[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 2 (Monday, January 15, 1996)]
[Pages 24-25]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Open Letter to Federal Government Employees on the Furlough

January 6, 1996

    We want to welcome back those of you who have been furloughed and 
express our deep appreciation to all of you in the federal work force.
    Through no fault of your own, you have been forced to carry on in 
very difficult circumstances--some of you on furlough, and more of you 
unpaid, all of you doubtless unsettled. Although the continuing 
resolutions

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signed today provide neither a satisfactory nor a complete resolution to 
the current budget dispute, we have succeeded in returning all of you to 
work with full retroactive pay.
    And if there is any positive outcome to the pain and hardship you 
have undergone for the past three weeks, it is that your fellow 
Americans have been made painfully aware of the importance of your work.
    The inconvenience and pain of this shutdown spread from coast to 
coast. Veterans benefits were curtailed. Services to small businesses 
have been interrupted. Important environmental protections have been 
shut down, including Superfund cleanup and programs to combat air and 
water pollution. FBI training of state and local law enforcement 
officers was stopped.
    The list of curtailed or limited services goes on and on. FHA 
mortgages and housing vouchers were halted. State rehabilitation 
services for those with physical and mental disabilities have started to 
shut down. Travellers found National Park Service facilities closed, 
National Forests restricted, great museums padlocked, and passports 
unavailable.
    A ripple effect extended the economic hardship beyond the federal 
work force to millions of other Americans who provide services to or 
receive them from you--hardships that, sadly, will not disappear with 
the stroke of a pen.
    Let us be clear: there was absolutely no excuse for this shutdown. 
We and Republicans in Congress have differing views on how to balance 
the budget, and that's why we are engaged in negotiations. But there was 
no justification for this government to be closed while negotiations 
progress. And there is no justification for Congress' failure to fully 
fund all government services.
    Once again, many of the men and women who make up our federal 
government were held hostage, with your paychecks delayed and your 
security threatened during the holiday season. You were put unfairly in 
the middle of a battle you did not seek. But--whether you were 
furloughed or working--by your commitment and your sacrifice, you 
continued to serve our nation as loyally as ever during this crisis.
    We salute you for your dedication, and we thank you.
                                                  Bill Clinton
                                                       Al Gore