Date: 2004-10-06
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. S. 129. -the Federal. Workforce Flexibility Act. is a momentous step toward effectively reforming the Federal civil service system. For 2 years. the Committee on Government Reform has worked to revitalize the management structure of specific departments and agencies: Homeland Security. Defense. NASA. the SEC and the GAO. to name a few. This legislation provides the rest of the Federal Government many of the flexibilities authorized for these specified agencies. As we increase flexibilities provided to agencies and managers. we enhance their ability to manage their workforce. S. 129 is supported by the National Treasury Employees Union and the administration. and I urge my colleagues to support it as well. Mr. Speaker. S. 129 will help Federal managers build a strong workforce by allowing managers to use recruitment. relocation and retention bonuses in a mQre strategic manner. This legislation also ensures that agencies will effectively manage their employee. training efforts. Under this bill. agencies will be required to align their training with performance plans and strategic goals. establish a comprehensive management succession program. and provide special training to managers who are dealing with unacceptable performances. In addition. it streamlines critical pay authority for positions that are difficult to fill and enhances annual leave benefits. It also allows workers to take time off in exchange for travel. and offers many other positive reforms for the Federal civil service. Despite all of these reforms. it is our hope that the bill would include two additional provisions that we unfortunately had to remove due to. direct spending implications. as well as a provision dealing with air traffic controller retirement. The first provision would have corrected current inequities in retirement benefit calculations for parttime Federal service under the Civil Service Retirement System. The second would have codified the current .practice of providing civil service retirement credit for attendance at one of the four Federal military service academies. And the final provision would have taken the air traffic controller retirement policy that was included as part of last years aviation authorization bill and conformed it to existing governmentwide enhanced annuity retirement policy.. Mr. Speaker. the Committee on Government Reform intends to pursue all of these legislative initiatives in the 109th Congress. and I look forward to working -with my colleagues on these issues. I want to commend the work of the Subcommittee on Civil Service on this legislation. especially our former chair. the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Jo ANN DAVIS) and the gentleman from Illinois (Ranking Member DAVIS). Their good work and cooperation is reflected in this bill before us today. and their dedication to improving the Federal service generally is of great importance as we seek to make our government more competitive in the labor market. Mr. Speaker. as chairman of the Committee on Government Reform. I have made my top priority the transformation of the Federal Government into an organization that is more efficient. effective and responsive to the needs of the American people. For this to occur. the establishment of a modernized human capital management system is of utmost importance. S. 129 is integral to this effort. and I urge my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.