Date: 2002-03-20
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman. I rise today in support of H.R. 3924. the Freedom to Telecommute Act of 2002. I want to thank the gentleman from Indiana . chairman of the Committee on Government Reform. for his assistance in bringing this to the floor. as well as the ranking member. the gentleman from California . and the ranking member of my subcommittee. the gentleman from Texas . and also the gentleman from Virginia . my colleague from Virginia. who has been a pioneer in the area of telecommuting throughout this Congress and previous Congresses. Mr. Chairman. we have seen a tremendous push for competitors to enter the marketplace. As the economy has cooled and the Federal Government appears to be ramping up on spending. vendors are now turning to the government marketplace as the first stop. not the last. Current acquisition law hampers the expansion of the government marketplace because Federal agencies may. under current law. refuse a bid proposal from a potential contractor that utilizes telecommuting in its work force. This is a hindrance to some contractors wishing to participate in the Federal marketplace. It also reduces the pool of contractors from whom the Federal Government can procure innovative services and technologies. and by so doing. of course. raises the cost to the American taxpayer and limits the number of items and the breadth of items that we can purchase that will accomplish the governmental mission. H.R. 3924 would prohibit Federal agencies from continuing this practice. An exception is made if the contracting officer certifies in writing that telecommuting would conflict with the needs of the agency. For example. this exception may apply if a contractor deals with classified or sensitive information. This will ensure that the Federal marketplace continues to be a competitive choice among contractors. The bill would also prohibit agencies from issuing solicitations that would reduce the scoring of a potential contractors proposal if that contractor utilizes telecommuting. Technological advances make telecommuting an attractive choice for employees because it allows them to work almost anywhere at any time. Telecommuting has caught on over the last 25 years and has become an option for Federal employees just over the last decade. Today. we estimate that close to 19 million people telework. and that number is increasing. Private sector organizations and Federal agencies with telecommuting programs receive significant benefits. Telework has gained in popularity since it promdtes a productive workforce and increases morale and quality of life. often resulting in higher rates of worker retention. The potential for increased productivity exists because of reduced office distractions: fewer phone calls. no water cooler chats. less commuting time going back and forth to work. Therefore. employees have increased time uninterrupted at work to do their jobs. As a Member from northern Virginia. I know what it is like to sit in the worst traffic congestion in the country. Telecommuting reduces congestion on our roads. and it helps the environment by eliminating a significant number of vehicle trips during peak hours. Telework is also a very familyfriendly initiative. It offers parents the choice of providing care and supervision for their own children while continuing their careers. It also accommodates employees with health problems or elder care or day care responsibilities. The Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy. which I chair. has been encouraging the development and promotion of telecommuting policies for the Federal Government. Last year. we conducted two oversight hearings to examine Federal agencies progress in this area. We found that telecommuting is an excellent recruitment and retention tool that the Federal Government can use to address its human capital management crisis. The Federal Government should be a telecommuting leader. We should not be following industry. We should not be following our contractors. We ought to be leading the way. But. unfortunately. Federal agencies have been reluctant to embrace this concept. For example. Federal managers are resistant to the concept because they would no longer be in the position to monitor employees directly. This attitude ignores the increased employee - morale and productivity that results. The testimony before our subcommittee shows that the private sector i turning to this because it increases employee morale. it increases employee retention. it helps in recruitment. and. most of all. it increases productivity. It is time for Federal managers to shift their focus from a processoriented performance measurement to a resultsdriven measurement. When the Federal Government contracts with companies that embrace telework initiatives. the Federal workforce is directly exposed to this concept. Managers who have been reluctant to embrace this concept get to see it firsthand. This is one more way to help break down the managerial barriers that exist today to successful telecommunications and telecommuting in the Federal Government. Federal agencies continue to grapple with barriers to acquiring the goods and services they need in order to meet their mission objectives. Agencies require better management approaches and purchasing tools governmentwide to facilitate the efforts of acquisition managers in meeting agency goals. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy. I am working with our minority members in the administration to accomplish broader acquisition reform. For example. I recently introduced H.R. 3832. the Services Acquisition Reform Act. SARA. which directs the Federal Government to adopt management reform techniques modeled after those in the private sector. The current Federal services acquisition policy precludes companies with innovative human capital management models from participating fully in the Federal marketplace. And the loser is the Federal Government. which does not get the value and it does not get the competitive nature of these groups. The taxpayers also lose because they do not get the lower prices that competition brings. This sends the wrong message to Federal agencies. and it sends the wrong message to potential contractors. Federal agencies receive mixed messages about the value of telecommuting under current law. Congress has passed a variety of legislation promoting telecommuting in the Federal workplace. and yet we turn around and restrict Federal contractor employees from implementing similar policies. At the same time. we are striving to create an acquisition system for the Federal Government that is modeled after the best practices of the private sector. But our current policy prevents the private sector from utilizing a critical management initiative such as telecommuting. At the Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policys two hearings on this topic. we heard from companies such as AT&T and Siemens Enterprise Networks. Both companies testified about the benefits of their telecommuting programs. They highlighted the strategic value of these programs as recruitment and retention tools. Moreover. at the Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policys September 6. 2001. hearing. we heard testimony from the Information Technology Association of America. the ITAA. Harris Miller. ITAAs president. testified about the challenges his organizations member companies face in the contracting process when they offer their employees the flexibility of telework. Contracting officers are reluctant to allow contractors to telecommute. As I already mentioned. H.R. 3924 will solve this problem. As the Federal Government transforms its services contracting processes from one that is performancebased to a resultsdriven process. human capital management strategies need to be adjusted accordingly. Human capital is of primary importance to private sector organizations. The Federal Government should encourage this viewpoint among its contractors and incorporate it into the agencies management structures. We are way behind the 8 ball on this at the Federal level. and this legislation. I think. will move us a step forward. So I encourage my colleagues to help expand telecommuting opportunities for Federal contracting employees. and I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 3924. Mr. Chairman. I reserve the balance of my time.