Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Maryland.

No one should be made to suffer for actions that are no fault of their own, so I'm very pleased that we're taking up this measure to ensure that dedicated Federal workers who are among the many innocent victims of this government shutdown will be held harmless in the long run. But this important measure simply highlights the sheer folly of keeping the Federal Government shut down for one additional minute. These are public servants who are paid to do what they love to do--to serve the public. So for goodness sake, let them all get back to work for the public now.

This bill, Mr. Speaker, doesn't say let's just pay the Federal employees at FEMA. It doesn't say let's just pay the Federal employees at the national parks. It doesn't say let's just pay the Federal employees at the piecemeal, cherry-picking agencies that our Republican colleagues have brought to the floor. It says let's make sure we hold all Federal employees whole. Absolutely. And let's reopen the entire Federal Government and do it now. Mr. Speaker, let us have a vote on that very simple proposition.

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