Congressional Budget Debate

Under the provisions of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law, the failure by the federal government to enact a revenue and spending package that meets the established federal budget deficit level by the beginning of October will result in automatic spending cuts. These automatic cuts will be so severe and so indiscriminate that it will be necessary to send federal personnel home without pay for an indeterminate number of days.

Speaking on behalf of the 5,000 members of the FBI Agents Assn., I want to make clear what the human cost would be. I also want to point out how unfair it is to identify the costs of running an agency such as the FBI, as a part of federal expenditure problems.

Tremendous cynicism and irreparable damage to morale will be the result of the inescapable message that would come from the temporary dismissals--that the work we do is is ultimately non-essential. The men and women of the FBI are very proud of our record for successful investigation of organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering, political corruption, white-collar crime, including bank fraud and government contracting fraud, terrorism and foreign espionage. We are also very proud of the work our records and laboratory divisions do on behalf of state and local law enforcement efforts.

Aside from the interruption of ongoing investigations, the American taxpayer should understand the FBI is anything but a bloated government agency. The last 10 years have seen a steady erosion in pay and benefits for the FBI. The Administration’s own official figures on federal pay show that the average pay for an agent is 33.94% below that of those with comparable levels of training, education and responsibility who work outside government.

If you agree with us that the war on crime, the war against drugs, the uninterrupted investigation of the savings and loan scandal, and the protection of our country’s security from terrorism should go on unabated, then tell your elected officials so. Give this message to your representatives and the President (the White House Comment Line is 202-456-7639).

LARRY W. LANGBERG

National President, FBI Agents Assn.

Los Angeles