Commentary: High-quality federal work force benefits us all

By REP. STENY HOYER

Throughout the year, it is customary to show appreciation to those who make a positive difference in our lives - we honor our veterans and active military on Veterans Day and Armed Services Day; we recognize our mothers and fathers on their respective days; and around the holidays, we give thanks to those who deliver our mail, keep us well-coiffed and provide other services on which we rely.

Not to be overlooked are the men and women who serve America as federal, state and local government employees. Public Service Recognition Week - this year May 5 to 11 - is a time to shine the spotlight on the myriad contributions that government workers make and to thank them for their dedication and commitment to improving the quality of life for all Americans.

I am proud to say that I was a leading supporter of the original proclamation declaring Public Service Recognition Week in 1985. Since then, this special week has grown in size and scope. This year, it will be celebrated in all 50 states and in more than 1,400 cities, every event intended to demonstrate the diversity and the high quality of the people who make the public work force in the United States the best in the world.

In order to maintain the caliber of talent that defines our federal work force, it is essential that we continue to make the federal government an attractive employer that can compete with the private sector. Public Service Recognition Week is one way to do that by raising public awareness about the invaluable services provided by federal employees across the country.

Perhaps more important is increasing the government's ability to recruit and retain the best and the brightest for careers in public service. This is why in 1990 I joined a bipartisan group in Congress to pass the Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act. The purpose of this act was, over time, to move federal salaries closer to those in the private sector. The law was designed to close the pay gap by 2002, with a 20 percent adjustment in 1994 and an additional 10 percent each year thereafter.

Since the passage of FEPCA, administrations have consistently ignored it by not fully implementing the recommended salary adjustments, proposing as little as 2.2 percent as President Bush did in his 2006 budget. A competitive and reliable cost structure is necessary to retain a high-quality work force that keeps our air and water clean, our homeland safe and our government functioning. So long as I am in Congress, I will continue to lead the fight to a fair pay adjustment that follows the principle of pay parity.

In addition, I have introduced legislation to increase the government's share of Federal Employees Health Benefits Program premiums. As the cost of health care has risen, the strain on every federal employee's pocket has increased. This bill will help take the bite out of rising health care costs and make it easier for federal employees to afford quality health care for themselves and their families.

Helping federal employees to care for their loved ones is also at the heart of legislation I have sponsored with Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Tom Davis, R-Va., to grant federal employees paid parental leave to care for a new child or a sick relative. This legislation is pending before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

These are just some of the ways we can increase the attractiveness of a career in public service and reward those hard-working individuals who have made invaluable contributions to the growth and prosperity of this nation.

President Lyndon Johnson once said, "So very much of what we are as a nation - and what we are to achieve as a people - depends upon the caliber and character of the federal career people." I couldn't agree more. This Public Service Recognition Week, I thank you for all that you have done and continue to do on behalf of our great nation.

Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is the House majority leader.