WASHINGTON – Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement after House passage of the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act (H.R. 3223):
“In past shutdowns, furloughed employees received full pay, and this one should be no different. These folks did not ask for this shutdown, and they shouldn’t miss a paycheck because of it. That’s why I am proud to cosponsor and support the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act and will continue to do all that I can to find a way to open the federal government as quickly as possible.”
H.R. 3223 allows furloughed federal employees to be compensated as soon as the government reopens. Rep. Griffin introduced similar legislation on Thursday that would ensure that both federal and state employees affected by the government shutdown would be made whole.
During Saturday’s session, the House also passed a resolution calling for the continued availability of religious services in the Armed Services. As news reports have detailed, the U.S. Department of Defense has furloughed approximately 50 Catholic chaplains and banned them from ministering to military personnel and families during the shutdown.
