Provisions by Kilmer to Address Problems Caused by Across-the-Board Cuts and Furloughs Included in Defense Bill
Three provisions authored by Representative Derek Kilmer were included in the 2014 Defense Department Appropriations bill, which sets funding for the Department of Defense. The bill passed in the House of Representatives today. Kilmer, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, successfully fought for provisions to help address problems caused by sequestration and the resulting furloughs.
Representative Kilmer said, “This bill addresses some of the local impacts of these mindless across-the-board cuts and the resulting furloughs and will help improve the financial health of our community. I’ve met with civilian employees of the Department of Defense in our region and heard their concerns. While I believe we need to end the across-the-board cuts, this bill will bring some relief to these workers and our community – prohibiting furloughs in the short term and protecting these workers’ security clearances in the long term.
“In addition to the positive impacts these provisions will have on our community, the bill also provides important funding for our troops, for their families, and provisions to fully fund efforts to end sexual assault in our Armed Services.
“For all the good policy in this bill, I am still disappointed it still doesn’t undo the across-the-board cuts or put us on a path to replace them with a balanced, bipartisan, long-term budget. I’ll continue to call on both parties in Congress to come together and work on a long-term plan to stop the across-the-board cuts once and for all”
Provisions authored by Representative Kilmer include:
Prohibiting Furloughs of Civilian Employees Funded Through Defense Working Capital Funds
Representative Kilmer previously wrote a letter to Department of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel expressing his concern over legal and economic justifications for imposing furloughs on civilian workers at entities funded through Defense Working Capital Funds. These furloughs undermine military readiness, will not yield direct savings and may, in fact, cost the Department of Defense and taxpayers additional dollars. Additionally, Representative Kilmer believes these indirectly-funded employees are specifically exempted by law from sequestration. Kilmer’s provision would prohibit these furloughs in the next fiscal year. The amendment, which Kilmer cosponsored with Republican Representative Tom Cole was accepted and is part of the bill.
Gerry Austin, Chief Steward of IAM&AW Keyport Professionals, said “Even though it's been three weeks since the furlough has been implemented, and many of our other complaints have been unsuccessful, hearing that we've got Derek and the House behind us gives us a great deal of optimism as we move forward."
Security Clearance Protection for Furloughed Workers
The idea for this provision came from meetings Representative Kilmer held with local civilian employees of the Department of Defense. The department grants security clearances to employees who are charged with doing critical and sensitive work. Civilian employees may be in danger of losing security clearances if financial hardships from being furloughed results in financial delinquencies. Representative Kilmer’s provision would prevent sequestration-related furloughs and any financial hardship that come from sequestration from affecting workers’ security clearances. This was accepted and is part of the bill.
“People shouldn’t permanently lose their jobs because Congress can’t do its job,” said Representative Derek Kilmer. “It would be unfair to them and damaging to our military readiness if these workers were forced to leave the federal workforce because of financial hardship caused by sequestration.”
Ensuring Soldiers Get the Protections They’ve Earned
The Defense Manpower Data Center (DMCD) is the Department of Defense’s data system financial institutions consult in order to validate servicemembers’ deployment. The system is used so servicemembers can receive the benefits and protections they’ve earned under the Service Members Civil Relief Act. Representative Kilmer has heard from servicemembers and stakeholders that the DMDC is riddled with inaccuracies with little-to-no quality assurance. Kilmer’s provision encourages a study to improve the accuracy of the DMDC. This was accepted and is part of the bill.
In addition to these provisions, Representative Kilmer strongly supports other provisions in the 2014 Defense Appropriations Bill including strengthening efforts to eliminate sexual assault within the Armed Services and a pay increase for servicemembers in acknowledgement of their sacrifice and as part of an overall retention strategy.