OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012

Floor Speech

Date: June 1, 2011
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Women

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

I have been on the Committee on Homeland Security since its inception.

We have gone through hearing after hearing looking at this issue of collective bargaining for TSA employees. I might add that the rationale for offering this amendment has been completely refuted by every hearing we have ever had in the committee.

I am convinced that our men and women who work for TSA do a good job. However, the documentation is clear, they need additional training; they need a number of other items that collective bargaining can get them.

For instance, they have a different personnel system than other fellow employees. They have a different salary schedule than other employees. All those things lead to reduced morale for the employee.

More importantly, we have collective bargaining rights for Customs and Border Protection employees, the Federal Protective Service, and nowhere have we ever found where our good men and women in uniform cannot perform admirably in any situation.

The record is clear: where our union employees are federalized, they do a good job. So this notion that somehow collective bargaining is incorrect or improper should not go unopposed.

Apart from that, this is a heightened awareness situation. The men and women at TSA deserve the right to collective bargaining. For the record, Mr. Chairman, let me say that they are halfway there. They are 40,000 employees. They have already had an election; three unions sought representation. We are now down to the runoff for two.

Let the men and women do their job. Collective bargaining is not a bad thing for our men and women at TSA.

Lastly, let me say that Administrator Pistole has it right. His record with the FBI is impeccable. He looked at the situation, made a decision that had been kicked around for too many years at the Department.

Let's give the men and women at TSA the right to choose a collective bargaining unit if they so choose to decide on a collective bargaining unit.

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