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Federal Employee Pay Freeze Proposal Defeated in Senate
June 21, 2010
In a speech on the Senate floor Thursday, Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) blasted an
amendment to the Tax Extenders bill that would have frozen pay for all
non-military federal employees, as well as capped hiring across the federal
government. The amendment, defeated in a procedural vote of 57-41, is the
latest in what Kaufman described as a series of "baseless attacks" on federal
workers.
The effect of this amendment on our government's ability to address serious
issues we face "would be disastrous," said Kaufman. "Federal employees continue
to serve unfortunately to some as a convenient scapegoat. At a moment when we
are faced with a difficult choice about how to reduce our deficit and get our
economy moving again, this amendment represents an easy cop-out," he
continued. The amendment "assigns blame and does not really address the
budgetary problems we face."
Senator John Thune (R-SD), who proposed the amendment to freeze pay of
federal employees, said it "was a common sense step toward restoring fiscal
sanity to our nation's runaway spending and ballooning deficit. The defeat of my
amendment was a missed opportunity for Congress to prove they are serious about
tackling our dangerous spending habits and $13 trillion national debt. This
amendment would have lowered taxes for families and small businesses as they
struggle through these challenging times."
Rebutting the argument that federal employees are paid higher on average than
their private sector counterparts, Kaufman highlighted in his speech several of
those he has honored as part of his "Great Federal Employee Initiative," citing
the pay cuts many have taken in order to work in government.
The Federal Salary Council reported in October 2009 that federal employees
made an average of 26% less in 2009 than those working in comparable private
sector jobs.
In recent weeks, both the House and Senate have rejected other efforts to freeze the pay of federal civilian workers.
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