Steny Hoyer: “The Federal Government has about 2 million civilian employees. We are bringing that down. It is going to be about 1.9…”

“The Federal Government has about 2 million civilian employees. We are bringing that down. It is going to be about 1.9 million, 1.8 million when we finish. That is to serve the 270 million Americans, Federal level. Contrary to the demagoguery that goes on, the growth in government has not occurred at the Federal level. It has occurred in the State and local government since the 1960's. That is where the real growth in government has occurred. The Federal Government has been relatively stable, and, as I said, we are currently at about 1960 levels. So this is not a question of an exploding work force. This is a question, my colleagues in the House, as to whether or not this administration or any administration will have sufficient numbers of people to place in the 13 agencies of government and the departments of government and the other agencies and independent organizations, not in this country alone, but around the world, who will be there to carry out administration policy.”