Political Quotes

“I want to abbreviate a statement to say that actually this Issa amendment would really eliminate all employee protections in disciplinary cases, and it would worsen an already severe attrition problem. And it would effectively deny Congress critical information on a wide range of immigration issues because current employee protections would be removed. Consequently, employee whistle blowers would be discouraged from disclosing information for fear of losing their jobs. In addition, allowing all positions within the new agency to be considered 'excepted service' positions would lead to a kind of political patronage and cronyism the civil service system was created to prevent. I urge a 'no' vote. This amendment has several provisions that are problematic. While this amendment purports to give the newly created Agency for Immigration Affairs more flexibility in its hiring process, it actually would eliminate all employees protections in disciplinary cases and worsen an already severe attrition problem within the ranks of the INS. According to INS statistics, the FY 2002 loss rate for Border patrol agents is 14% and could rise to 20 percent by the end of the year.”