. Let's get a unanimous vote for this
bill simply because it is the right thing to do.
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Utah
(Mr. Bishop).
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, last summer, thousands of civilian
defense workers were furloughed in violation of the law as the
administration decided to spread the pain for political purposes.
In July, the House passed the Defense appropriations bill to fund the
military, including those illegally furloughed employees, by 315 votes
in an intensely bipartisan effort. And yet since July, the Majority
Leader has yet to bring that bill to a vote in the Senate. This week,
we passed a law to fund our military, although the administration
attorneys are still arguing over what the word ``support'' means. And I
commend the Department of Defense in their efforts to overcome this
roadblock and get people back to work.
But because of these examples, it is imperative that all Federal
employees are guaranteed they will receive the backpay that is due
them. This will not cost the government extra. There is precedent. It
is logical. Yes, our goal should be to start the government working.
But as we are looking, within 2 weeks of this period of time, debt
ceiling, the issue of sequestration, entitlement reform, a Senate that
continues to demand that we spend an extra $60 billion we don't have
and ObamaCare, it is clear that the strategies of the past don't work.
Senator Reid's position of ``it's my way or nothing'' has won. We
have nothing. And we will continue to have nothing until something new
breaks this logjam.
If the Senate were to engage in legitimate talks with real
negotiations, that could break this logjam. So it is clear, the
Senate's attitude is the key to ending the shutdown. But until that
happens, it is significant that all Federal employees know that they
will receive their funds, and they will not become innocent victims of
the Senate's attitude of belligerence.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch), a member of the committee.
Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
I also want to thank Mr. Moran for his leadership and Mr. Wolf, as
the lead sponsor of this bill, along with Mr. Cummings, Mr. Connolly,
Mr. Turner, Mr. Rogers, and Mr. Wittman. I know there are a lot of
staff as well who have been working hard on this bill.
Mr. Speaker, as ranking member of the Federal Workforce Subcommittee,
I rise in strong support of H.R. 3223, the Federal Employee Retroactive
Pay Fairness Act. This bipartisan legislation will ensure that our more
than 800,000 Federal workers who have been placed on furlough since
October 1 will receive full backpay for the duration of the government
shutdown. This legislation recognizes that our middle-income
[[Page H6300]]
Federal employees are totally committed to serving the American people.
And to their great credit, our public servants have remained ready,
willing, and able to perform their duties, even in the face of
mandatory increases in their retirement costs, sequestration, related
furloughs, and as they face the likelihood of their fourth consecutive
year of pay freeze imposed by this Congress.
Given that these furloughed employees have already carried a major
part of the burden working towards deficit reduction, it would be
unjust to expect them to bear the additional cost and uncertainty of a
shutdown engineered by one extreme faction within the Republican
Party--not all, but one extreme faction within that group--who are
intent on destroying government operations for the sake of political
brinkmanship.
I would also note that these furloughed Federal employees,
nevertheless, perform mission-critical agency functions. Among the
employees who have been sent home by the shutdown are Federal aviation
safety monitors, Department of Defense military technicians, disease
surveillance personnel at the Centers for Disease Control, and also
food safety inspectors at the FDA, as well as NIH researchers who are
engaged in experimental clinical trials that are life-and-death matters
for some.
So it's, therefore, imperative that we also pass a clean continuing
resolution so that these Federal workers can immediately return to
their post.
Again, I thank Mr. Moran, Mr. Wolf, and Mr. Cummings for their great
work on this important legislation and urge my colleagues on both sides
of the aisle to support H.R. 3223.
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Wittman).
Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I too would like to recognize the gentlemen
from Virginia, Mr. Wolf and Mr. Moran, for their leadership in bringing
this forward and for the leadership on both sides of the aisle. This is
absolutely necessary.
I rise today in strong support of the Federal Employee Retroactive
Pay Fairness Act. And I'm proud to be part of a bipartisan group of
cosponsors to make sure that this is something that got done and is
being done in the best interests of our great Federal workforce.
This bill should really be called the ``Pay Certainty Act'' because
that's exactly what it will do, provide certainty for our Federal
employees who, through no fault of their own, were told that they were
not allowed to come to work effective October 1.
Our Nation's dedicated civil servants have already been asked to
shoulder the burden of numerous efforts to reduce government spending.
We all know that it is a shared sacrifice. But they don't expect to do
it alone. And I've talked to many Federal employees who are willing to
do their part. But like everyone else has said, they don't expect to
shoulder these cuts alone.
These furloughs have had devastating impacts on people's lives, on
the doctors and nurses at veterans hospitals who are responsible for
taking care of the men and women who have faithfully served our Nation,
on the law enforcement officers running down leads on terrorist threats
and protecting our homeland, on the firefighters stationed at military
installations around the globe, on our Capitol Police who protect your
Congress and Capitol, and on the multitudes of other Federal employees
who do a great job serving their Nation day in and day out. The only
thing that they want is the ability to serve. And they have all done
that in the greatest way possible. And for that, they have my deepest
gratitude and sincere thanks, and I know they have the deepest
gratitude and sincere thanks from all Members of this body. We deeply
appreciate what they do for our Nation.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and to work together
to get the work of the Nation done.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Connolly), the ranking member of our Government Ops
Subcommittee.
Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Republican manager and the
distinguished ranking member, my good friend from Maryland (Mr.
Cummings).
Mr. Speaker, it's been an Orwellian week in which black is white and
white is black. We've got Members who voted for the shutdown who
appeared surprised that that led to the closure of national parks,
which didn't stop some of them from berating park Federal employees for
enforcing the shutdown. We have other Members in this Orwellian week
saying that the shutdown is all about respect, and we've got to get
something out of this; we just don't know what it is.
So, finally, a moment of decency. Finally, we turn to the men and
women who serve our country, the 800,000 Federal employees who are
furloughed, and we do something decent for them. We alleviate the angst
of whether there will be that paycheck whenever we get around to
reopening the government.
This week, one of those dedicated civil servants from my
constituency, Dave Lavery, received the prestigious Service to America
Medal in recognition of his exemplary leadership of the 6,000-person
team that conceived and executed NASA's incredible Curiosity Rover
Mission to Mars.
America is unbelievably fortunate to have this kind of talented and
passionate Federal worker like Dave Lavery, whose public service should
be celebrated, appreciated, and yes, compensated.
On October 1, Dave was one of 17,600 NASA employees deemed
``nonessential'' and was furloughed. The irony was that Dave had to
consult the Ethics Office of NASA to see if he could go to his own
awards ceremony because of his ``nonessential'' furloughed status.
That's what we're reduced to. So today's bill at least redresses one
wrong in this otherwise Orwellian exercise called the Federal shutdown.
{time} 1015
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Nebraska (Mr. Terry).
Mr. TERRY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlemen from Virginia,
Messrs. Moran and Wolf, for their effort, but also for personally
coming up to me and asking me to be an early advocate of this very
important bill.
Like them, I have many constituents who are Federal employees who are
furloughed right now, including most of the majority of them being
civilian employees at Offutt Air Force Base and STRATCOM. The
legislation that we are considering here today will ensure that the
800,000 Federal employees are paid for the time lost or off work during
this impasse.
Now, we worked last week in a bipartisan effort to make sure that our
military would be paid, and included in that bill called Pay Our
Military Act was also very clear language that protected civilian DOD
workers who are furloughed. But, unfortunately, in a bizarre ``what's
the definition of `is' discussion'' in the White House and DOD, they
furloughed 60-70 percent of the civilian employees where there are
critical missions, endangering our country.
So having a bill like this where we come together in a bipartisan
way, we can reduce some level of frustration, we can give some level of
peace of mind to those employees that they will be reimbursed for their
time lost, they will get paid. I want the DOD today to put those
civilian DOD employees back to work as it's clearly in the law.
Now, there is historical precedent for this, all of the way back to
Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill and their six closedowns when employees
were paid and reimbursed for their time off, and so it should be for
this effort. This is bipartisan. The President has said he will sign
this. I urge my colleagues to support this effort.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen), the ranking member of the
Budget Committee.
Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Maryland.
No one should be made to suffer for actions that are no fault of
their own, so I'm very pleased that we're taking up this measure to
ensure that dedicated Federal workers who are among the many innocent
victims of this government shutdown will be held harmless in the long
run. But this important measure simply highlights the sheer folly of
keeping the Federal Government shut down for one additional minute.
These are public servants who
[[Page H6301]]
are paid to do what they love to do--to serve the public. So for
goodness sake, let them all get back to work for the public now.
This bill, Mr. Speaker, doesn't say let's just pay the Federal
employees at FEMA. It doesn't say let's just pay the Federal employees
at the national parks. It doesn't say let's just pay the Federal
employees at the piecemeal, cherry-picking agencies that our Republican
colleagues have brought to the floor. It says let's make sure we hold
all Federal employees whole. Absolutely. And let's reopen the entire
Federal Government and do it now. Mr. Speaker, let us have a vote on
that very simple proposition.
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Michigan (Mrs. Miller).
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I support this bill which will
make sure that Federal workers who are furloughed because of the
shutdown are paid; but I would also point out that the average salary
of a Federal worker is $78,500, and so what I don't understand is why
my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, how they can decide which
of the funding bills that we have passed during this shutdown are
actually worthy of their support, because this week they said ``no'' to
opening up our national memorials or opening up our national parks,
like Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon, but they're saying ``yes'' to
paying Federal workers. They said ``no'' to veterans benefits, but
``yes'' to paying Federal workers; ``no'' to women and babies on food
assistance; ``no'' to children with cancer treatments, but ``yes'' to
paying Federal workers; ``no'' to the National Guard and Reserve, but
``yes'' to other Federal workers.
Clearly it is time for both sides, Mr. Speaker, to sit down in a
conference to negotiate a compromise in a bipartisan manner and to end
this shutdown.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I would say that we on this side of the
aisle say ``yes'' to opening the entire government.
And with that, I yield 45 seconds to the distinguished gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Kilmer).
Mr. KILMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill. For
the last few years, Federal workers have borne the brunt of Congress'
failure to deal with its long-term budget issues: going 3 years without
a cost-of-living adjustment; facing furloughs from sequestration; and,
now, the uncertainty of further reductions in pay because of the
shutdown. Enough is enough.
This shutdown is having a big impact not just on DOD workers and park
workers and VA workers and others facing furloughs, but on our entire
community, folks who won't be able to replace a car or make a home
payment or go buy a new TV. That affects our economy. That's why I
support this bill, and it's also why I am introducing legislation to
provide backpay to workers to compensate them for sequestration-related
furloughs as well.
We need to end this partisan bickering, end the gridlock, end the
shutdown, and get Congress and government back to work.
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Colorado (Mr. Coffman).
Mr. COFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3223, the Federal
Employees Retroactive Pay Fairness Act.
This is an issue of fairness. Five days ago, the President signed my
legislation, the Pay Our Military Act. However, hours later, the DOD
comptroller sent an email to all DOD civilian employees who were
included in the act, which is now law, that there would be furloughs
starting immediately despite acknowledgment of the new law.
Last night, media sources reported that the Secretary of Defense had
a change of heart--no doubt due to the multitude of letters he had
received from me and my colleagues on this subject--and decided to
bring these furloughed employees back to work.
Mr. Speaker, it would be a shame if the thousands of DOD civilian
employees who were needlessly furloughed were not paid for time they
could have spent working had the Secretary given the same level of
priority to this issue that he did to college football.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from
New Mexico (Mr. Lujan).
Mr. BEN RAY LUJAN of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of
this bill which is important to all the Federal employees in New
Mexico. This bill ensures that furloughed employees will be made whole.
It is also important for contract employees who work at our national
labs. It is clear that Congress intends to insulate those workers who
provide vital services to our Nation from the effects of the shutdown.
In the past, DOE has sought to treat lab employees the same as
Federal employees. This legislation sets the precedent for how those
employees will be treated. We are sending the message that DOE should
certify backpay for lab employees as an allowable cost so they will be
made whole if they are furloughed. I submit into the Record my letter
to Secretary Moniz expressing congressional intent to insulate those
workers who provide vital services to our Nation from the effects of a
shutdown, which includes contract employees at our national labs.
Congress of the United States,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, October 5, 2013.
Dr. Ernest Moniz,
Secretary of Energy, Washington, DC.
Secretary Moniz: I write today to call your attention to
the many New Mexicans who work at Los Alamos and Sandia
National Laboratories who have been adversely affected by the
continuing budget impasse in Congress and the resulting
shutdown. As you know, these labs are essential to our
nation's national security as well as its scientific and
research capabilities. Their workforce is comprised of many
of the smartest scientists, engineers, and researchers in our
country, all of whom have devoted their careers to serving
and protecting our nation.
This government shutdown risks betraying these men and
women who have made personal sacrifices for our collective
security and technological advancement. While lab employees
work for the contractors who manage the labs, they are
subject to much of the same uncertainty as their colleagues
in the federal workforce. While neither of the New Mexico
NNSA laboratories have yet announced a need to furlough their
workforce, a number of my constituents have written to my
office or contacted me directly to share the stress of
potentially being furloughed from the labs and missing out on
a needed paycheck.
Today, the House of Representatives will pass H.R. 3223,
the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act, which
would compensate all federal employees who would not
otherwise receive their full salaries due to the shutdown.
President Obama has declared that he supports the legislation
and his office writes,
``Federal workers keep the Nation safe and secure and
provide vital services that support the economic security of
American families. The Administration appreciates that the
Congress is acting promptly to move this bipartisan
legislation and looks forward to the bill's swift passage.''
The overwhelming bipartisan support for this legislation
demonstrates the clear Congressional desire that the federal
workforce should not be adversely impacted by the shutdown
nor should they shoulder the burden of its resulting
uncertainty. While the employees of New Mexico's national
laboratories are not included within the bill's specific
terms, Congress clearly intends that those workers who
provide such vital services for our nation should be
insulated from the effects of a protracted shutdown.
It is my understanding that the Department of Energy can
certify to the labs that it is an ``allowable cost'' for them
to use their appropriated dollars to compensate their
employees for back pay due to any furloughs caused by.a
shutdown. Due to the tremendous economic uncertainty
currently faced by the laboratories' workforce, I urge you to
certify as soon as possible that back pay will be allowable
upon the restoration of government functions. The employees
of our nation's national laboratories deserve to know that
they will be fully compensated for their service to our
nation.
Sincerely,
Ben Ray Lujan,
Member of Congress.
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis).
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see that
once again this Chamber is moving forward with yet another bill to fund
our government. Today, we're ensuring that all Federal employees are
paid so their families are not harmed during this time. I know how
these families feel because I was a Federal employee for 16 years. I am
also proud to represent Scott Air Force Base in the metro east area of
Illinois. Whether they are Active Duty, civilian, Reserve, Guard, or
retired, we must take care of our military. The House has already acted
to ensure that these men and women are paid; but, unfortunately, this
administration has chosen needlessly to furlough workers.
Today, I stand with these hardworking men and women, and I also stand
against this administration that
[[Page H6302]]
always seems to find a way to make situations like this as painful as
possible. We have been told to make things difficult for people as much
as we can, said a park ranger this week to reporters.
I had a similar experience a few months ago with an airport in my
district that was at risk of losing their control tower, even though we
told the administration how they could shift the money around. To solve
this problem, Mr. Speaker, we had to stand on this floor and pass a
bill, and now that tower remains open. Congress had to pass a bill and
has to pass a bill now to stop this behavior, and I am offended by the
punitive behavior of this White House then and today.
Mr. Speaker, I stand with all military personnel.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Hinojosa), chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bipartisan bill,
H.R. 3223, the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act. Today is
the fifth day of the government shutdown; 87 percent of Americans
expressed in a political poll unhappiness with the direction of
Washington with this shutdown. Federal employees are dedicated public
servants who are just trying to do their jobs, support their families,
and contribute to the economy. They did not ask to be furloughed, and
they had no time to plan financially for this crisis brought on by the
stubbornness of the Republican Party. It seems to me that by supporting
this bill, we are not trying to give them a paid vacation. If my
colleagues on the other side of the aisle would bring a clean CR to the
floor, they could all be back to work on Monday. These families are
victims of the dysfunction of this Congress.
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. Farenthold).
Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this bill to
guarantee our Federal workers are paid. They shouldn't be the innocent
pawns in the middle of a debate caused by us unable to work with the
Senate. We are ready to talk. We are ready, willing, and able to talk;
but we need to ratchet down the rhetoric a little bit, make sure our
employees get paid, make sure they get taken care of, and make sure
that the men and women who work in places in my district, the district
I represent--like the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, like Padre
Island National Seashore, like the Aransas Wildlife Refugee--are secure
and safe. We need to get this done.
The Republicans are trying to lessen the impact of this, passing bill
after bill. We have passed something to fund the entire government,
including most of ObamaCare with the exception of the individual
mandate. We are ready, willing, and able to negotiate, and I call on
the Senate to come over and talk to us so we can get this done.
Mr. CUMMINGS. I remind the gentleman we could get it done today. We
want to open up the entire government today.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentlewoman from
Maryland (Ms. Edwards).
(Ms. EDWARDS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Ms. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague. I rise in support of
H.R. 3223, and I speak in support of Tracy in Laurel who lives in my
district who works at HHS. She helps her mom out every month with her
Federal salary; and Christopher and his wife, both of whom work at the
Department of Homeland Security, live in Millersville, and they are
both on furlough. And Dini, who is a single parent in Oxon Hill, she
has already been furloughed this summer and suffers mightily.
So, Mr. Speaker, I think this is the right thing to do; but let's
keep in mind that the longer we stay out, meeting the day-to-day needs
of our Federal workforce is really tough. Some of these people will
really struggle even if they are guaranteed retroactive pay. It's time
for us to get the entire government back to work.
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus).
{time} 1030
Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, this morning, I rise in strong support of
the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act.
Federal workers from western Pennsylvania have reached out to my
office. They are concerned about the impact of this shutdown on their
families' budgets. These workers serve their fellow citizens. We
recognize and thank them for that service.
This bill will retroactively pay Federal employees furloughed during
the government shutdown. Federal workers in western Pennsylvania and
around the Nation should not be punished for the Senate's refusal to
come to the table and negotiate an end to the shutdown.
I urge my Republican and Democrat colleagues to pass this bill.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time we have
remaining on both sides?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Maryland has 1 minute
remaining; the gentleman from Ohio has 3 minutes remaining.
Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield 15 seconds to the gentleman from North Carolina
(Mr. Butterfield).
Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Thank you, Mr. Cummings, for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I was walking on the floor moments ago, and my colleague
on the other side said that this failure to pass a CR was punitive
behavior of this White House. I cannot allow that to go unanswered. The
fact is that there are 260 votes right now in this Chamber to pass a
clean CR today.
Mr. TURNER. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to whether the gentleman
has additional speakers?
Mr. TURNER. We do not.
Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, it is critical that the House pass H.R. 3223 to ensure
that our dedicated Federal employees are made whole and receive backpay
once this shutdown comes to an end.
Federal employees have been the subject of relentless attacks on
their pay and benefits over the last 3 years. This bill is the least we
should do. Our hardworking public servants should not become collateral
damage in the political games and ideological wars that the Republicans
are waging. I would hope that we would have a unanimous vote, because
there are so many people that are living from paycheck to paycheck, and
they need our vote.
I would suggest that we open up the entire government so that all of
our employees can get back to work, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. TURNER. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the other side of the aisle would have us believe that
this shutdown is somehow a Republican-engineered shutdown. They would
have you believe that the government only shuts down with Republican
leadership, and we know that that's not the case.
The government shuts down when there's a failure of the democratic
process to work and parties to negotiate in good faith and the
deliberative process of democracy to move forward. The President has
absolutely shut that down with his refusal to negotiate.
We had a government shutdown when Mr. Reagan was in the White House.
Under President Reagan, the Democrat-controlled Congress shut the
government down a total of eight times, for 14 days. So a Democrat-
controlled Congress actually shut the government down under Reagan for
longer than it has been shut down now. Again, under Mr. Clinton, the
House also shut the government down.
In each of those instances, there was something different than what's
now--and that is that there were negotiations going on. President
Reagan was negotiating with the House and Senate. President Clinton was
negotiating with the House and Senate. But this President said
absolutely no negotiations.
This President will negotiate with Syria. He'll negotiate with Iran.
He'll even have secret negotiations with Russia and secret deals. But
he will not negotiate with the legislature.
Now, what won't he negotiate over?
He won't negotiate over the debt limit. He wants to take the country
from $17 trillion to $19 trillion in debt. No negotiations.
He won't negotiate on his sequestration. In my community, there were
12,000 people that were furloughed. The President will not negotiate on
his sequester.
[[Page H6303]]
The President will not negotiate on funding the government. We have
sent countless bills over to the Senate that would reopen the national
parks, that would fund the veterans, that would allow Washington, D.C.,
to spend its own funds, and Harry Reid heartlessly has said in response
to these bills that would provide needed services, Why would we do
that?
But we know that the President is playing politics because this House
and the Senate passed the Pay Our Military Act. It was signed by the
President of the United States. I have sent letters to Secretary Hagel
and to the President questioning why he would have furloughed 400,000
DOD workers when he had signed the Pay Our Military Act, and 8,700
workers in my community were furloughed.
How do we know they were playing politics by letting the Department
of Defense employees go even though the President had full authority to
fund them? Because he's going to be calling them back. He's calling
them back without any other passage of any other law or any other law
that he signs. So clearly, the President is admitting that he's been
playing politics with these furloughs--and it needs to stop.
It also needs to stop so our Federal workers do not have to worry
about their pay, they do not have to worry about the impacts on their
personal lives. They have child care expenses, house payments to make,
kids that are in college. And while the President refuses to negotiate,
while he's playing politics, they shouldn't worry about whether or not
they can make ends meet.
I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 3223 that would restore the
pay to Federal workers and ensure that they have the security that they
need.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Congress of the United States,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, October 1, 2013.
Hon. Chuck Hagel,
Secretary of Defense,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Secretary: On September 30, 2013, Congress passed
and the President signed into law the Pay Our Military Act to
reverse the devastating impacts of a government shutdown on
civilian employees. Under the law, you are authorized to
``provide pay and allowances to the civilian personnel of the
Department of Defense (and the Department of Homeland
Security in the case of the Coast Guard) whom the Secretary
concerned determines are providing support to members of the
Armed Forces.'' This certainly applies to the civilian men
and woman at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base who work
diligently in support of the Armed Forces. The law is clear
and provides the department as well as the United States
Coast Guard with the authority to immediately call its
civilian employees back to work.
I am deeply concerned with the impacts to the Department of
Defense caused by a government shutdown. The current
situation poses a great risk to military readiness and
undermines the department's ability to carry out its mission.
While our uniformed men and women may be exempt from
furlough, I remain deeply concerned with the status of our
civilian employees caused by the current shutdown of the
federal government. Just like our uniformed service men and
women, these civilians play an integral role in ensuring the
safety and security of our nation. At Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base alone, over 9,000 civilian employees have been
furloughed and therefore prohibited from coming to work.
I await an immediate update on the department's
implementation of the law and will continue to work with you
as we put the government back to work and mitigate the
impacts of a government shutdown.
Sincerely,
Michael R. Turner,
Member of Congress.
____
President Barack Obama,
President of the United States of America, The White House,
Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. President: I am deeply disturbed to learn that
your Administration has decided not to immediately put the
Department of Defense's civilian personnel back to work
despite having the legal authority to do so.
On September 30, 2013, Congress passed and you signed into
law the Pay Our Military Act to reverse the devastating
impacts of a government shutdown on Department of Defense
civilian employees. Under the law that you yourself signed,
you are authorized to ``provide pay and allowances to the
civilian personnel of the Department of Defense (and the
Department of Homeland Security in the case of the Coast
Guard) whom the Secretary concerned determines are providing
support to members of the Armed Forces.'' Failure to fully
implement this law not only goes against the will of Congress
but puts at risk the safety and security of the United
States.
As Commander and Chief, I urge you to restore the
department's civilian workforce in its entirety to include
the 9,000 furloughed civilian employees currently serving at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in my district. The
hardworking civilians at Wright-Patterson are a critical
national security asset and certainly ``provide support to
members of the Armed Forces.'' Using our defense civilian
employees as political bargaining chips is unacceptable and
is in direct violation of the United States Constitution.
I urge you to comply with existing law and await an
immediate update on the planned implementation of the Pay Our
Military Act.
Sincerely,
Michael R. Turner,
Member of Congress.
Ms. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, we are in day five of the Republican
shutdown, without an end in sight. Let's be clear that this is a
manufactured crisis designed to promote ideology at the expense of
needs of our constituents, the American people.
Today, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3223, the Federal Employee
Retroactive Pay Fairness Act. I am an original cosponsor of this vital
piece of legislation to ensure furloughed federal employees receive
back pay for the duration of the government shutdown, regardless of
their work status. I would like to thank my Virginia colleagues,
Representatives Moran and Wolf, for their leadership on this issue and
I am proud to be a part of the bipartisan Washington-area delegation
that drafted and introduced this bill that will provide some certainty
to federal workers and their families.
Roughly 800,000 federal workers across the country, who work hard to
make our nation a safer and better place to live, will lose their pay
because they have been furloughed as a result of the government
shutdown unless Congress and the President enact legislation to ensure
their pay. Under this legislation, federal workers would get
retroactive pay, regardless of their furlough status, once the
government is funded.
Federal workers should not be held responsible for Congress'
inability to pass a budget. Yet, it is the American people, including
millions of federal workers, and the U.S. economy who will pay the
price.
They are workers like Tracey out in Laurel, Maryland, who has
contacted my office. She works at the Department of Health and Human
Services and besides meeting her own obligations, she helps her mother
pay bills each month. When she called my office, she was crying, she
was in tears, because she wants this shutdown to stop so that she can
get back to work and to pay her bills.
As Tracey knows all too well, government employees have already
shouldered a great deal of the burden of past deficit reduction
measures and have lived through the pain of sequestration. Civilian
federal employees already have been subjected to a three-year pay
freeze, and automatic, across-the-board budget cuts resulted in
furloughs for thousands of workers this summer.
They are workers like Dini who lives in Oxon Hill--and I too live in
Oxon Hill. She is a single parent who was already furloughed earlier
this summer, and now she isn't sure how she is going to pay the bills
or take care of her child. In fact, some of these federal workers still
have to pay childcare to keep the spot in daycare, even though they are
not being paid, they are not working, and may not even have their child
at the daycare facility.
Then there are workers like Christopher from Millersville: He and his
wife are both employed at the Department of Homeland Security in
support of the security of this nation. They were both furloughed
earlier this summer, and they find themselves furloughed once again.
That is why this legislation is so critical to ensure our federal
workers receive the back-pay they deserve. The time is long over-due to
provide certainty to our dedicated public servants, who we rely on for
public safety, research, and national security. Today's proposal
shields family pocketbooks and reaffirms our commitment to our federal
workforce--providing these employees with retroactive compensation, as
we have historically done in past shutdowns.
Federal workers who stay on the job during a shutdown are paid but
not until the government is back up and running. Authorizing back pay
is an important step for furloughed federal workers. So with passage of
this legislation, all federal employees will be paid and treated the
same. However, to be clear this doesn't solve all of their problems.
Their paychecks will be delayed depending on how long the shutdown
lasts. So, they may not be able to meet their bills on time if the
government remains shutdown and they don't receive their paychecks.
This legislation by itself won't address the funding lapse or its
consequences. We still must end the shutdown and open the government so
federal workers can get back to work and receive that back pay in a
timely manner.
I urge the House Republican Leadership to immediately bring up the
Senate-passed clean funding compromise, which could go directly to the
President and open up the entire government for all of the American
people today.
[[Page H6304]]
Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I was unable to attend
today's session of Congress, as I was unavoidably detained in my
district. Had I been present, I would have strongly supported passage
of H.R. 3223, the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act.
Federal employees are currently caught in the crossfire, collateral
damage in the Republican Party's war against the Affordable Care Act.
The Republican Party's refusal to fund our government has resulted in a
shutdown that is threatening our economic recovery and severely
impacting crucial federal services. It needs to end immediately. This
shutdown has caused 800,000 federal employees to be furloughed, with no
end in sight. This is personally impacting these dedicated federal
employees and their families, who are not receiving a pay check, while
many Members of Congress continue to take theirs. Furthermore, there is
no guarantee that these furloughed workers will receive back pay when
this crisis is resolved.
These employees should not be punished because of Congress's
failures. I support this legislation because it will ensure that as
soon an as the Republican Party comes to its senses and allows an up or
down vote on a clean Continuing Resolution, our government will reopen
and these employees will receive their just compensation.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3223, the
``Federal Employees Retroactive Pay Fairness Act,'' which provides for
retroactive pay for nearly 800,000 federal workers who have been
furloughed as a result of the government shutdown engineered by the Tea
Party faction of House Republicans.
I am pleased to co-sponsor and support this bill because it is the
right thing to do. The men and women who have been furloughed because
of this manufactured crisis are not responsible for the budget impasse.
They did not vote to reject the clean continuing resolution passed by
the Senate that would have resolved the crisis and made this
legislation necessary.
The dedicated men and women of the federal civilian workforce, like
those who serve in the Armed Forces, have not spent their professional
lives trying to defund the Affordable Care Act or threatening to refuse
to raise the debt limit and risking the full faith and credit of the
United States.
Instead, these loyal and committed public servants are motivated by
their paramount interest in serving the American public without fear or
favor and, for the last four days, without any guarantee that they
would be compensated for their labor.
And yet, they gladly and willingly serve, some risking their lives to
keep us safe. Others stand watch monitoring weather systems and
providing information necessary to protect the public from hurricanes
and tornadoes and wildfires or conduct research to find cures for
disease or that will lead to technological innovations or help us mark
and measure the far reaches of space.
Others work to secure the borders and homeland, ensure the safety of
our food and water, serve our seniors and children, provide training
and support for those looking for work, and protecting our environment
and keeping watch over our treasures--our national parks and monuments,
including this magnificent Capitol where the people have sent us to do
their business.
Mr. Speaker, the men and women of the federal workforce do the
people's business. They serve everyone equally. They do not single out
some persons to serve and ignore others. They do not cherry-pick.
We should follow their example. And the best way to do that is to
call up and put to a vote the clean continuing resolution passed by the
Senate last week.
That is the best way to keep faith with all persons who serve the
American people as employees of the Federal Government, and those who
depend upon the services they provide.
Mr. Speaker, holding harmless the federal employees who have been
furloughed by this unnecessary government shutdown is a matter of
simple justice.
I urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 3223.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as we enter the
fifth day of the Republican government shutdown, thousands of federal
employees and their families must continue to face the uncertainty of
how soon they will be able to return to work. The longer that this
shutdown continues, the harder it will be for the more than 800,000
workers on furlough to budget and plan for the future.
That is why, in a gesture of basic equality, I am an original
cosponsor of H.R. 3223, the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness
Act. This common sense legislation would provide retroactive
compensation to federal employees who have been furloughed due to the
House Republican leadership's refusal to pass a clean budget. Hundreds
of thousands of federal workers, many of whom belong to the middle
class, are still recovering from a three-year pay freeze. Placing the
additional burden of unpaid leave of absence on these families is both
unnecessary and unjust.
The consequences of the Republican government shutdown extend far
beyond federal workers and their paychecks. Federal research activity
is already grinding to halt, impacting our longterm competitiveness and
capacity to innovate. Consumer protections through the Federal Aviation
Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and others
have ceased. Further, the U.S. economy is losing millions of dollars in
lost economic output each day that the federal government remains
closed.
Mr. Speaker, House Republicans have been determined to cause a
government shutdown in order to advance an extreme political agenda.
Now, the American people and the U.S. economy are stuck with the
consequences. Retroactively paying these federal employees will help
mitigate the negative effects of this unexpected furlough. We owe it to
the American people to practice good governance and Republicans in
Congress have failed at this most basic responsibility.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Walden). All time for debate has
expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 371, the previous question is ordered.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, this 15-
minute vote on the question of passage of the bill will be followed by
a 5-minute vote on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to House
Concurrent Resolution 58.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 407,
nays 0, not voting 24, as follows:
[Roll No. 525]
YEAS--407
Aderholt
Amash
Amodei
Andrews
Bachmann
Bachus
Barber
Barletta
Barr
Barrow (GA)
Barton
Beatty
Becerra
Benishek
Bentivolio
Bera (CA)
Bilirakis
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Boustany
Brady (PA)
Brady (TX)
Braley (IA)
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Broun (GA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Burgess
Bustos
Butterfield
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Cantor
Capito
Capps
Capuano
Carney
Carson (IN)
Carter
Cartwright
Cassidy
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Coble
Coffman
Cohen
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Conaway
Connolly
Conyers
Cook
Cooper
Costa
Cotton
Courtney
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Crowley
Cuellar
Culberson
Cummings
Daines
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
Davis, Rodney
DeFazio
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Deutch
Diaz-Balart
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Duckworth
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Edwards
Ellison
Ellmers
Engel
Enyart
Eshoo
Esty
Farenthold
Farr
Fattah
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foster
Foxx
Frankel (FL)
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grijalva
Grimm
Guthrie
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hall
Hanabusa
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (FL)
Hastings (WA)
Heck (NV)
Heck (WA)
Hensarling
Himes
Hinojosa
Holding
Holt
Honda
Horsford
Hoyer
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huffman
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Israel
Issa
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Jenkins
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, E. B.
Jordan
Joyce
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kelly (PA)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kirkpatrick
Kline
Kuster
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Langevin
Lankford
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Latham
Latta
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Loebsack
Lofgren
Long
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
Maffei
Maloney, Carolyn
Maloney, Sean
Marchant
Marino
Massie
Matheson
Matsui
[[Page H6305]]
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McHenry
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McNerney
Meadows
Meehan
Meeks
Meng
Messer
Mica
Michaud
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (FL)
Murphy (PA)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Negrete McLeod
Neugebauer
Noem
Nolan
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
O'Rourke
Olson
Owens
Palazzo
Pallone
Pastor (AZ)
Paulsen
Payne
Pearce
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Perry
Peters (CA)
Peters (MI)
Peterson
Petri
Pingree (ME)
Pitts
Pocan
Poe (TX)
Polis
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Price (NC)
Quigley
Radel
Rahall
Reed
Reichert
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Richmond
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Roybal-Allard
Royce
Ruiz
Runyan
Ruppersberger
Ryan (OH)
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanford
Sarbanes
Scalise
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schwartz
Schweikert
Scott (VA)
Scott, Austin
Scott, David
Sensenbrenner
Serrano
Sessions
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Southerland
Speier
Stewart
Stivers
Stockman
Stutzman
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Terry
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tierney
Titus
Tonko
Tsongas
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Van Hollen
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Welch
Wenstrup
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (FL)
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IN)
NOT VOTING--24
Bass
Cardenas
DeGette
Duncan (TN)
Herrera Beutler
Higgins
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Labrador
Lummis
McCarthy (NY)
Miller, Gary
Pascrell
Pittenger
Rangel
Renacci
Rogers (AL)
Rush
Sanchez, Loretta
Schock
Tipton
Vargas
Yarmuth
Young (FL)
{time} 1057
Ms. SLAUGHTER and Mr. GINGREY of Georgia changed their vote from
``nay'' to ``yea.''
So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________