[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 15275-15284]
[From the U.S. 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,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Employee Retroactive 
     Pay Fairness Act''.

[[Page 15276]]



     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. 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

[[Page 15277]]

the wall of 27 Federal employees who 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:


[[Page 15278]]

       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.
  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.

[[Page 15279]]


  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 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

[[Page 15280]]

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 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

[[Page 15281]]

     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 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. 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.

[[Page 15282]]


  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.
  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.

[[Page 15283]]

  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.
  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-

[[Page 15284]]

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
     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.

                          ____________________