James Oberstar: “There is a very important provision of this bill that we are hoping to pass for a second time to send back to the other…”

“There is a very important provision of this bill that we are hoping to pass for a second time to send back to the other body, and that is to correct the lapse in payment to 1,913 employees of the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration because the authority for the Federal highway program lapsed due to the objections of the Senator, the Representative in the other body, who held up the bill and then delayed the whole process, and through no fault of their own, these hardworking career employees were shortchanged. A long-term secretary of the Federal Highway Administration office in Seattle, who would normally net $1,548, lost $390 because of that furlough. That is unreasonable. An entry-level program analyst in Chicago of the Federal Highway Administration normally would take home $1,200, but would take a $300 cut for doing his job. Well, that is unreasonable. The bill we have before us will reinstate these funds.”