Political Quotes

“Allowing Federal agencies to offer buyouts as incentives for Federal employees to retire is a matter of extreme urgency. It is imperative that we enact buyouts in order to avoid reductions in force [RIF's] or furloughs in the Federal Government. We have made a commitment to downsize the Federal Government by 252,000 full-time positions over the next 5 years. In order to do this without putting younger, household heads and family providers out of work, we must pass legislation to encourage older workers to retire. Time is running out. If we wait any longer, buyouts will not be cost effective this fiscal year and layoffs will be inevitable. We must act now. The buyout legislation gives us a chance to reduce the size of Government without laying people off. It would allow agencies to offer targeted buyouts, so that we can reduce staff where we can afford reduction--managers, supervisors, and more senior workers. Younger workers and those working key jobs in service to the public would be spared the disruption of RIF's. The buyout legislation will not add to the deficit--it is deficit neutral over the next 6 years.”