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GOVERNMENT

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HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON

OFFICE AND CIVIL SERVICE

USE. OF REPRESENTATIVES

a EIGHTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON

H.R. 5128

A BILL TO EXTEND THE BENEFITS OF THE CIVIL SERVICE

RETIREMENT AND GROUP LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE

PROGRAMS TO CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE EMPLOYEES, AND FOR

OTHER PURPOSES

NOVEMBER 20, 1963

Printed for the use of the

Committee on Post Office and Civil Service

GOVERNXENT PRINTING OFFICE

23-652 WASHINGTON: 1963
JOE R. POOL, Texas

ALBERT W. WATSON, South Carolina

II

COMMITTEE ON POST OFFICE AND CIVIL SERVICE

TOM MURRAY,

JAMES H. MORRISON, Louisiana

THADDEUS J. DULSKI, New York

DAVID N. HENDERSON, North Carolina

ARNOLD OLSEN, Montana

MORRIS K. UDALL, Arizona

DOMINICK V. DANIELS, New Jersey

LINDLEY BECKWORTH, Texas

HARLEY 0. STAGGERS, West Virginia

ROBERT N. C. NIX, Pennsylvania

JOE R. POOL, Texas

ALBERT W. WATSON, South Carolina

EDWARD R. ROYBAL, California

CHARLES H. WILSON, California

Tennessee, Chairman

ROBERT J. CORBETT, Pennsylvania

H. R. GROSS, Iowa

JOEL T. BROYHILL, Virginia

AUGUST E. JOHANSEN, Michigan

GLENN CUNNINGHAM, Nebraska

GEORGE M. WALLHAUSER, New Jersey

ROBERT R. BARRY, New York

KATHARINE ST. GEORGE, New York

EDWARD J. DERWINSKI, Illinois

ROBERT F. ELLSWORTH, Kanw

HOMER E. ABELE, Ohio

SUBCOMMITTEE APPOINTED To CONSIDER H.R. 5128

LINDLEY BECKWORTH, Texas, Chairman

JOEL T. BROYHILL, Virginia

GEORGE M. WALLHAUSER, New Jersey
CONTENTS

Statement of— Page

Fleischhauer, May 6

Johnson, Doris 5

Johnson, Dorothy 6

Miller, William M., Doorkeeper, House of Representatives 4

Olsen, Hon. Arnold, a Representative in Congress from the State of

Montana 2

nI

RETIREMENT, LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFITS TO CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE EMPLOYEES

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1963

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE

COMMITTEE ON POST OFFICE AND CIVIL SERVICE,

TVashington, D.C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:45 a.m., in room

215, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Lindley Beckworth (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Mr. BECKWORTH. The committee will come to order.

This subcommittee was appointed to consider H.R. 5128, sponsored

by Mr. Olsen, of Montana, to extend the benefits of civil service

retirement and the group life and health insurance programs to certain

employees of the folding room of the House of Representatives. As

I understand this proposal, it will permit temporary employees of the

House folding room to elect to come under the three programs in

the same manner as the permanent force may now elect to have the

benefit of such programs.

(H.R. 5128 follows:)

[H.R. 5128, 88th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To extend the benefits of the civil service retirement and group life and health insurance programs

to certain legislative employees, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of

America in Congress assembled, That (a) section 2(d) of the Civil Service Retirement Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. 2252(d)), is amended by inserting "(other than

temporary employees engaged in the folding of speeches and pamphlets for the

House of Representatives)" immediately following "temporary congressional

employee".

(b) The provisions under the heading "CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY FUND" in title I of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1959 (72

Stat. 1064; Public Law 85-844), shall not apply with respect to benefits resulting

from the enactment of subsection (a) of this section.

SEC. 2. Section 2(a) of the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Act of

1954, as amended (5 U.S.C. 2091(a)), is amended by adding at the end thereof

the following new sentence: "Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this

subsection, temporary employees engaged in the folding of speeches and pamphlets

for the House of Representatives shall be entitled to the benefits of this Act.".

SEC. 3. Section 3(a) of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act of 1959, as

amended (5 U.S.C. 3002(a)), is amended by adding at the end thereof the following

new sentence: "Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subsection,

temporary employees engaged in the folding of speeches and pamphlets for the

House of Representatives shall be entitled to the benefits of this Act.".

This hearing has been scheduled to afford Mr. Olsen an opportunity

to explain his proposal. We also have with us this morning Mr.

William M. Miller, Doorkeeper of the House of Representatives, and

Mr. Bijolas, of the House folding room, who is accompanied by some

1
2 INSURANCE BENEFITS TO CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE EMPLOYEES

of his employees. Also, Mr. Andrew E. Ruddock, Director of the

Bureau of Retirement and Insurance, Civil Service Commission, is

here to answer any questions the members of the subcommittee may

wish to have clarified.

We will now be pleased to hear from Mr. Olsen.

STATEMENT OF HON. ARNOLD OLSEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MONTANA

Mr. OLSEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. At the present time,

permanent employees of the House folding room (1) may elect to be

covered by civil service retirement, (2) may elect to enroll in an

available health benefit program, and (3) are automatically subject

to group life insurance unless they waive such coverage. This is the

same as anybody working here on the Hill. However, as is true

generally with respect to temporary employees

'

temporary employees

of the House folding room are excluded from the operation of these

three employee benefit programs solely because of the indefinite nature

of their employment as temporary employees. My amendment would

permit such temporary employees of the House folding room to elect

to come under the three programs in the same manner as the permanent force may now elect to have the benefits of such programs.

A recent check showed that there were 53 temporary employees in

the House folding room but only 41 permanent employees, because

the number of permanent employees that may be employed in the

House folding room is limited to 42. Some of the temporary employees have been employed continuously in the House folding room

for many years. Three have worked over 17 years as temporary

employees and it is this distinction that prompts me to introduce

this legislation.

Ordinarily, temporary employees are employed for short periods of

less than 1 year, and for this reason have not been included in the

employee benefit bills which are intended primarily to cover only

career employees. However, that reason does not apply in the case

of the temporary employees in the House folding room who are employed continuously year after year. Another major distinction is

that the temporary employees of the folding room do not have social

security because employment in the legislative branch is specifically

excluded from social security coverage.

Mr. Pool, They do not even have any breaks in employment, do

they?

Mr. OLSEN. No.

Mr. Pool,. They go right on through the 12 months?

Mr. OLSEN. Yes. And if there is a holiday, of course, they do not

work, but they do not get paid like other people on the payroll.

Mr. Pool,. Most of them draw a check every month? They do

not have any skips on that?

Mr. OLSEN. No. They are here to explain their individual

situations.

The Civil Service Commission has filed a report with the committee

which offers no objection to my proposal. The Commission advised

that the approximate cost to the Government, if all temporary

employees elected coverage under all three programs, would be $19,500

per year. However, the actual cost will be considerably less than
INSURANCE BENEFITS TO CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE EMPLOYEES 3

$19,500 annually because experience shows that only 60 percent of

the congressional employees elect to be covered under the retirement

and health benefits programs and only 80 percent under life insurance.

Our committee staff, at my request, has met with representatives

of the Civil Service Commission, the House folding room, and the

House Disbursing Office and have worked out all the details necessary,

to carry out this proposal in the event it receives favorable consideration.

Mr. Chairman I believe we have done everything possible to obtain

a workable solution to overcome the problem in connection with the

temporary employees in the House folding room. I urge that this

subcommittee take favorable action on my bill.

Mr. Poor, Can you think of other situations similar to this that

might come up later on?

Mr. OLSEN. I cannot.

Mr. PooL. Have you checked that angle?

Mr. OLSEN. Yes. I have talked it over with the staff, and they

tried hard to think of any similar situations. There is not any,

because there is just not a situation of temporary employees for such

a long period of time. For the most part, these people that are

employed temporarily are employed for only a few days or a few

months, but here are people in a large group who have years and

years of temporary employment. This is a very unusual situation.

Even in the Post Office, where we have a lot of temporary clerks,

they ultimately become permanent employees and get permanent

status.

Mr. PooL. Do you anticipate the Post Office Department coming

in and asking for the same thing?

Mr. OLSEN. No. What I anticipate there—and I have some

knowledge of that situation—is that the employee groups are going

to ask that at the end of a 3-year period or 4-year period they get a

permanent position.

Mr. Pool, What do you have in your bill on that?

Mr. OLSEN. My bill just applies specifically to the folding room.

Mr. PooL. No time limit?

Mr. OLSEN. The regular time limit now in the law would apply.

They would join the system under the same rules as anyone else.

Mr. PooL. If they worked 3 months are they eligible?

Mr. OLSEN. They would be eligible to join, but they would not

be eligible for retirement unless they had 5 years' service, so they

would have to be contributing for the same period as anybody else

in order to get any benefits.

Mr. BECKWORTH. That particular aspect was explored rather

carefully by the subcommittee when it considered some other legislation, and we came to the conclusion that 5 years 

Mr. Pool, The Architect deal?

Mr. BECKWORTH. Yes, after 5 years.

Mr. OLSEN. Just an identical situation to the Architect.

Mr. MARTINY. The 5-year requirement is in the basic law, and the

bill does not change that.

Mr. BECKWORTH. We explored it carefully before. I think Mr.

Broyhill brought it up.

I want to commend the gentleman for his interest in this group

of people and feel that he certainly has made a contribution to equity
4 INSURANCE BENEFITS TO CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE EMPLOYEES

and justice in what he has done. The subcommittee in my judgment

is very interested in trying to see that this group of faithful people

that no doubt bear the real burden of doing this part of the work on

Capitol Hill are treated properly.

Mr. OLSEN. I want to thank this committee for giving me your

very valuable time and consideration.

Mr. BECKWORTH. We have with us our genial friend, Mr. "Fishbait" Miller, and we would be glad to hear from you or any person

you might wish to designate. Sit right up here with us, Mr. Miller,

if you wish.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM M. MILLER, DOORKEEPER, HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. MILLER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for allowing

me to be present this morning to speak in behalf of H.R. 5128, which

was introduced in March of this year by the gentleman from Montana,

Mr. Arnold Olsen. I have written him a letter this year assuring him

of our support for this bill and telling him we would be delighted to

furnish any information possible that might be helpful to the subcommittee to get the matter brought to the full committee.

We have 22 of our temporary employees who have worked from

5 to 20 years. We have 19 of our temporary employees who have

worked from 1 to 4 years, and then we have 12 who have worked less

than a year. These people, on what we call temporary work in the

House folding room, draw $2.04 per hour. Whenever any temporary

raise comes along or any salary increase comes along the committee

has been nice enough to go along and increase the rate per hour for

our temporary rate workers. When we go before the Subcommittee

on Appropriations for legislative matters we usually ask for a lump

sum of anywhere from $230,000 to $250,000 a year, which takes care

of these temporary rate workers. They get paid once a month for the

number of hours that they have performed. They get no vacations

and they get no sick leave. If they happen to have a misfortune at

home and get hurt, they have no way of having any income whatsoever. They get paid by a voucher that is fixed up each month by our

Superintendent, Mr. Bijolas, and he and his group keep a very close

check on these temporary rate workers.

I feel that if this bill were to be enacted into law and our people

could be able to enter into those three programs it would be beneficial

to them, even though they would not be eligible to get any sick leave

and/or benefits from annual leave. I feel that it would be a big

morale booster as far as the committee is concerned, and I would like

to go on record now and here as being in favor of H.R. 5128.

Mr. BECKWORTH. Thank you very much, Mr. Miller.

Do you have any questions?

Mr. PooL. No. I appreciate Mr. Miller's appearing here. He is

an old friend of mine and a very good administrator. I want to compliment you on appearing here this morning on behalf of your employees.

Mr. BECKWORTH. We all concur in that statement, Mr. Pool.

I have no questions, Mr. Miller. I think you have stated the case

in a very clear manner, and I certainly am in accord with what you

have said.
INSURANCE BENEFITS TO CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE EMPLOYEES 5

Is there anyone else that would like to be heard? How about you,

Mr. Bijolas?

Mr. BIJOLAS. I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe the

Doorkeeper covered it very well.

Mr. BECKWORTH. Without objection, the report of the Civil

Service Commission, dated May 17, 1963, will be made a part of the

record.

(The report referred to follows:)

U.S. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION,

Washington, D.C., May 17, 1963.

Hon. TOM MURRAY,

Chairman, Committee on Post Office and Civil Service,

House of Representatives.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This refers further to your letter of March 28, 1963,

requesting Commission report on H.R. 5128, a bill to extend the benefits of the

civil service retirement and group life and health insurance programs to certain

legislative employees, and for other purposes.

House folding room personnel fall in two categories—permanent and temporary.

The number of permanent employees remains fairly stable, while the number of

temporaries varies from time to time depending on the volume of work. A recent

check showed a force then consisting of 43 permanent employees and 48 temporary

workers, a total of 91. The regular service schedule for both groups is 61/4 hours,

Monday through Friday, and 3 hours on Saturday.

Permanent folding room employees (1) are eligible to secure Civil Service Retirement Act coverage by election, (2) may enroll in an available program under

the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act, and (3) are automatically subject

to the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Act unless they waive such

coverage. As is true with respect to Federal personnel generally, temporary

employees engaged in the folding of speeches and pamphlets for the House are

excluded from the operation of these three fringe benefit programs.

H.R. 5128 would place temporary folding room employees in the same category

as the permanent force with respect to these cited programs.

The Commission makes no recommendation on the merits of this bill, believing

that decision on proposals affecting the legislative branch should be made by

Congress itself.

The Bureau of the Budget advises that from the standpoint of the administration's program there is no objection to the submission of this report.

By direction of the Commission:

Sincerely yours,

(Signed) JOHN W. MACY, Jr.,

Chairman.

Mr. BECKWORTH. Would you ladies care to say anything?

Mr. OLSEN. Mr. Chairman, if I could interrupt, I want to urge

the women to speak. I think they are a little shy, and I want to urge

them to speak up now.

Mr. BECKWORTH. Either one, or all three, may talk to us.

STATEMENT OF DORIS JOHNSON

Miss JOHNSON. Mr. Chairman, I have been down there for 17

years, and I try to work every day. When the rush starts I work

every night, because I feel like it is my job, and I sure would appreciate it if you could do something for us.

Mr. Pool- You certainly do deserve consideration.

Mr. BECKWORTH. We certainly think you do. We know you have

been a constructive worker here on the Hill. Thank you for appearing.
6 INSURANCE BENEFITS TO CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE EMPLOYEES

STATEMENT OF DOROTHY JOHNSON

Miss JOHNSON. My name is Dorothy Johnson.

Mr. BECKWORTH. How long have you worked there?

Miss JOHNSON. Seventeen years. I work every day, and when the

rush comes on I stay every night.

Mr. BECKWORTH. Thank you.

STATEMENT OF MAY FLEISCHHAUER

Mrs. FLEISCHHAUER. My name is May Fleischhauer.

Mr. WATSON. How long have you been there?

Mrs. FLEISCHHAUER. Seventeen years.

Mr. WATSON. You ladies started when you were just children.

Mrs. FLEISCHHAUER. I enjoy my work and I love my job. I

enjoy the group of women and men I work with.

Mr. Pool,. Mr. Chairman, I am ready to make a motion. I am

sold.

Mr. BECKWORTH. Mr. Watson, do you have any questions?

Mr. WATSON. No, sir. I apologize for being late. I was trying to

befriend another lady. I earlier discussed this with the author and

the Doorkeeper, and they already sold me on this proposition.

Mrs. FLEISCHHAUER. We have a wonderful superintendent.

Mr. BECKWORTH. We feel the same way about it.

The committee stands ajourned.

(Whereupon, at 10 a.m., the subcommittee adjourned.)

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