Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague from Maryland for yielding. I want to congratulate Congressman Hanna. It's been a privilege to be able to work with Mr. Hanna on his efforts in resolving some issues that have held up the passage of H.R. 2061--and I'm glad that we're here today--the Civilian Service Recognition Act. When Federal civilian servants take the oath of office, they solemnly swear to ``defend the Constitution of the United States from enemies, both foreign and domestic.'' This legislation would authorize the head of an executive agency to give a U.S. flag to the next of kin of a deceased employee who dies at home or abroad of injuries incurred in connection with his or her employment with the government. The bill specifies that the employee would have to die due to injuries sustained with a criminal act, an act of terrorism, a natural disaster, or other circumstance as determined by the President. The legislation is a well-deserved reminder of the important work done by our civilian employees, particularly when Federal employees have been so criticized and placed on the chopping block during the recent debates. H.R. 2061 is a modest but significant show of gratitude to our Federal civilian employees and the families of deceased public servants for their duty to the United States Government. According to the Office of Personnel Management, over 100,000 civilian Federal employees have served in Afghanistan and Iraq alongside our military forces.…”