Date: 2003-12-08
Speaker: JO ANN DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. first I want to say that this is an identical bill to one that I also introduced into the House. and I am very pleased that we are taking up the Senate bill so that we can get it out and do what is right for the law enforcement officers. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak in favor of S. 1683 a bill introduced by Senator GEORGE VOINOVICH to require the Federal Government to conduct study reviewing the pay and benefits for our 128.000 federal law enforcement officers. This legislation is identical to a bill I introduced this year. H.R. 3205. We are considering the Senate version of this bill. "The Federal Law Enforcement Pay and Benefits Parity Act of 2003." which was approved by the Senate shortly before Thanksgiving. in an effort to speed up enactment of this important piece of legislation. I want to thank the leadership for bringing this matter to the floor today. It has become obvious over the last 2 years. but bears repeating: Federal law enforcement officers are part of our first line of defense in defending the Nation. The legislation would require that the government reexamine how we compensate these brave men and womenwith the goals of eliminating disparities among various law enforcement agencies. improving recruitment and retention. and ensuring that the Federal Government is keeping pace with State and local law enforcement agencies in terms of compensation. For an example of why we need to investigate this matter. look no farther than the creation of the Transportation Security Administration. following the September 11th terrorist attacks. The TSA needed to hire tens of thousands of people very quickly. and the agency wound up cherry picking from other federal agencies. luring law enforcement officers with offers of better pay and .benefits. This left the other agencies shorthanded. and many still report recruiting problems. And very shortly. the Homeland Security Department is slated to establish its new pay system. which could once again attract law enforcement officers away from other agencies. The Civil Service and Agency Organization Subcommittee. which I chair. held a hearing on July 23rd on the subject of law enforcement compensation. It became clear to us that the Federal Government is facing a serious problem in recruiting. retaining and rewarding its law enforcement personnel. Having the Office of Personnel Management conduct a detailed analysis of the problem and offer some possible solutions is the first step toward fixing this problem. In addition to requiring OPM to review the classification. compensation and benefits of federal law enforcement officers. S. 1683 also requires the establishment of an employee exchange program involving Federal. State and local law enforcement agents as a way of sharing best practices and maintaining a welltrained force. Once again. I want to thank the leadership for bringing this bill to the floor today. I urge passage of S. 1683. "The Federal Law Enforcement Pay and Benefits Parity Act of 2003." Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time. The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time. was read the third time. and passed. and a motion to reconsider was laid on the table.