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Washington, D.C.-The growing consensus among policymakers that the federal government will soon face a "human capital crisis" affecting the delivery of services to taxpayers needs to be accompanied by an equally strong consensus that the pay of federal workers must be made competitive with the private sector, the head of the nation=s largest independent union of federal employees said today.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said the recent estimate by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that over the next 10 years the nation's budget surplus will swell to $5.6 trillion "clearly provides the means" to accomplish this key goal. This estimate is $1 trillion more than the most recent from the CBO.

"What we need now is the will to make the necessary investments in the federal workforce,"she said.

Kelley pointed to recent statements by Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, and U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker, in testimony before the subcommittee, as evidence of the need to move promptly on the growing problem of attracting and retaining a quality federal workforce.

Both said time is of the essence and that multiple steps are needed to deal with a wide range of federal personnel issues-all of which ultimately impact taxpayers' services and programs-including higher pay, a more family-friendly workplace, better and more consistent training, and improved management practices throughout the government.

Kelley noted Walker's emphasis on steps that could be taken without new legislation, and she strongly encouraged Congress to appropriate the funds needed for full implementation of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act (FEPCA).

That bipartisan law was designed to close, in stages over 10 years, the gap between public and private sector pay, but, as implemented, has not served that purpose.

"Without competitive pay and benefits, we clearly cannot hope to attract to public service the kinds of people our nation needs," Kelley said.

"Without sufficient training and tools, without paying enough attention to the needs of employees in their personal as well as professional lives, we clearly cannot hope to retain them in public service."

Kelley said Congress should provide the money to allow agencies to use existing personnel flexibilities, like recruitment and retention bonuses, performance awards, gainsharing programs and more-and for federal agencies to be more aggressive in working with employees and their representatives to put these programs in place and to fully implement them. "Both federal employees and the nation=s taxpayers deserve no less," she said.

NTEU represents some 150,000 employees in 25 agencies and departments.