Statement on Signing the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act of 1994

I am pleased to sign into law H.R. 3345, the "Federal Workforce Restructuring Act of 1994." This Act's incentives will help to accomplish the reduction of Federal employment by about 273,000 by the close of fiscal year 1999.

When the Administration released the report of the National Performance Review last September, we promised the American people that we would create a Government that works better and costs less. We are committed to bringing meaningful change in the way this Government does business and to renewing the faith of citizens around this country in their Government. Enactment of this legislation is an important milestone toward achieving these goals.

This Administration is committed to streamlining Government with as few voluntary incentives as possible. New caps on agency budgets will force agencies to cut employment. Agencies need the cost-effective incentives provided in this bill in order to avoid excessive reductionsin-force that are costly, disruptive, and disproportionately strike younger workers, many of whom are recently hired women and minorities. With the "buyout" authority granted by this legislation, agencies can target employees in unnecessary high level jobs and maximize savings.

Consistent with the clear intent of the Act, I will interpret the term "full-time equivalent positions," used in the legislation to define annual employment ceilings, to mean "full-time equivalent employment."

This Act also will modernize the law governing Federal employee training. It will permit new flexibility in choosing the best and most cost-effective training and place new emphasis on retraining our employees to move into new career fields where their talents are most needed.

After all the rhetoric about cutting the size and cost of Government, our Administration has done the hard work and made the tough choices. I believe the economy will be stronger, and the lives of middle class people will be better, as we drive down the deficit with legislation like this. We can maintain and expand our recovery so long as we keep faith with deficit reduction and sensible, fair policies like this.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

The White House, March 30, 1994.