Timothy Penny: “This is a straightforward amendment. It deals with a work force reduction to be implemented over the next 6 years. This…”

“This is a straightforward amendment. It deals with a work force reduction to be implemented over the next 6 years. This is not a new issue to the Congress. Several times in the last few months, we have debated and concurred in the decision that 252,000 Federal workers could be taken off the Federal payroll over the next 5 or 6 years. We first raised this issue as part of a deficit reduction sponsored by myself and Mr. Kasich last fall. That amendment conformed with the recommendation by Vice President Gore to reinvent Government and to down size the Federal work force. While that effort was unsuccessful, an alternative proposal was approved by the House of Representatives, the Sabo amendment, which incorporated these same staffing reductions. It is uncertain when or whether that bill will be processed by the Senate. We also know that in the Senate, Senator Gramm of Texas pursued a work force reduction to finance most of the elements of the pending crime bill. But, as we know, that bill has a long and torturous path before final enactment. We feel it critically important to get the work force reductions locked into law as soon as possible.”