On the recordFebruary 18, 2011
Thank you. I won't use it all. It has been a long night, and the American people are hopefully still watching. As they watch what we are doing here and as they see people coming and crying for the Federal worker, I hope what they realize is that the Federal worker is not losing a day's pay. We are not eliminating Federal workers, and Federal workers will be able to get awards, bonuses, any meritorious increase or promotion. We are simply saying that, for 99.94 percent of all non-uniformed Federal workers, to simply get longevity increases after the President has ordered a pay freeze is disingenuous to the process. We want to be genuine to the President's Executive order and genuine to the process here. The House of Representatives rolled back our funding by 5 percent, and that was a good start; but if we don't do this, we're not even genuinely freezing the pay of our own Federal workforce. I strongly urge support for this amendment in keeping the promise of the President and the promise to the American people. I yield back the balance of my time.





