Political Quotes

“the amendment that I and Senator Warner and Senator Robb and Senator Mikulski have offered is before the Senate. This is a very straightforward amendment expressing the sense of the Congress that parity between Federal civilian pay and military pay should be maintained. We should continue that parity. A comparison by CRS of military and civilian pay increases finds that 80 percent of the military and civilian pay increases in the last 25 years have been identical. Disparate treatment goes against established congressional policy that has ensured parity with all those who work to serve our Nation, whether in the Armed Forces or in the civilian workforce. One of the rationales for the increase for military personnel, which is in this legislation which I support, has been to address the concerns about retention and recruitment problems. We have comparable problems with respect to the civilian service, and I think it is important to note that more and more of graduating classes indicate less interest in the Federal service. A GAO report in 1990 found that low pay was the most cited reason for employees leaving the civil service or refusing to take a Federal position in the first place. Over the years, particularly in recent years, Federal employees have made significant sacrifices in the name of deficit reduction. The law governing Federal civilian pay has never been fully implemented since 1994.”