Patricia Schroeder: “Mr. Chairman, I want to say that I am going to speak rapidly, because we need to get this out. We should have gotten…”

“Mr. Chairman, I want to say that I am going to speak rapidly, because we need to get this out. We should have gotten this out last year. As everyone has said, this is very important. On the Committee on Armed Services we always talk about surgical strikes. Without this, we do not give the people who manage the different agencies the right to be surgical in the positions they can do without. Without this, they are forced to go into things such as RIF's or freezes, that we know do not work. Mr. Chairman, this is not a surprise. We know how this works. The CIA has done it, the Department of Defense has done it, and the GAO has done it. They have shown how well it works. We know if we do this, this will help us save almost $30 billion over the next 5 years. We also know if people decide to get rehired and come back to the Government in the next 5 years, they have to pay this back. So I think this is proper. I think we ought to move on it. Mr. Chairman, I must say this is an historic day. People told me if I was here long enough, I would find something I agreed with with the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Burton], and I am delighted that that day has finally come. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased that we have this bipartisan consensus that this must be done.”