[S]OUTH BURLINGTON — Rep. Peter Welch unveiled a “never again” bill Tuesday that would prevent federal employees from being required to work without pay during any current or future government shutdowns.
The Vermont Democrat said the legislation, which he plans to introduce this week, would provide immediate back pay for the “essential” federal employees who have been working without pay since the beginning of the current shutdown.
“In the future, if the president, or if Congress, was going to use shutdown as a tactic, they would have to affirmatively vote not to pay people,” Welch said. “And I can tell you this: that no member of Congress and no president, I would hope, in good conscience could ever impose that burden on workers.”
Welch announced the legislation at Burlington International Airport, where TSA workers, National Weather Service employees and air traffic controllers are entering their fifth consecutive week without pay. They are among the 800,000 workers across the country who will not receive their paychecks until the shutdown has been ended.
“Never in the history of this country, that I can remember, has it been legal to make people work for free, and that’s what’s happening,” Welch said. “I want that to happen never again. … Congress could not, the president could not, use individuals that are showing up for work as hostages to getting their pay.”
The first priority, Welch said, should be reopening the government as soon as possible — something he thinks both Democrats and Republicans could agree on without much difficulty.
He said Congress should pledge to give serious consideration to strengthening border security — including President Trump’s demand for funds to build a wall — but that it should include a committee hearing, debate and and a floor vote, what he calls “regular order.”
“Regular order is simple: You’ve got a point of view, I’ve got a point of view, we debate on it, and then vote on it and we move forward,” Welch said. “But we don’t adopt tactics that do more damage than any good.”
Over the weekend, the president proposed temporary protection for undocumented individuals who were brought to the U.S. as children in exchange for $5.7 billion of funding for border security. That offer was immediately rejected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“I’m not asking the president to back off on his position,” Welch said. “I don’t agree with it, but he’s the president, he’s entitled to it. I am saying: Back off on your shutdown, bring your bill in, and then the legislative process will work, and you’ll be able to hold us accountable for how you’ll vote.”
Welch said he expects broad support on his legislation, especially among his first-year colleagues in the House. He said he couldn’t speak for what’s going to happen in the Senate, but said that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hasn’t been doing nearly enough to help bring an end to the shutdown.
“If McConnell doesn’t want to do his job, and he won’t do his job unless President Trump tells him that this is the way it’s going to be, then we’re stuck. That’s the reality,” Welch said.
“What’s going to happen at a certain point is the folks who are working for free aren’t going to be able to work for free. And then the impact is going to start being felt throughout the economy,” he said. “So there’s a breaking point. We don’t know when it will be, but this is not sustainable. And the sooner we end this, the sooner we’ll make some progress.”
