The Honorable Donna F. Edwards
H.R. 3223, the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act
October 5, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague.
I rise in support of H.R. 3223, and I speak in support of Tracy in Laurel who lives in my district who works at HHS. She helps her mom out every month with her Federal salary; and Christopher and his wife, both of whom work at the Department of Homeland Security, live in Millersville, and they are both on furlough. And Dini, who is a single parent in Oxon Hill, she has already been furloughed this summer and suffers mightily.
So, Mr. Speaker, I think this is the right thing to do; but let’s keep in mind that the longer we stay out, meeting the day-to-day needs of our Federal workforce is really tough. Some of these people will really struggle even if they are guaranteed retroactive pay. It’s time for us to get the entire government back to work.
