Rep. Hoyer to GOP: Stop picking on federal employees

“They should not be constantly subjected to the kind of verbal attacks and legislative assaults we have seen over the past couple of years and are included in the bills that have passed this House just this past week,” he added.

{mosads}Hoyer said federal workers are just as important to the well-being of Americans as members of the Armed Services, because they help ensure product safety, research and the sound operation of banks, airlines and other companies.

“Those who work in civilian government positions are no less important to our safety, health, prosperity and general well-being as their military counterparts who protect our freedom,” he said. “So many of the public functions we often take for granted are the purview of the hardworking men and women who constitute our federal workforce.”

Hoyer said he supported the 1.6 percent increase in pay for military personnel that the House approved Wednesday as part of the defense authorization bill, and warned that Republicans need to see that other federal workers serve these critical functions, and should not be seen as a budget line item to be trimmed. He said also disputed the notion that federal employees are overpaid, citing a study saying that federal workers are paid 26.3 percent less on average than workers with comparable private-sector workers.

He said if federal salaries look high, it is because the government needs highly skilled people. He said people who complain about high federal salaries are just looking at the salary.

“What they don’t see is the average requirement for skills,” he said.