The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“PERMITTING FEDERAL EMPLOYEES TO RETURN TO WORK” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Senate section on pages S19232 on Dec. 22, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PERMITTING FEDERAL EMPLOYEES TO RETURN TO WORK
Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, while we are waiting, I will just say we have been trying to find some way that would permit Federal employees around the country to come back to work without enacting another continuing resolution. It is costing $40 million a day because we are going to pay the Federal employees. It is no fault of their own they are not working. It seems to me--at least I am getting a lot of calls from taxpayers around the country saying, ``Why are you paying people for not working?''
My view is they ought to be able to go back to work, but under the law, they cannot even volunteer to go back to work, because if they volunteer, their supervisor might be in violation of some criminal statute. There is a purpose for all this, because if you do not have any money in the agency, it is pretty hard to say we are going to pay salaries.
But in this case, in fact we agreed to say, it is safe to say, this afternoon--it should have been in that joint communique--the principals agreed those who are furloughed will be paid because it is no fault of their own.
As the Washington Post said in an editorial, they are the victims, they are the pawns in this struggle for a balanced budget, and if you are in the Agriculture Department, we passed that appropriations bill, as the Presiding Officer knows because he is chairman of that Appropriations subcommittee, and they are working and they are getting paid. But if you work for the Interior Department, you are not getting paid because we have not passed a CR--we passed the Interior bill. Unfortunately, the President could have put people back to work, but he vetoed it.
So we have been trying to find some way out of the impasse because there are Federal workers--in fact, I heard this morning on the radio representatives of the Federal employees union saying that it is giving the Federal employees a bad image; that many believe they are out there shopping in the shopping malls knowing they are all going to get paid, and they are just getting more time off.
So I discussed in general the concept with Senator Daschle while we were at the White House and have been working with Senator Warner throughout the day. We believe we have found a way that would permit Federal employees to come back to work and they would be paid on the assurance given by not only the principals in today's meeting, but a letter signed by myself and the Speaker of the House last Thursday directed to Senator Warner and to Congresswoman Morella, Congressman Tom Davis and Congressman Frank Wolf.
Let me read it:
Section 1342 of title 31, U.S. Code, is amended, (1) by inserting after the first sentence ``for the period December 15, 1995, through February 1, 1996, all officers and employees of the United States Government or the District of Columbia Government shall be deemed to be performing services relating to emergencies involved in the safety of human life or the protection of property and, (2) by striking out the last sentence.
Hopefully by then we will have completed our balanced budget and everybody will be back to work in a normal fashion.
I am going to try to clear this on the Democratic side and send it to the House. I have had a brief discussion with the Speaker, and I am not certain if he has had a chance to analyze this. But this does two things, we are told.
First of all, it permits Federal employees to go back to work without getting somebody in trouble, and, second, it assures they are going to be paid.
So I hope we can clear this before the evening ends. I am not certain the House could take it up today, but they will be back on Wednesday.
I know there is a lot of stress and unrest among Federal employees who are not working, but they will be paid, which means there is a lot of stress and unrest with the general taxpayers who wonder why they are not working if they are going to be paid. So this would permit Federal employees to do what I guess nearly everyone wants to do in the first place.
I wish to thank my colleague from Virginia, Senator Warner, who has just come to the floor, for his assistance. We are trying to clear this at this point with the Democratic leader. If we cannot do that, at least I will have the bill printed in the Record and perhaps we can bring it up again next Wednesday when we are back in session.
Mr. WARNER addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader has the floor.
Mr. DOLE. I will be happy to yield.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I just wish to thank the distinguished majority leader. Throughout this current series of problems and, indeed, in the last series, I was able to work with him expressing at all opportunity the need for the Federal employees to be treated with fairness and equity and compassion, and that means going back to work.
I just want to thank the leader for what he has done, and I am delighted to be a cosponsor of this particular piece of legislation, which, Mr. President, will enable them to be treated just like all other civil service employees, and I think that is the bare minimum we owe to these fine people who are public servants in every true sense.
Mr. DOLE. I think there is another matter we need to deal with very quickly because there are, I understand, 470,000, almost 500,000 employees who are working who are going to have difficulty being paid. So we need to address that very quickly, and we are working on that.
So as I was saying, as the Senator from Virginia indicated this morning, it is costing $40 million a day. These employees want to work and they cannot work. They cannot volunteer. Somebody is going to be in trouble if they do that. So we have discussed this with the Parliamentarian and legislative counsel, and this brief language would permit them to go back to work and also assure them they would be paid. Those are the two purposes of the resolution.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, again, I thank the distinguished leader, and I hope it is accepted.
Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, there is a considerable amount of what we call wrap-up around here. While that is being prepared, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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