Chris Van Hollen: “They are an easy political target for some, as Mr. Hoyer said, but it is irresponsible to denigrate their good work.…”

“They are an easy political target for some, as Mr. Hoyer said, but it is irresponsible to denigrate their good work. These are the men and women who care for our veterans and many of our wounded soldiers. These are the people in our intelligence community who helped track down Osama bin Laden. These are the folks at NIH and elsewhere who help find treatments and cures, that help prevent diseases that plague every American family. They are the folks who protect our borders. They are the folks who help run the Medicare and Social Security system. They're the folks in the Capitol Hill Police that protect this great center of democracy right here. So while this conference report does many good things, we need to send a message that it's time to stop scapegoating Federal employees and using them as the piggy bank for our national objectives.”