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I welcome approval today by the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee of a 3.9 percent pay raise for federal civilian employees in 2009. This action is an important step in achieving parity in next year’s pay raise for both members of the military and those in the federal civilian workforce. In approving the Defense Authorization bill in May, the House approved a 2009 raise of 3.9 percent for those in the military.

Today’s action by the Financial Services Subcommittee in its markup is well-deserved recognition of the continuing contributions of both groups of federal employees, and of the need for a fair and competitive pay raise to recruit and retain talented, dedicated men and women.

I applaud as well the subcommittee for including in its markup a one-year moratorium on new federal contracting, and language that would limit funding for the unwise and costly use by the Internal Revenue Service of private debt collectors.

Turning over increasing amounts of federal work to unaccountable private contractors is a costly disaster for taxpayers. Steps to rein it in are both welcome and long-overdue. The IRS’s misguided use of private debt collectors is a prime example. That program resulted in a net loss of some $50 million in its first year of operation, is not expected to break even until at least 2010 and has generated a number of violations of taxpayer rights. It needs to be ended, and the subcommittee’s markup is another key step in accomplishing that end in the best interests of taxpayers.