Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend for yielding, and I rise to raise an issue of particular importance to my constituents in New Jersey.

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst was created by the 2005 BRAC round. And while joint basing has been successfully implemented at MDL, there remains an outstanding issue of gross unfairness for some employees.

The overwhelming majority of employees at the joint base are included in the New York pay locality area; yet, the wage grade employees on the former McGuire Air Force Base and Fort Dix remain in the Philadelphia locality area. These employees work on the same installation, but they are paid 7 percent less than their counterparts for the same work.

Joint Base MDL made a formal request for realignment of the Philadelphia to New York wage survey area to OPM's Advisory Committee, FPRAC, in 2010, and the base leadership continues to believe pay parity should be a priority.

Mr. Chairman, the joint base is a critical asset to DOD and our National security. Their missions could not be carried out effectively without the skills of the men and women stationed there and those working in civilian support roles across the base.

Joint Base MDL is one installation, and the men and women who work there are part of the same workforce. It is timed to fix this outdated policy.

Accordingly, I am hopeful that you will work with me to bring about fairness to the roughly 20 percent of the workforce that does not receive equally earned pay.

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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank my good friend, the chairman, for your commitment to the men and women who support our warfighters. I look forward to working with you to move the pay parity for all joint base employees forward.

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