Senate Panel’s Views

Similarly, in a companion document, the Senate committee’s chair, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, wrote that “providing equitable pay raises for federal employees is not just an issue of fairness. It is also critical to the recruitment and retention of talented individuals to public service, and therefore, to the successful administration of important federal programs. The committee will continue to support equal adjustments in the compensation of members of the uniformed services and of federal civilian employees.” She noted that pay parity has been the policy in 17 of the last 19 years. In a separate letter, ranking committee Democrat Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut wrote that “adequate civilian pay is essential not only for fairness, but also for effective human capital management. A deficient pay raise would undermine morale at a time when the government faces critical needs to recruit and retain the highly skilled workforce needed to meet increased national security responsibilities and other essential needs.”