[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 16, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H3749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HOLDING FEDERAL EMPLOYEES ACCOUNTABLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Hice) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HICE of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the 
American taxpayer to clarify that the Federal workforce exists to serve 
them, not the other way around.
  During the COVID pandemic, Americans faced uncertainties as 
businesses literally struggled to survive. While these Americans 
wondered whether or not they would receive the next paycheck, there was 
one group, Federal employees, who did not face these type of concerns. 
To the contrary, since President Biden took office, there has been a 
nonstop effort to ensure that Federal workers are treated like a 
protected, privileged class.
  Democrats like to talk about the need to rehabilitate Federal workers 
after the Trump administration's so-called war on civil servants. That 
is absolutely ridiculous. The Democrats' road to recovery apparently 
includes shielding government workers, workers whose positions exist to 
serve the American people. The Democrats want to shield government 
workers from accountability; from any concern of discipline; from the 
obligation to actually perform the duties that they were hired to do; 
and from their duty to serve the elected Representatives of the people.
  But guess what? Despite the claims of trauma during the Trump 
administration, Federal workers were happier during his time in office. 
Why? Simply because the Federal workers were held accountable.
  Let's face it: No one likes working in a situation where you can't do 
anything about poor performers, where you can't do anything regarding 
people who simply refuse to actually do their jobs. The consequences of 
that type of environment is that the actual conscientious workers have 
to pick up the slack, which only adds to their own workloads and 
creates an extremely toxic work environment.
  Nevertheless, Democrats want to continue the false narrative of an 
abused Federal workforce. They want to curry favor with the core union 
constituency by looking for as many ways as possible to increase pay 
and benefits, all under the name of making the Federal Government a 
model employer.
  But model employers hold their workforce accountable. Model employers 
put the customer first. In this case, that is the American taxpayer. We 
don't hear any of this from the Democrats, but you do from the 
Republicans.
  Today, along with a number of my Republican colleagues, I am 
introducing the Accountable Federal Employees Act, which codifies a 
suite of executive orders that President Trump issued, but, 
unfortunately, President Biden has repealed.
  This bill includes a number of commonsense provisions, such as making 
sure Federal employees actually do their jobs rather than spend time on 
union activities. It makes sure that poor performers are held 
accountable. That is something even Federal employees say is sorely 
lacking in the workplace. It creates a process to ensure collective 
bargaining agreements are negotiated in a timely manner and in a way 
that looks out for the best interests of the American taxpayer. It 
makes sure that Federal employees in policy-making roles actually work 
to help implement the policies of the people who were actually elected 
to office.
  This bill represents a platform of sanity and fairness in civil 
service policy and in the workforce of the Federal Government. Frankly, 
any serious effort to modernize the Federal workforce has to start with 
ensuring the best possible level of service for the American people. 
That is what this bill does. I urge my colleagues to join me in this 
effort.

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