FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 23, 2003
October 23, 2003
Enid Doggett
(202) 639-6422
(202) 639-6422
AFGE President Praises Legislative Efforts To Stop Bush Privatization Plans
(WASHINGTON, D.C.)—John Gage, president of AFGE, the nation’s largest union for federal workers today praised Senator Barbara Milkulski (D-MD) and Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) for their efforts to put a stop to changes by the Bush Administration to OMB Circular A-76. The Office of Management Budget has implemented a pro-contractor privatization process.
The Mikulski-Landrieu amendment to the Transportation-Treasury Appropriation Bill would have put a halt to that but failed by just one vote in the Senate. The same amendment passed the House of Representatives on September 9th by a vote of 220-198.
“While we certainly can’t declare victory we feel that members of Congress are getting a deeper sense as to how privatization impacts their constituents. We applaud Senator Milkulski and Senator Landrieu for trying to reform a process which we think is vulnerable to politics and corruption and for attempting to maintain a system for government agencies that protects the interests of the American people,” said Gage.
The American Federation of Government Employees represents some 600,000 government workers.
“Contracting out government services to privately owned companies seriously undermines and threatens the effective delivery of a wide range of programs within the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration,” said Gage. “There is not one shred of evidence that contracting out saves taxpayer money,” he added.
The Mikulski-Landrieu amendment to the Transportation-Treasury Appropriation Bill would have put a halt to that but failed by just one vote in the Senate. The same amendment passed the House of Representatives on September 9th by a vote of 220-198.
“While we certainly can’t declare victory we feel that members of Congress are getting a deeper sense as to how privatization impacts their constituents. We applaud Senator Milkulski and Senator Landrieu for trying to reform a process which we think is vulnerable to politics and corruption and for attempting to maintain a system for government agencies that protects the interests of the American people,” said Gage.
The American Federation of Government Employees represents some 600,000 government workers.
“Contracting out government services to privately owned companies seriously undermines and threatens the effective delivery of a wide range of programs within the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration,” said Gage. “There is not one shred of evidence that contracting out saves taxpayer money,” he added.
###
For the latest AFGE news and information, visit the AFGE Media Center.
Follow us on:
