Thousands of Virginians who work for the federal government are bearing a disproportionate impact of the furloughs, says Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.).
“It has been 110 days since the Senate worked until five o’clock in the morning to adopt a budget," he said in a Senate floor speech Thursday.
"As a member of this body who has the privilege of representing the Commonwealth of Virginia, I need to reiterate this point for my colleagues: every day that we remain paralyzed by dysfunction, we’re asking our federal employees and their families to absorb most of the impact,” Warner said.
He also said the budget sequester was intentionally designed to be “so stupid that no rational person would choose to go down that path.”
“Across the federal workforce today, many employees now are required to take one day off without pay every week until the end of the fiscal year,” Warner said. “If you think a net 20-percent reduction in salary has no impact, you would be mistaken. I hear from federal workers and their families every day – real people, facing real consequences.”
Warner highlighted the stories of three Virginians experiencing tough financial decisions due to furloughs. Watch the video for his remarks about a Defense Department employee from Fairfax who says she faces a choice “between paying for groceries or paying for childcare.”
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