National Weather Service Employees Organization

Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) Praises Work of Federal Employees

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(May 19, 2011) Representative Frank Wolf, (R-VA) recognizes the value of the work of federal employees in a May 5 speech to the House of Representatives in honor of Public Service Recognition Week.

Wolf’s speech comes at a time when Congressional leaders and the administration are considering a plan that targets federal pensions in an effort to balance the budget. According to the plan, federal workers would contribute about 6 percent to their retirement plans, a huge increase over the 0.8 percent they now contribute. In effect, the plan amounts to a 5 percent pay cut on federal employees.  Another Virginia Congressman, Rep. Gerry E. Connolly (D), joined federal labor unions in denouncing the plan. Rep. Connolly calls it an assault on civil servants and a tax on 2.2 million “middle-class” America.

Wolf’s speech follows:

SPEECH OF HON. FRANK R. WOLF OF VIRGINIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the work that federal employees do, day in and day out, to make our country a better place.

Federal employees are on the front lines working to ensure that our government is running as efficiently and effectively as possible to provide the services taxpayers expect. They make our nation a safer and better place. They work in every congressional district of the country and thus it is incredibly appropriate that we honor their service this week.
 
Whether it's the FBI agent working to find a kidnapped child, the DEA agent keeping drugs out of schools, or the DOJ attorney prosecuting a child molester--all are federal employees graciously serving our nation.
 
We must also remember that there are intelligence agents risking their lives every day on the front lines side by side with our armed forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other fronts in the Global War on Terror who serve as federal employees. The first American killed in Afghanistan, Mike Spann, was a CIA agent and a constituent from my congressional district. Imagine the dangers a CIA employee or an FBI agent working side by side in Afghanistan with the U.S. military must encounter.

A year ago January, I attended funerals for some of the seven CIA agents who were killed by a Taliban suicide bomber at Forward Operative Base Chapman near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Federal employees also put their lives on the line here at home. The Border Patrol agent shot and killed in Arizona this past December who was working to stop the flow of illegal immigrants across our southern border was a federal employee. The Immigration and Custom Enforcement agent who was killed and the two who were shot this past February outside of Mexico City were federal employees.

Doctors who tend to our veterans and wounded warriors in veterans hospitals and who are developing new prosthetic devices to help them recover, medical researchers at NIH working to develop cures for cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and autism--all are dedicated federal employees. These are individuals who could find more lucrative jobs in the private sector, but who are committed to public service. Dr. Francis Collins, the physician who mapped the human genome and serves as director of the National Institutes of Health, is a federal employee.

The National Weather Service meteorologist who tracks hurricanes, the SBA staffer who helps a new business start up, the FDA inspector working to stop a salmonella outbreak--all are federal employees.

Though they often receive little praise for the work they do, federal employees provide many of the services that make this nation great. Today I thank them for their hard work and service to our country.

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