[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11867]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FURLOUGHS

  (Mr. WITTMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, this week, our civilian defense employees 
are at their desks, working fervently, after staying home for their 
first furlough day last week. Now they're having to take a furlough day 
each week for the next 11 weeks.
  I have talked with folks in my district who are, to say the least, 
frustrated as our Nation and they are deeply, deeply affected by these 
furloughs. As one constituent said, they are ``being held hostage.''
  The United States is the greatest Nation in the world and has the 
greatest military the world has ever known because we have citizens 
dedicated to serve--dedicated in spite of a lack of true leadership in 
Washington.
  While the administration had other choices rather than to furlough 
these essential employees, they chose instead to make a political 
statement on the backs of our fellow citizens to spread the pain far 
and wide. Our Nation's defense will undoubtedly suffer.
  I continue to urge the administration to utilize the flexibility it 
has, and I urge Congress to get to work on our Nation's defense 
legislation.

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