Considering the Painful Toll

Floor Speech

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Mr. LATIMER. Mr. Speaker, this weekend in Yonkers, I met four constituents who have recently been fired from Federal service. Their human stories force us to consider the painful toll created by the cut- and-destroy method of management by this administration.

Departments are being slashed and eliminated and so are the lives of professionals who have devoted their entire careers to public service. Without any objective assessment, years of work are being trashed with bogus claims of fraud and corruption. The ax falls regardless of skill, merit, or accomplishment. It falls without regard to the human element of people, not merely statistics, who serve the public. It is heartless and cruel.

Most corporations, even when downsizing, take into account the most productive employees and offices. They are strategic to achieve savings.

Every new administration is entitled to look at our Federal agencies and see what efficiencies can be achieved. This execute-first style of management is not that. It creates a stain on America, and it does nothing to make government more efficient. We should be ashamed.

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