Speeches & Testimony

"Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to address the House for one minute.

I rise today to introduce my bill, which would ensure all federal employees are treated fairly and are reimbursed in a timely manner for travel expenses during a shutdown.

Good government includes ensuring that during shutdowns, essential services are still performed. Thus, during the last government shutdown, federal employees, including TSA personnel in Hawai‘i, continued to make official trips in support of their important security-related duties.

Unfortunately, these employees did not receive formal guidance on how or if they would be reimbursed for the official travel expenses they paid for using their own credit cards. This could have resulted in late payments and penalties, impacted their credit scores, and increased interest rates for both their personal and government cards.

No government employee should be held liable for the government’s expenses during the shutdown. They should not have to pay for government travel on their personal travel cards without knowing when, or if, they will be reimbursed. My legislation would improve government functions by ensuring federal employees do not have to personally take on these liabilities.

Thank you, and I yield back my time. "