David Obey: “the amendment offered would not permit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or the Social Security…”

“the amendment offered would not permit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or the Social Security Administration to pay a bonus or performance-based cash awards to Presidential appointees who are not eligible for bonuses, or to senior executive personnel who are, by definition, eligible for bonuses. Frankly, I don't understand why the gentleman would want to stop CMS or SSA from awarding employees who are eligible for bonuses if they're achieving exemplary performance. The fact is that senior executive service personnel are specifically eligible for bonuses and are paid on the basis of performance. The gentleman's amendment would overturn the entire personnel policy of the agencies. And I really don't think that makes much sense on the basis of a 10-minute debate at 10:30 at night, especially when this matter is not within the jurisdiction of the Appropriations Committee. This is something which ought to be dealt with by the authorizing committee. I'm sure that many Members have frustrations with the performance of many agencies from time to time, and I'm sure sometimes we're pulling our hair, but that doesn't mean that we ought to have an across-the-board policy that penalizes people across the board because someone didn't perform up to someone else's standards. So, I would respectfully urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment. I would be happy to work with the gentleman.…”