Amendment Exempts Working Capital Fund Employees from Furloughs

Press Release

Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK) released the following statement after House passage of his amendment which prevents funds from being used to implement a furlough, if the reason given is sequestration. Relief would be given to Defense Department employees paid from the Working Capital Fund. The amendment, offered along with Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Congressmen Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Dave Loebsack (D-IA), passed the House of Representatives by voice vote Tuesday night.

This amendment would affect approximately 180,000 civilian workers in WCF units whose salaries are not paid through direct appropriations and, therefore, should be exempt from cuts due to sequestration. Air Logistics Centers at Tinker, Hill and Robbins have 26,087 civilian personnel affected.

"I am pleased that the House came together to pass an amendment that protects civilian workers from needless furloughs," said Cole. "Working Capital Fund employees continue to work even during administrative furloughs like those imposed by government shutdowns after failure to pass appropriations bills. There is no reason for furlough of these workers when the funds for their services have already been set aside, as WCF employees are engaged in work funded with prior year money. As a result, commands where employees are paid through WCF monies have more than enough resources to avoid imposing any furlough days.

"Currently, furlough exempt employees include those who are not paid directly from accounts within the Defense Department. Since WCF personnel are indirectly employed by the DOD, cuts resulting from sequestration cannot stand as a real reason. In fact, furlough actually hurts our economic recovery and costs the taxpayers more through delayed production, overhead increases and the need for overtime or transfer of workload to more expensive sources of work.

"Yesterday's vote is a true display of bipartisanship and shows our dedication to protecting valuable personnel and finding real solutions to our debt," concluded Cole.

This is a first step in the legislative process. The Senate will consider its version of the Defense Appropriations Bill, and the two versions will be reconciled in the coming weeks.

To watch last night's debate on the amendment to H.R. 2397, including remarks from Congressman Cole, Majority Whip McCarthy and Congressmen Kilmer, Bishop and Loebsack, click here.

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