Political Quotes

“this amendment would eliminate an arbitrary cap on the civilian and contractual workforce. The administration supports this amendment. Without this amendment being adopted, the Department said it will need to significantly divest workload and impose workforce caps. The amount of civilian and contractual workforce should be determined by mission, by workload and by budget, as the law provides. This arbitrary cap would be like a second sequestration type of cap on the civilian and contractual workforce. My cosponsors include Senators Akaka, Mikulski, Begich, Durbin, Brown of Ohio, McCaskill, Harkin, Boxer, Leahy, and Tester. I urge my colleagues to approve the amendment. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The senator from Arizona. Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, this was unanimously approved by the committee. There is a provision in there that would simply require the Department to plan to reduce funding for civilian and contractor personnel by approximately 5 percent, which would be less reduction than what is contemplated from the military side. Right now, the President's budget, not counting sequester, would reduce military personnel by 123,900 men and women serving in the military or 5.5 percent over 5 years. Since 2001, the civilian personnel in the Department of Defense has increased by 100,000, a 16 percent increase and a 37 percent increase in civilian pay costs. The Department of Defense continues to be top heavy with headquarters.…”