Hattiesburg, MS – Congressman Steven Palazzo (R-MS) today issued the following statement in response to a Department of Defense announcement stating that furloughs for civilian employees will be reduced from 11 days to 6:
“Six furlough days are still six too many. While this is welcome news for many who have been suffering under the current furlough policy, we must take more permanent actions to provide for those who protect us and who directly support our men and women in uniform. The Defense Appropriations bill the House passed a few weeks ago would protect all civilian Department of Defense personnel in the coming fiscal year. The world is not becoming safer, and the sacrifices our men and women in uniform make are not getting smaller. We must put an end to these devastating and disproportionate defense cuts that threaten our national security.”
Palazzo supported measures in the House FY14 Defense Appropriations bill that would end furloughs for all Department of Defense civilians, including a specific provision Palazzo sponsored addressing dual-status military technicians. The bill also included more than $5 billion in strategic and prioritized reductions from the previous year’s budget and a 1.8 percent military pay raise, an increase over the president’s 1 percent request.
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