It's Time for Congress to Stand Up for Federal Employees

Statement

Dear Neighbor,

For more than three years no other group in America has been demonized, demoralized, and asked to sacrifice more, than our federal workforce. They've endured a three-year wage freeze, wage-reducing work furloughs, sequester cuts, a government shutdown, and more than $140 billion in pay and benefit cuts, all in the name of deficit reduction. As a result, over the last four years federal wages have lagged far behind the private sector and have even failed to keep up with the rate of inflation.

Enough is enough! Our nation's dedicated federal employees deserve fair compensation.

This month, joined by Representatives Jim Moran (D-VA), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), and other House members, I introduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act, legislation that would provide a 3.3 percent pay raise to federal workers.

The FAIR Act recognizes the alarming rate of attrition among federal employees. Since 2009, the attrition rate in the federal workforce has increased by 35 percent, with more college graduates turning away from a career in public service and many federal managers questioning why they should remain in federal service, according to statistics from the non-partisan Partnership for Public Service.

Last year's modest 1 percent federal wage adjustment for federal workers still lagged behind the country's historically low average inflation rate of 1.5 percent for 2013, to say nothing of average private sector wages which rose by 6.5 percent over the last four years, according to the Employment Cost Index. Nationwide, personal income earnings grew in 2013 in every industry except the civilian federal government, which fell $6.7 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Oftentimes I try to remind my colleagues in Congress about the vital role the federal workforce plays in the lives of millions of Americans. These are the men and women processing Social Security payments for our senior citizens. They are the scientists at NIH developing lifesaving cures. They are the FBI and Homeland Security agents keeping our country safe. And they are the public servants at the VA ensuring our brave men and women, who sacrificed so much to protect our freedom abroad, have the care they need when they come home.

Congress too easily forgets that our federal workforce is not limited to the national capital region. In fact, I often point out to my colleagues that 85 percent of federal employees live and work elsewhere across all 50 states and in every congressional district. The time is long overdue for the House majority to drop its rhetoric about "federal bureaucrats" and recognize the contributions our federal employees make. The FAIR Act is the first step in reassuring our commitment to public service.

By investing in the federal government's most valuable resource, its talented workforce, the FAIR Act would begin repairing the significant damage that has been wrought on our overworked, underpaid, and unappreciated career civil service, while helping to ensure we can attract the best and the brightest to build the federal workforce of the future. I will continue to fight in Congress to stand up for our neighbors who dedicate their life to public service.
Sincerely,

Gerald E. Connolly
Member of Congress
11th District of Virginia

Source