Political Quotes

“it is interesting, hearing the debate about this bill, and the issues and opportunities for debate on the issues and input for amendments. I serve on the Committee on Government Reform and the Committee on Armed Services, which this bill went through. We had over 10 hours of committee debate, including consideration of numerous amendments, and 20 hours on the Committee on Armed Services, including numerous amendments. Clearly, we had a full and exhaustive discussion. No back-room discussions here. This was out in the open, with full participation and full airing of the amendments that were presented. One thing we know is that the need for this is evident in some of the circumstances that we currently have in the Department of Defense. Members can look at some of the experiences that have occurred. It took the American Federation of Government Employees and the Air Force 10 years to bargain over day care centers. Bargaining disputes led to an arbitration hearing, two appeals to the Federal Labor Relations Authority, two court challenges, a petition to the Supreme Court, a Court of Claims case, a decision by the Comptroller General, and $750,000. Similarly, a case in St. Louis over an annual employee picnic took 6 years and $275,000. A dispute over an agency's decision to close its facilities over a holiday weekend and require employees to use 1 day of leave took 8 years to resolve.”