William R. Richardson: “we as a body have come to the bold agreement that downsizing the Federal work force is in the best interest of this…”

“we as a body have come to the bold agreement that downsizing the Federal work force is in the best interest of this country. We agreed on this when we passed H.R. 3400 the Government Reform and Savings Act. Now we are left with the critical decision of choosing the most sound policy to reduce the Federal work force by 250,000. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3345, which I believe is the best policy for restructuring the Federal work force. The Congressional Budget Office recently released a study examining different options for achieving downsizing in the Federal work force. The study found the two best downsizing alternatives, involuntary dismissals and pay incentives, each achieved nearly identical savings over 5 years. The difference the study found between involuntary dismissals and pay incentives was that involuntary dismissals would disproportionately effect women and minorities. We have worked hard over the last decade to ensure that our highly skilled Federal work force is representative of the diversity of our Nation. In the State of New Mexico, 27,700 individuals are employed in Federal Government positions. Some 13,100 of these employees, or just over 50 percent are minorities. The Federal work force in New Mexico is representative of the Hispanic, Native American, African-American, and Asians who comprise 60 percent of New Mexico's population. I want to ensure that the integrity of New Mexico's Federal work force is not disturbed.”