Paid Days Off for Federal Workers
Honoring a Port Washington WWII Hero
Proud to announce I'm introducing legislation to rename the post office in Port Washington after World War II veteran Joe Demler. He worked there nearly four decades after surviving a Nazi POW camp.
Joe Demler served courageously in the Battle of the Bulge where he was captured and then survived the horrors of a Nazi prisoner of war camp. Throughout his life he truly lived by his motto "every day is a bonus" and proudly shared his story of service through the Honor Flight organization he helped start. Joe is an American hero and I am proud to introduce this bill in his honor.
Read more about the effort in the Ozaukee News Graphic.
New HCQ Study Shows Death Rate Cut Significantly
Standing Up for the Taxpayer
Federal employees already are given 10 paid holidays a year, and the Senate was on track to approve, without discussion, debate or even a recorded vote, the addition of Juneteenth Day as an 11th paid holiday. The cost to taxpayers of an added federal holiday has been estimated at approximately $600 million.
I laud the value of commemorating the emancipation of slaves, but object to the carelessness of adding hundreds of millions of dollars a year to the existing $26.2 trillion federal debt.
Instead of eliminating a current holiday to make room for Juneteenth Day, I will be proposing to reduce the number of paid leave days federal employees receive, to offset the cost of the new holiday celebrating emancipation.
Listen to my interview with Jay Weberfor more on this issue.
Axios Virtual Event
I joined Axios for a virtual event on small business recovery during the pandemic.
While not being critical of leaders making tough decisions with imperfect information, I've always been concerned with the approach we've taken on this. We should've focused on the nonessential businesses that really represented a significant risk for out of control spread of the virus and shut down those businesses while providing them with economic support. That may have been more effective than the generalized shutdowns.
Watch the entire interview here. As a bonus, hear the business advice I gave my daughters.
