(Above: Rep. Mo Brooks speaks on the floor on the U.S. House of Representatives Oct. 3, 2013)
WASHINGTON – Just moments before the U.S. government shutdown on Monday, Congress passed a bill that was signed into law by President Barack Obama ensuring members of the military are paid despite the government being shut down.
Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, says that the Obama Administration may now be in violation of at least a portion of that law, known as the “Pay Our Military Act.”
On Thursday morning, Brooks took to the floor of the U.S. House and argued that Obama is ignoring the part of the law that requires Department of Defense personnel be paid, even during the government shutdown.
“While President Obama is following part of the law by not furloughing men and women in uniform, he ignores the part of the law that eliminates furloughs for Department of Defense civilian personnel and requires continued payment of defense contractors who provide ‘support to members of the Armed Services,’” Brooks said.
Brooks joined 63 of his colleagues in signing a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that stated, “The language outlined in H.R. 3210 purposefully exempts Department of Defense and U.S. Coast Guard employees supporting the Armed Forces. Since all DoD and U.S. Coast Guard civilian employees serve to support the uniformed services, all of these civilian employees should be returned to work without further delay.”
Brooks, whose district includes the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal, accused the president of violating the law by not paying these contractors and civilian employees for “partisan political gain.”
“The law does not limit the broad meaning of the term ‘support’ in any way,” Brooks said. “Any contractor or civilian DoD worker who supports our Armed Forces in any way is, by law, exempt from the government shutdown and should return to work. In choosing to furlough civilian defense personnel, President Obama has willingly degraded our national defense, violated clear law, and done so purely for partisan political gain.”
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