Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of H.R. 790, the Federal Civilian Workforce Pay Raise Fairness Act of 2019, along with my fellow colleagues of the local delegation. I pay special thanks to Chairman Connolly and Majority Leader Hoyer for their leadership on this very important piece of legislation. H.R. 790, as amended, would authorize a 2.6 percent pay raise for Federal civilian workers for 2019, the same raise that our military servicemembers are receiving this year. Historically, Congress has tried to ensure parity in pay increases between Federal civilian employees and military servicemembers. This bill would continue this longstanding tradition. The bill would provide the pay raise to Federal employees in the competitive and excepted services, blue-collar workers, members of the career Senior Executive Service, and employees in the scientific and senior-level positions. The men and women of our civil service deserve this small increase in pay because they have endured so much during the last several years. They were subjected, Mr. Chair, to repeated and unrelenting attacks on their pay and on their benefits. {time} 1045 They have suffered through pay freezes, hiring freezes, higher pension costs, and furloughs due to sequestration and government shutdowns. Since 2011, Federal workers have contributed nearly $200 billion to help reduce our country's deficit and to fund other government programs.…”