Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, as a representative of a district with a large number of Federal employees, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1722, The Telework Improvements Act. I want to thank Chairmen Towns and Lynch and Representative Sarbanes for their leadership in crafting this important bipartisan bill. The Telework Improvements Act makes administrative, fiscal and environmental sense. If passed, the measure will save money for the American taxpayers, make government operations more efficient, and put the Federal Government on equal footing with many private sector employers and State governments which allow their employees to perform many of their duties and responsibilities from home or at another work site. Passing this bill will help attract more workers to government service. There is an effort under way to encourage more young people to work for the Federal Government to offset the growing number of older employees who are retiring. Offering prospective employees the option to telework increases the possibility that those employees with families will join the Federal workforce. Passing this bill is smart fiscal policy. According to the Office of Personnel Management, during the blizzard that hit Washington, DC last winter, the government lost tens of millions of dollars worth of productivity for each day it remained closed. This number might have been far larger had some Federal workers not had the opportunity to work from home.…”