may we get lucky and out of the come back if not we'll have to come back and take a recess when the votes are called ok i like to call the committee to order for the information of the members for any bill's report in the house today's meeting i will file committee's report when we return the september and there will be plenty of time during the recess to be poor any individual views members may wish to to submit the first item on the agenda is h r six three three nine the federal employees deserve to volunteer alexion act of two thousand and eight or  committee on oversight and government reform as a primary committee with an additional referral to us to consider a provision laden today she would without objection i'd like to submit several letters in support of the bill for the record at this point in the objection i will submit them and i like to recognize mr lawson for an opening statement thank you chairman and first let me offer my apologies to the members of the committee both mr langford and i were in a markup in the judiciary committee that went longer than we thought it's in fact still going on so that is what made us tardy and i do apologize for that the bill as proposed would entitle a federal employee to receive administrative leave for up to six days a year to serve as a poll worker for a state or local government on election day and to receive any mandatory training that is permitted the office of personnel management in the bill with setting the regulations as we know poll workers are very sick all judges both workers precinct officials board workers and of course poll workers and the person in charge of the polling place on election can be called a precinct captain chief judge provider or providing judge to name just a few consistent with the a c s manual on poll worker recruiting training and retention legislation uses the term poll worker to refer to all workers in a polling place  provides grants to states for recruiting and training poll workers using the manual on successful practices for poll worker recruiting training and retention the grants are not used to pay poll workers but to train and recruit them and it requires to report to the e c and the ac to report to the congress on the grant program it authorizes seventy five million dollars for the grant and it also exempt from the paper paperwork reduction act which will make it easier for the agency to request information from the public by not requiring approval from the office of management and budget first as we know this has received support from a variety of of sectors and you've already added  letters of support into the record i would note that federal employees are permitted to use administrative leave for example jury duty this would simply allow and another reason to use administrat leave it's not a new benefit it's just a new way to use an existing benefit we know that we have a shortage in this country of poll workers we've had hearings on this and i think we all share in the desire to make sure that we have enough volunteers on election day so that we have a smooth election this is one way to help but the federal employees we know are literate and responsible and would conform to section three because some states organize very different way than california does we need to make sure that there is training in all report in all cases so i will do that at the appropriate time and i thank a jury duty i mean in california for example there's a small stipend for a job or we don't take it away from the employee but it's it's like using your administrative leave in a different way as if you were called to jury duty civic duty as a limited to nonpartizan poll workers because in some states they are part of the workers and they all need to be trained and pursuant to state law this would not impose a new mandate on states that would recognize that states organize in different ways states should not be required if they if they have partisan workers california does not have to have two sets of trainings we should allow them to do one set of training and then we should  poll workers of a political affiliation i would want to report from them on on them as well as the nonpartizan it's really over you know i'm so in favor of california's nonpartizan approach sometimes i forget that not every state does it in the same way but we need to defer to those states that do it differently and allow them to do the training as they do in their in their state not that it's a simple i'm a good woman you certainly we also first to dealing with the paperwork exemption for exemption from the paperwork reduction act as i said earlier i think it would be appropriate to have a trial period where you have an exemption amendment i rise in opposition to the amendment and maybe there's a way to find some common ground here mr taylor's here's the concern the paperwork reduction act actually creates a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy and we want this to be moved i understand that because it's a departure there's an interest in not making a permanent change here's my concern that if we do this the e s c as we know has not as had problems organizationally and they're going to have to change some things administratively i'd hate to have and do that for one year and then have to redo it but i do understand your desire to have kind of a test period and see how this works  i wonder if we were to limit this say for four years and get a report that would allow for a test at least to elections to see how it worked and for us to make changes if necessary but it wouldn't require them to redo their process you know in a twelve month time period we didn't have a chance to talk about that privately so maybe it's not fair to toss it out you but i just struck me as i was listening to your discussion  for going to bergen heroes for just one year or one year is the problem i mean by the time they finish it'll be all over again so that's the concern and if we could you know i've pulled four years out suggest that we defeat the m m a but we took a talk further about this between now and the floor and finally reach an agreement based on the election schedule which i'm just sort of ad hoc in here with the hope and intention think this is something we should be able to work as long as we end up with two years we will well with an intention to agree but we'll have to see if we agree ok i will not allow payment for jury duty therefore it wouldn't allow payment for full working i don't see that anywhere as i look at the law are you saying that that is something that can be done by virtue of regulation by the office of personnel management is provided and the rule on the use of administrative leave i'm told would be the same for this other civic pursuant to regulation by the office of personnel management and i would hope that in committee report we would urge that i think that a good suggestion the second thing in your presentation you said this adds nothing in terms i believe you said adds nothing in terms of additional cost to the federal government because we're just adding another basis upon which people can use administr leave but as i read it this is ministry of leave up to and including sixty days a year without loss or reduction in pay leave to which some was otherwise entitled so as i understand it this does add an additional potential six days of ministry believe the does not currently exist not correct purpose it's not an additional cost to it's an additional reduction in service as centrally because what these are salary didn't vigils and your understanding correct but i would argue that if you have people are not working for six days for your job you probably have to take it up somewhere else if i've got an employer doesn't matter where they shop for six days or not that employer doesn't need to be there in most cases they do need to be there and have to have someone to take up the slack so i just want to  do make it clear that this is not without some expense to the federal government when you're adding six additional days as i understand it now they would be from using six days administr recruiting two million poll workers for this november and i'm feeling i think we all do a sense of urgency that we're as a nation going to be able to respond to this incredible training as well as actual service workers are correct savings to the house it offers raises the c e o to enter the contract consistent with current house administration were regulations and requires a report to be submitted to the house administration an appropriations committee analyzing the project and the extent that it reduced energy consumption and promoted energy efficiency and cost savings to the house it authorizes five million for each of the fiscal years two thousand and nine and two thousand hand to carry out the projects until expanded for a ten million dollars over two years it is limited in scope it's to help the house determine which technologies are best suited to its needs not only with this further prove our commitment to environmentally sustainable practices but it could also lower the cost of house operations a significant savings for taxpayers on april twenty eighth two thousand and eight i hosted a panel discussion and meeting with silicon valley industry leaders titled how going green saves money jobs and improve lives at the tech museum of in his vacation in santa fe at the panel discussion the private sector and the public sector share the steps that they're taking to reduce their carbon footprint by creating new use energy more efficiently and generate power and more sustainable ways the benefits of going green are not limited to improving the environment companies have also improved efficiency and lower cost applied materials one of a a company i'm very proud of in our community estimates that by installing solar panels it will create nine hundred jobs adobe systems which has just shy of a million square feet in downtown san jose installed twenty three thousand sensors on their office towers and was able to monitor and in control of electricity consumption the sensors paid for themselves in a week's time for adobe and the entire move that adobe made to get the highest rating of energy efficiency paid for itself in eighteen months so there is tremendous opportunity in the retrofitting of buildings with the use of new technology to save a tremendous amount of energy and therefore to save a tremendous amount of money adobe also made the switch to nontoxic cleaning products would save them money and kept their cleaning crew healthier and also spared adobe employees from harmful effects of being exposed to noxious tombs at our request or chief administrative officer dan beard attended the discussion because silicon valley is ground zero on what's happening on the pivot of technology to a green economy and with the cooperation of his office i believe that these straightforward innovative recommendations that we made as a as a product of the report the report that we have would help in the sustainable operations for the house community i am proud to say that this is a bipartisan measure and it's also a measure that has attracted the support of not only the authorizes but the appropriators something that isn't always the case i was happy that mr wop of tennessee he was eager to work on this with me i have been made aware only this morning and i don't know the details and i hope it will not be part of the discussion today because that's a personnel issue not a policy issue that there is something about the individual who currently holds the position but this is a policy issue on whether we can allow innovation to occur in a rapid manner that i think and hope we can all support him with that i would thank the chairman for his introduction and article which appears to have been planted which questions my green card credentials i've been conserving energy for over thirty years i'm a physicist i know a lot about energy and i've applied  of my heating bill every year because of the work that i do it and if you live in michigan that's substantial that's about a four hundred dollars saving every year certainly we're doing a drive a do this we have a ready by law in this house and senate charged the architect of the it was very stringent requirements that he has to meet with regard to energy efficiency  requirements he has worked very hard on those he has made considerable progress with the publicity of press releases and perhaps we should publicize what he was done at the very least we could ask him appear before this committee five million dollars to ten million dollars each year for the next two years this is a very important issue i support and there is an immense amount we can do a run around the capital and particularly the house to conserve energy  if i take my own office for example currently it's operating right between seventy degrees and seventy one degrees i see no reason in the world to keep cool i have it turned to the maximum high temperature that i can with the air conditioner in my office drives me crazy i'd be happy to work in an office seventy four seventy five maybe even seventy six degrees just think how much energy would save and then multiply that by all the offices around here in saving energy and his office and i have a suggestion we could save manner g in this room if we would turn the air conditioning up i mean this is the coldest room in the capital i can understand why it's this cold so that's a suggestion that we can all deceased is tasked with the green the capital program not the architect and the architect is only putting in meters i mean they're not really they're not aggressive on this  they it took a letter from the speaker in the language of the december zero seven energy bill to get them off the stick to start putting in meters the department of energy estimated it could be done for under a million dollars in three months but the architect wants to take a year and spend over three million dollars and we need a quicker more aggressive pilot project to see what can happen i will note that when we checked with the private sector and we sent a report on this for reform we had in in silicon valley that you can do this stuff quite promptly and save a lot of money and this was we had mr london's constituent the marquee when power participated and the the ability to move quickly is what this bill is all  about when adobe put in their sensors i mean it was massive it was quick and it paid for itself in a weeks and and we can't wait for a pilot project to take a year i've just unnecessary and we will find out because mr watt suggested this and i thought and i incorporated his request that we will get reports both to the appropriations subcommittee and to this committee on how these pilots are working so that we'll be able to monitor our success or if we're not meeting with success and i think that that is something i look forward to we know that we have an energy we all know that we have an energy challenge in this country but the quickest it is conservation what has been done on the private sector is astonishing and what is going to be doable in the even the next six months and so i want us to be part commendable before we run off half cocked and say we're going to do it somewhere a different way with different people least we should know what the architect is doing and what he has accomplished already just bring him before the committee or just having an informal meeting with interested committee meetings committee members try to work out find out from him what he has done what remains to be done how we could speed it up what role  paying seven hundred thousand dollars just to develop a plan for the lighting of the dome it's called the greening of the dome when the annual electricity bill for the thirteen thousand five hundred or something why would we spend seven hundred thousand i just don't think it makes sense to have two different entities working on the same problem using money without any coordination without having them work closely together and  the united states the federal government beyond the house of representatives are both a tremendous opportunity to clear responsibility to lead by example with smart energy management from california has suggested and while the government has made some considerable progress in proving its use of energy even here at the capital much more remains to be done all you have to do is walk by and see all the lights that are left motion switches rather than  manual switches we could probably save a considerable amount in the house of representatives without having to do a study on it in general i like the concept of this resolution because it is pushing the envelope to pursue cleaner and renewable energy inefficient rather i think it is important for us to try and do everything we can to increase energy savings and production environmentally friendly and stewardship minded fashion and i have worked with the gen lady on a number of issues including a couple of them coming up later today but i'm not sure going support this measure without the my concern is that it provides very broad authority that does not specifically state what projects will be executed nor require any coordination with the architect of the capitol we must be reminded our facility manager does not provide a return on investment standard plus it might conflict with the architect's ongoing contractual planning effort i know the architect of capital has an overall campus master plan along with numerous low hanging fruit energy projects sitting on the shelf ready to execute with known returns on investment in energy savings which would make a significant difference they also have an ongoing energy saving performance contract several in the works i would hope that this legislation coordinates with that rather than interfere with that i've done numerous telephone town halls in the last couple of months and one of the biggest complaints i hear from my constituents is we're not doing enough to resolve america's energy issues you know this bill is in some ways a baby step in the right direction but i think folks want to be transformational here i looked it up and found that the federal government will spend at least two billion dollars over the next ten years on energy expenditures for electricity natural gas coal and oil for more than one hundred twenty large facilities including at least two major utility plants in our nation's capital just here federal buildings two billion dollars and we've had some discussions with the executive branch g s a and others and wondered if it would make sense for us to try and get together with the power plants we have with the rest of the federal establishment and see if we can conserve energy make it more efficient build some redundancy in the system i also found that it's extremely difficult for our branch to be talking to the executive branch or even the executive branches various departments to be talking with one another and we are wasting a tremendous amount of energy as a result of that so i would ask the chairman might we consider hearing  that would broaden it a little bit such that we could entertain some suggestions from the department of energy from others to see if we might be able to have some compatibility and maybe some  take this problem seriously as a government as a nation and it's crucial it's crucial not gas prices bring it home that we do not have an infinite supply of energy we have to develop new sources introduced is for short term pilot projects done quickly to show us how we can get substantial savings in energy in a quick time period and although i sure that the motivation of the gentleman amendment is the very best i believe that the additional requirements would simply slow down progress on this and really prevent the success that mr want i hope would be the product  no three in the the bill without objection passes a motion will be considered chairman there may be an opportunity at some point i'm not sure that within the session because things are running down but i certainly would be delighted to listen to both the architect and together talk about their what they've done i think they are coordinating and so it would be good to just hear some of the that interplay as well i think that would be a concern of making our mark on that we will do that will do it as soon as possible do not think we can get that done before friday  i love it here i love my hot office yes but we will try to get that done and i will work to get that done before we do break you know for november break the committee not take it recharges six four seven five myself in congress and longer and it provides for congressional clerks to serve in various offices of the house and in senate when legislation was introduced last year by mr ludden grin and it has the support of many of the nation top law schools i would note that clerks are selected for the other branches of government and these are prestigious posts where the top graduates of law schools across the country aspire to serve the house has not had the equivalent clerkship these clerks would be chosen from a pool of law school graduates who possess excellent academic records and who have demonstrated a commitment to public service and a strong interest in policy it creates a selection committee comprised of the senate committee on rules and administration and the committee on house administration to select no more than six congressional service employees for a one year period in their respective chambers clerks will be compensated as at the same rate as judicial clerks in the u s district court for d c as you may know many law school graduates top law school graduates begin their legal career as long clerks and these law clerks go on to leaders of their profession in private practice or later serving as judges or as law professors the daniel webster congressional purchase program will do a lot we believe to improve understanding in and appreciation of the legislative process within the legal profession and in the country as a whole by providing leaders of the legal profession their first formative experience in congress and given that clerks in the judicial branch often go on to become judges themselves i think it's particularly important there be an appreciation for the legislative branch for high quality clerkships and at this i don't know whether mr longer would like its own time i'd be happy to yield to him for his comment w probably two years ago his name is larry kramer a great respect for the judiciary and judges he also has tremendous respect for the legislative branch and so these are his words clerk a trial or appellate judge provides young lawyers with an invaluable insider's understanding of the judicial decision making process not surprisingly clerkship leave young lawyers with a highly court centered view of the law and the legal system precisely because these are the top law school graduates former law clerks go on disproportionately to assume leadership positions in the bar and in the profession explaining in part why the legal profession in this country is so heavily tilted towards the courts and what he was trying to convey as one of the outstanding last was the united states was that it is frustrating to him to see that lean towards the courts and not a proper balance to the other branches of government particularly legislative branch not to any animists on the part of these individuals with because of their experience and his thought was if we had a comparable experience in the legislative branch to which top graduates of our law schools would aspire that would help introduce a different experience for some of these outstanding young people and he thought over time would have would result in a greater respect for for the work that we do i'm reminded of a conversation  of a member of the united states supreme court some years ago when in a discussion on an issue that the court decided to take our individual after the court and decided said well why did you decide that way congress clearly intended something else and the response of this member of the supreme court was well congress never considered that to which this person studied the issue said well yes they did as a matter of fact there was colloquy on the floor of the house about that very issue to which this member the supreme court said oh that doesn't matter they don't write their own stuff anyway now that is maybe  example but it evidences a lack of appreciation for the work that we do and this is just a small thing that we can do that i think may begin to address no fewer than twelve per congress would be selected to serve in the offices of various committee chairs and ranking members highly competitive it would be bipartisan to be in the senate and the house the number of congressional curtis on the house assigned the house offices of the house would not be less than the numbers assigned to the senate the number assigned to the house and senate office i feel a with a majority party should be equal to the number assigned to office as a failure with the minority party so we're trying to make it as bipartisan as possible so i hope there would be unanimous support of this i wish i was pleased that the dean of the law school would come to me with this suggestion recognizing the lack of appreciation for the work done in the school has been a great advocate as my colleague has described but he's not the only advocate that this is really received support from top law schools across the country and i think it's really a way in that mr lingard is correct over time embodied within the bill is named after charles meehan who was the first law librarian at the library of congress the law library of congress maintains a unit unique in actually world renowned collection and this bill will ensure that the law library will have the resources needed to maintain and expand its collection while at the same time modernizing its systems the act includes three point five million dollars for maintaining and administering the operations of the law library including the cataloguing of the collections of the law library which unfortunately is way behind and therefore not highly usable at the moment the provision includes language which allows to the extent practicable efforts to catalog an archive nonproprietary proprietary material in the collections electronically in a nonproprietary and nondiscriminatory format to ensure the widest use you know it also provides a line line item for the law library to ensure the autonomy and ability to improve the law library i would note also that we have worked very closely with the american bar association and other  legal groups who want to help maintain this law library and it is their judgment that when they go out to try and to listen private funds for the support of the law library that having a line item is going to be actually crucial for them in in whether or not they succeed the creation of this program will provide enhanced or special services for the law library and the library and will carry out the program through agreements and partnerships entered into with other government and private entities and as i mentioned the american association of law libraries or perhaps i didn't mention them is joining with the american bar association in the effort to provide funds both donations of money and also in kind contributions in support of the program it requires an annual report and it authorizes to be appropriated for the program an amount equal to forty percent of the amount of the donations accepted by the library of congress trust fund in support of the progress of sixty forty private parts public split the law library really isn't in very valuable resource both to the congress and the nation and i think we have an obligation to future generations to provide for its continuation through the establishment of the charles h w meehan program as i mentioned  not only does it have the a b a and the merits association law libraries and support but probably because of mr along going to myself the northern california association of law libraries is taken a bold step forward in support of the well i do believe that this some have wondered well why should we have a law library but it has a unique collection that's really unavailable anywhere else in the united states or in some cases the world so it's been neglected and you for your leadership on this issue i agree with you the law library at the library of congress ought to be the premier law library in the nation because it has the capacity of getting international legal journals as well as those from around the country unfortunately in the last ten to fifteen years i fear that the budget restraints have caused the library to have to make some very tough choices libraries had to cancel subscriptions and refrain from acquiring important legal materials in order to stay within quickly giving the law library a separate line item in the library of congress budget will allow the law library to have better control over its collection and be directly accountable to the congress in addition and this is important and i would just like to underscore what the gentle lady said it allows a mechanism for the library to receive private donations to help with keeping its collection up to date and we have every reason to believe from those who testified before  precedent for other elements of the library of congress spinning off or doing their own thing that is not my purpose i would not support that and i want to make that very clear claiming my time i want to make clear that i agree with that this is  intended to be the first of many line items or changes in the structure this is a unique situation and i concur that i would i would not be interested in pursuing additional alterations and  and the general even california's recognize this is a technical amendment we're not really building anything we're maintaining and administering we want to clarify that and correct the jurisdiction wish us well any further discussion is not without objection the members agreed to any further amendments rather than going through all the talking points and whatever i have called for the vote on the amendment with the gentleman just summarize the objections question because it was plain to me that the genesis of this amendment was the experience we had and have with some of the oral histories dealing with veterans where we had some people making claims they were medal of honor winners and and so forth and practicable i mean i believe that's the only purpose for his amendment as i understood it not to require people to relive their histories or to put them through third degree investigation but rather to try and any further amendments i like to call it like they called a meeting on house administration back to water and the next item on the agenda is h r six six two five the vast majority support act like the recognize myself for a brief statement i am probably sponsored  well as voting i work with election officials to ensure proper delivery of voting materials the bill also provides the secretary of veterans affairs from preventing nonpartisan organizations and election of first isn't providing veterans with voting information at v a facilities are veterans that dedicated their lives to protect our country and many have been seriously wounded doing so they deserve every opportunity to participate in the political process recent policy decisions by the v a that intervene that interfere with veterans registrations of shipley an lives for our freedom an opportunity to register to vote and make their voices heard and i do wish that we had had the opportunity to have a full hearing on this bill rather than having it introduced yesterday then marking it up today this is an important issue and i would have preferred that we received testimony from the relevant parties on both sides as to the potential impact of this bill before we vote on whether or not to move forward in particular one of the main concerns with see a veteran who wishes to convalesce and the private be intruded upon by activist from the voter registration group however well intentioned they may be i would us that way more either more clearly defined the boundaries that are chairman if i may just make a brief comment in thanks for your bill and in support of the bill i think that it was in my county that at least so far as i'm aware this first came to a head when volunteers attempted to register veterans at the palo alto v a hospital and were turned away those volunteers  sued the veterans administration in as your letters indicate the veterans groups support what you're doing here so i appreciate that if we succeed here we will avoid the need for litigation to resolve it and we will as voter registration agencies to make available absentee ballot request although we question the propriety of imposing on v a facilities additional burdens beyond those required other enfranchise many of our nation's veterans and where appropriate absentee voting accordingly we believe that those who are eligible to vote absentee under the laws of their state should be offered absentee ballot information chairman i think that although i don't doubt the good intentions of the amendment that the that the amendment would weaken a very good bill i think that our veterans have risked life and limb to protect our freedom and the right to vote and especially soldiers who returned home impaired because of injury should have whatever help is  require assistance agencies while we don't know if the v a is included actively go out and recruit voters i think if whether or not i can do this from memory they are included we're getting tangled up in the language here can come in simply because of their other direct they were already put out that says that they cannot without having any conversation with any one of us and that's the purpose of this bill and again i just think it cuts the cord and i think it also cuts the ability and the right of our t and the goal here is to protect the well being of our veterans we are concerned by the stark differences between other voter registration agencies such as public welfare agencies on the one hand and v our intent is not our intent is not to bother or to cause any kind of further hardship on these men and women but to just allow them of their rights and i would have sure that nobody would commit to someone who would imagine how you would try outpatient that would have the opportunity to comment to the veterans administration for any type of medical procedures any type of medical updates any type of prescriptions whatever they could probably even hopefully would be able to have their appointments at the same day when they can make it to one top one stop shop when they know there's registration being held where they can have the opportunity to make it easier for them just because their operations i don't want to i don't want to discriminate against them for not having the opportunity again to afford the three point five million will be used to the design the project f y two zero zero nine and also has been approved in the house interior appropriations bill construction is then expected to cost seven thirty seven point five million over the f with our country engaged in mismanaged manga edged wars without in some reservists or national guard members are now being deployed for the second or third time when they are called up these men and women leave their homes families and jobs off the for an undetermined and unpredictable amount of help our armed forces in any way we can and we have an opportunity to do so with our own house staff and we can set an example for the nation by doing so with the rest of my statement for the record or to save it would offer members just a few options not that the requirement of receiving their pay stubs electronically not only will simplify pay records for members of staff or reduce paper waste and support the speaker's green capital initiative and i recognize the state thank you mr chairman i fully support this bill and i think it and choose a number of goals as i'm sure everyone does virtually all my personal banking and financial workers done online and enter code and change your number deductions reduce or increase whatever and we're just adding three different things in other words to make it an even better bill i thank the provide valuable service to many members but there are a few individuals who might be tempted to take advantage of the system previously as your employees were found to have been engaged in criminal activity the current largely unread regulated shared employer's structure to their advantage their actions that unfortunately make these reforms necessary but implementing the financial disclosure statement filing requirement for those individuals who are currently employed by more than three offices we will be increasing transparency into a key group of individuals that pose the greatest financial risk in addition the shared employer reports that will be provided by the cia as well as the regulation which stipulates that existing house may not contract to other offices will ensure that the house safeguarded against those with criminal intent mr chairman as you know we've got a problem with the past year and in fact any statement like to make mr chairman something that's very important to our employers the price of most goods and services has risen over the years and so too is a price of education more and more young people pay their own way through school and also are faced with substantial student loans once they graduate i am pleased that student loan repayment program is proving to be successful and that we have been able to alleviate some of the financial burden associated with higher education as a former educator myself i know the value of education far outweighs the cost of attendance in the public's interest that we find creative ways to enable bright young people to embark on careers in the legislat branch with limited in what financial incentives we can offer those who are considering a career in public service increasing the disbursement cap for the student loan reimbursement program is an excellent way to encourage recent