Issue Position: Federal Workforce
Issue Position
Federal employees are the backbone of national security, safe transportation, safe food and clean water, and so many other issues and entities critical to our country and to our lives. In my stints as a federal employee -- my first job as a ranger with the National Park Service, my four years as ambassador to Switzerland, and now my time since 2015 as a member of Congress -- I have been deeply impressed by the intelligence and work ethic of so many of my colleagues and staff.
Yet federal employees in the modern era -- and many government contract employees as well -- suffer through government shutdowns, furloughs and pay freezes. Too many people and politicians make a sport of denigrating "feds" -- part of their way of criticizing government and trying to turn others against government, rather than working constructively with it and its workforce for improvements and wise policies. With such juvenile approaches to running government, we not only hurt the morale and retention of today's feds, but we risk not being able to recruit America's best and brightest for this work in the future.
Virginia's 8th congressional district is rich with feds: It is home to more federal employees than any other congressional district. I will continue to advocate for these colleagues, who have borne too much of the brunt of President Trump's bullying and coarse stereotypes. I am proud to cosponsor the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act (FAIR Act), which would give federal employees a 3.6 percent pay increase in 2020. I am also a sponsor of the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act, which would guarantee 12 weeks of paid family leave for all the same issues -- a new child, recovering from a serious illness or helping a family member recover from a serious illness.
Lastly, I cosponsored the Federal Civilian Workforce Pay Raise Fairness Act, which would have increased the rates of basic pay for federal civilian employees by 2.6% for 2019. We will continue to work to do better by government employees and government contract employees.
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