Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I want to express my strong support for the bipartisan, bicameral Competitive Service Act, S. 1580, before the House today. I am pleased to sponsor the House companion, H.R. 2827, of this common-sense legislation with my fellow Virginian, Rob Wittman. Our bill reforms an antiquated and cumbersome hiring system that hinders our nation's ability to efficiently hire the most qualified candidates into federal service. Under current law, federal agencies are prohibited from sharing information about vetted job applicants. For example, when agencies identify finalists for a vacant position in a highly competitive field, such as cybersecurity, no other agency can leverage those efforts and take advantage of applicant screening that's already been performed. Our bill will empower agencies to share information about the most qualified candidates, allowing the federal government to effectively recruit the best and the brightest talent while saving taxpayer dollars. It represents a win-win for applicants and agency human resource professionals. Further this is an important component of a comprehensive effort to modernize the federal hiring process to ensure we can recruit the next generation of civil servants. We are facing a retirement bubble within the federal ranks. Last year, GAO reported that nearly one-third of the federal workforce would be eligible to retire by the end of fiscal year 2017.…”