Henry Waxman: “I rise in support of the Van Hollen amendment to the Transportation, Treasury Appropriations bill. The amendment of the…”

“I rise in support of the Van Hollen amendment to the Transportation, Treasury Appropriations bill. The amendment of the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) blocks the administration from using Federal funds to implement revisions to the A-76 process. In effect, it prevents the administration from paying politics with the civil service system, and it deserves my colleagues' strong support. Now, this week the Brookings Institution reported on the true size of government. Unfortunately, the report is not surprising to those of us who have watched this administration's assault on the Federal workforce. The Brookings Institution found that the shadow workforce of private contractors working for the Federal Government is now 16.7 million, which is 9.5 times as large as the civil service workforce. This administration is not satisfied with a private contractor workforce of 16.7 million, so it is launching yet another attack on Federal employees. Let me say to those conservatives who say, we want to shrink government, contracting out does not shrink government. It is public-funded jobs, but it is public-funded jobs in the private sector. Taxpayers are paying for it, but these people may not have any of the benefits, and they may not be saving us any money.”