- A congressman since 2008, Gerry Connolly has been a fighter for the federal workforce
- Along with introducing the FAIR act every year, there are numerous bills he has sponsored or co-sponsored that support the benefits and rights of federal employees, the military, and veterans.
To paraphrase the founder of Serving Those Who Serve, Dan Sipe, ‘We don’t see red or blue, the only color we see is Fed.” And one man in Congress sticks out in recent history as a prominent warrior in the trenches, fighting for feds:
Representative Gerry Connolly
Gerald “Gerry” Connolly represents the 11th congressional district of Virginia, an office he has occupied for the past 16 years. He is a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and is chair of the Subcommittee on Government Operations. He also serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which includes two subcommittees he serves regarding the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. He is also responsible for overseeing a few federal agencies, including USPS and the Census Bureau.
In this article, we’ll look at the Congressman’s laudable career as an elected official and examine the numerous ways Gerry has been pulling for the federal workforce throughout his service in Congress.
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Gerry Connolly obtained his master’s degree in public administration from Harvard in 1979 and first served as a public official in 1995, when he was elected the Providence District Supervisor for Fairfax County, Virginia. Eight years later, he was the Chairman for the board of directors for the county. In 2000, he was recognized as an early advocate for teleworking and won a leadership award for the DC, northern Virginia area. In 2008, he won his seat in the US Congress. Since working on Capitol Hill, Gerry Connolly has been recognized for his work supporting veterans and children of active military families during wartime. He’s been a strong advocate for the civilian federal workforce, public school teachers, federal contractors, and IT workers in both public and private sectors. In 2013, he won the “FedScoop” Tech Champion of the Year award and two years later won the Federal Computer Week Eagle Award. He was also named the “Most Effective Lawmaker of the 117th Congress” by the Center of Effective Lawmaking.
Legislation Supporting Federal Employees
Although it has never passed, Connolly has introduced the FAIR Act every year since 2016 – a bill that seeks to give federal employees a substantial annual raise. This is but one of hundreds of bills that Gerry has either introduced, sponsored, or co-sponsored dealing with strengthening and defending federal employees. Here’s a handful of the acts he has backed in the past year or so that demonstrate his consistent record of supporting feds:
- HR 7225: Restore Administrative Law Judges to Competitive Service Act
- HR 6822: National Archives and Records Administration Modernization Act
- HR 5995: Federal Retirement Fairness Act
- HR 5887: Government Service Delivery Improvement Act
- HR 5883: Honoring Civil Servants Killed in the Line of Duty Act
- HR 5832: Keep the Watchdogs Running Act
- HR 5810: FAIR Pay for Federal Contractors Act
- HR 5739: Shutdown Guidance for Financial Institutions Act
- HR 5667: Pay Our Military Act
- HR 5527: Modernizing Government Technology Reform Act
- HR 5492: Veteran Families Health Services Act
- HR 5247: Expedited Hiring for VA Trained Psychiatrist Act
- HR 5171: Federal Employee Pay Compression Relief Act
- HR 5169: Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act
- HR 5037: FAIR Leave Act
Thank you, Gerry Connolly!
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