UPDATED! AFGE SEEKS COSPONSORS FOR BILL OPPOSING MCCAIN CUTS

Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland has drafted a bill that would block arbitrary cuts and caps to the Defense Department's civilian workforce and needs AFGE's help in gathering cosponsors.

Cardin's legislation, which has not yet been introduced, is intended to block language in the Senate's version of the fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that would cut funding for civilian personnel by about 5%. This measure, which was drafted by Sen. John McCain, would result in a loss of between 18,000 and 36,000 positions. This is on top of the more than 10,500 civilan positions already being eliminated this year as part of the Pentagon's cost cutting efforts.

The Cardin bill would reaffirm existing law that prohibits DoD from subjecting the civilian workforce to arbitrary caps and cuts.

AFGE is asking Defense Department union activists to contact their senators and ask them to support the Cardin legislation. If enough cosponsors sign on to the legislation, McCain's amendment could be struck down when the authorization bill comes up for a final vote or could be droped during negotiations with the House, which did not include a similar measure in its version of the bill.

A letter further explaining this issue is below.

Updated: Three additional documents have been added below

1. A letter that Local Presidents can send to their senators.
2. A petition that AFGE members can sign asking their senators to sign on to the Cardin legislation.
3. A phone script that AFGE members can use when calling their senators.

More information on the McCain proposal and similar cuts that would be required under sequestration can be found at the following link: http://www.afgedefcon.com/node/223.

Resource: 

Urge Your Senators to Cosponsor Bill to Kill McCain Cuts.pdf

Cardin Bill Letter.docx

Cardin Bill Petition.docx

Cardin Bill Phone Script.doc