[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4193]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  0910
                    BALANCED DEBT REDUCTION PACKAGE

  (Ms. PINGREE of Maine asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, today, thousands of Federal 
workers across the country, including nearly 5,000 at the Portsmouth 
Navy Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, will start getting furlough notices. 
These men and women in Kittery are some of the hardest working, most 
skilled and dedicated shipyard workers in America. Year in and year 
out, they repair and refit submarines to the highest standards, on time 
and on budget. Last year, some of them even risked their lives to put 
out a fire on board the USS Miami and save it from becoming a total 
loss.
  Now the Federal Government is telling them they could have to take 
what could amount to a 20 percent pay cut. That is going to be a real 
hardship for working families in Maine and New Hampshire. And to add 
insult to injury, they could even have their security clearances 
suspended if they fall behind on their finances.
  It is outrageous that Congress has not done its job and passed a 
balanced debt reduction package. It is outrageous that Congress has 
resorted to these arbitrary and extreme budget cuts. The public workers 
in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and around our country deserve our 
thanks, not a 20 percent pay cut.

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