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House Proceeding on Apr 1st, 2009 :: 2:15:40 to 2:35:40
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2:15:21 to 2:15:41( Edit History Discussion )

House Clerk: record votes are questions will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? mr. meeks: i move -- mr. towns: i move the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1804, the federal retirement reform act of 2009. the speaker pro tempore: the

2:15:25 to 2:15:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: House Clerk

2:15:42 to 2:15:56( Edit History Discussion )

House Clerk: erk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1804, a bill to amend title 5 united states cod to make certain modifications in the thrift savings plan, the civil service retirement system, and the federal employees reti

Edolphus Towns

2:15:57 to 2:16:20( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new york, mr. towns, and the gentleman from california, mr. issa, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes gentleman from new york. mr. towns: i ask unanimous consent, mr. speaker, that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

Edolphus Towns

2:16:00 to 2:21:05( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Edolphus Towns

Edolphus Towns

2:16:21 to 2:16:41( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: mr. towns: time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. towns: bring to the floor h.r. 1804, the federal retirement reform act of 2009. the bill modernizes the thrift savings plan, the retirement

Edolphus Towns

2:16:42 to 2:17:02( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: savings plan for federal employees, the legislation includes several other important retirement reforms for federal employees. and members of the armed forces. this bill enjoys strong bipartisan support. in the last congress when it passed the house as h.r. 1108.

Edolphus Towns

2:17:03 to 2:17:23( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: two weeks ago the oversight and government reform committee again considered and reported favorably the current language of this bill. i am pleased that the bill makes further progress in ending the military family tax which unfairly mean -- penalizes those who unfairly died in service or

Edolphus Towns

2:17:24 to 2:17:44( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: as a result of their service connected injuries. as chairman skelton will explain, this bill increases the monthly amounts paid to surviving spouse who are denied the full amount of their annuity under the survivor benefit plan. our enhancement to the t.s.p. program also will benefit

Edolphus Towns

2:17:45 to 2:18:06( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: military members and their families. the federal employee thrift savings plan is one of the best retirement savings programs in the nation. the plan runs with very low cost, and is a model for both the private sector and other governments. the bill we are considering today will strengthen and

Edolphus Towns

2:18:07 to 2:18:28( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: modernize the t.s.p. at the suggestion of the federal retirement thrift investment board, the bill provides for automatic enrollment in t.s.p. for new federal civilian employees. employees have the opportunity to choose whether to enroll or not, but for those who do not make any decision, enrollment

Edolphus Towns

2:18:29 to 2:18:49( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: would be the default. the decision on automatic enrollment for members of the uniformed services is at the discretion of the secretary of the military departments. the bill would also provide a roth contribution option for t.s.p. with a roth option, employee contributions are made

Edolphus Towns

2:18:50 to 2:19:11( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: after taxes are deducted. and the employee does not pay taxes on the fund upon withdrawal. this option isurrently available in many private sector retirement plans today. the bill also includes a provision to allow employees covered the federal employees retirement system to receive

Edolphus Towns

2:19:12 to 2:19:32( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: credit for unused sick leave towards a retirement annuity. as is currently the case for employ service retirement systems. the committee also adopted amendments to make it easier for former employees to reinstate their retiremt credits if they return to federal service and to

Edolphus Towns

2:19:33 to 2:19:53( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: work part-time at the end of their career. i want to recognize the federal work force subcommittee chairman , mr. lynch, who has really worked real hard on this and for his work on these issues and the bill. i also would like to thank representative norton,

Edolphus Towns

2:19:54 to 2:20:16( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: representative van hollen, and representative connolly for their thoughtful amendments that improve the bill. i would like to thank the oversight committee ranking member, mr. issa, of california for his amendments that strengthen the legislation as it relates to members of the uniform svices. thank you for your input.

Edolphus Towns

2:20:17 to 2:20:37( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: finally, i would like to thank chairman skelton and the armed services committee for their contribution to this bill that will provide better financial protection to the families of our military men and women. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i reserve the balance of m

Edolphus Towns

2:20:38 to 2:20:58( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. issa: i would reserve at this time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new york. mr. seton: i would like to recognize the -- mr. towns: i would like to recognize the gentleman from missouri, mr. skelton, a person who has worked really hard on this and done a fantastic job.

Edolphus Towns

2:20:59 to 2:21:06( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: when it comes to military and military personnel he's always there doing the right thing. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri is recognized for three minutes. mr. skelton: first i thank the

2:21:07 to 2:21:28( Edit History Discussion )

gentleman from n york, mr. towns, for yielding. i rise in strong support of his bill, h.r. 1804. and i thank him for his partnership on this bill. in addition to the many good things this legislation does for federal civil servants, i'm pleased to report that this bill includes a provision of great importance to the surviving

2:21:29 to 2:21:49( Edit History Discussion )

spouses of service members who have died as a result of the service connected conditions. i want to thank chairman towns for his great assistance in making it possible to address this issue in this bill. members of the committee on the armed services which i'm privileg to chair were very appreciative of the cooperation

2:21:50 to 2:22:10( Edit History Discussion )

that made the legislation possible because it is unlikely that the funding required to support the change could have otherwise been found. i would also commend my colleague, my friend, member of the armed services committee, congressman ortiz, who has introduced legislation on the s.b.p. offset and has been a

Ike Skelton

2:22:11 to 2:22:32( Edit History Discussion )

Ike Skelton: great leader and advocate for the military families affected the provision would increase the monthly specialist survivors indemnity allowance beginning in fiscal year 2010, with a $35 increase resulting in a monthly payment of $95.

Ike Skelton

2:22:20 to 2:23:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Ike Skelton

Ike Skelton

2:22:33 to 2:22:53( Edit History Discussion )

Ike Skelton: and concludes in fiscal year 2016, with a $245 increase resulting in a m of $345. all of the improvements are substantial and welcome addition for our surviving spouses. the proposal is an incremental change that falls short of the

Ike Skelton

2:22:54 to 2:23:14( Edit History Discussion )

Ike Skelton: ultimate objective torques eliminate the offset of the survivor benefit plan or s.b.p. as it's called, by the amount of dependency and indemnity compensation or d.i.c. received from the department of veterans affairs. this so-called widow's tax has long denied surviving family

Ike Skelton

2:23:15 to 2:23:36( Edit History Discussion )

Ike Skelton: members the full payment of their s.b.p. benefits. i can assure our surviving spouses and my colleagues in the armed services committee that we will continue to explore every opportunity to pursue legislation that brings us closer to eliminating the bidos tax just as we are doing today -- widows tax just as we are

Ike Skelton

2:23:37 to 2:23:40( Edit History Discussion )

Ike Skelton: doing today with the help of chairman towns. h.r. 1804 provides a robust step

Darrell E. Issa

2:23:41 to 2:24:01( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: in that direction. i encourage my colleagues to vote for mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. issa: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i'd like to thank chairman skelton and chairman towns for the hard work they put into this bill.

Darrell E. Issa

2:23:45 to 2:27:35( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Darrell E. Issa

Darrell E. Issa

2:24:02 to 2:24:23( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: i'm here today to say this is a good bill on the front end. i'm sad to say this is a bad bill on the back end. what this bill doe which was worked out on a very bipartisan basis with all speaking here today is in fact, it does recognize that modern retirement plans should have as many options as possible.

Darrell E. Issa

2:24:24 to 2:24:44( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: and certainly adding the roth i.r.a. option for some federal workers is extremely good. additionally, the advantages for the military and military commanders to be able to look at their individual needs of their services and allow for different opting in and out patterns makes sense. and i appreciate chairman towns'

Darrell E. Issa

2:24:45 to 2:25:08( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: willingness to work on that fix during the markup. the majority in our committee and the minority in our committee found this to be a very bipartisan issue to work on. and i appreciate the fact that this in fact is good for the troops and on paper saves money. however i have to say the back end of this bill sponsored by

Darrell E. Issa

2:25:09 to 2:25:29( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: members of the majoritier not speaking yet here today, is nothing but a piggy bank for other projects, for special interest projects. the fact that this is a tobacco bill begs the question of if we were to free up two or three or more billion dollars from a military budget in outlying years, why would this be a

Darrell E. Issa

2:25:30 to 2:25:52( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: reason when we have trillions of dollars of deficits, why would this be a reason to spend money? i think the majority knows it's not. in fact, the idea that you on paper save money by members of the government opting out of pre-tax contributions in favor

Darrell E. Issa

2:25:53 to 2:26:14( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: of the roth i.r.a. post-tax contributions and thus creating additional tax revenue, at a time when we have the deficit the highest in our history, says not one penny ever saved will in fact go to deficit reduction under this majority. so will i vote for this bill? of course i will. it does a lot of good things for our federal workers. the fact, though, that the

Darrell E. Issa

2:26:15 to 2:26:35( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: provision for family smoking prevention is not funded through the ordinary course of revenue but rather through this scheme that may or may not, depending how many workers choose roth i.r.a.'s, may or may not produce the money that is about to be spent. i find wrong and i find misguided. as the chairman said, there were a number of things we did for

Darrell E. Issa

2:26:36 to 2:26:58( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: the military. there's more that we should do. only the u.s. military is eligible for t.s.p. but receives no match. it's very clear in a modern military, one in which only aboutne in four serve until retiment on active duty, that t.s.p. is all the military takes with them when they leave.

Darrell E. Issa

2:26:59 to 2:27:20( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: that famous 20-year retirement doesot vest in five years the way it does with the majority and the minority all of us as members of congress. in fact, it takes 18 1/2 years to lock in a military retirement and 20 years to appreciate it. clearly the military does not enjoy what we in congress enjoy which is t.s.p. with a match and

Darrell E. Issa

2:27:21 to 2:27:35( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: a five-year vesting schedule so that we can take our retirement plan with us whenever we leave in as few years as five. i do once again thank all the members on both sides of the aisle that worked hard on the front end of this bill. i believe it has merit and

Stephen F. Lynch

2:27:36 to 2:27:57( Edit History Discussion )

Stephen F. Lynch: should be positively received and voted for. i reserve thbalance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new york. mr. towns: mr. speaker, i recognize one of the hardest working members in this body. the chairmanf the federal work force subcommittee, stephen lynch. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lynch: thank you very much

Stephen F. Lynch

2:27:40 to 2:31:15( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Stephen F. Lynch

Stephen F. Lynch

2:27:58 to 2:28:19( Edit History Discussion )

Stephen F. Lynch: for your kind words, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i rise in support of both chairman towns, the gentleman from brooklyn, and also mr. skelton from missouri, in their endorsement of h.r. 1804. their sponsorship as well. this is the federal retirement reform act that includes enhancements to the thrift

Stephen F. Lynch

2:28:20 to 2:28:40( Edit History Discussion )

Stephen F. Lynch: savings plan as well as to other federal retirement programs. and i do so because i am in agreement with both those gentlemen that the t.s.p.'s official to federal employees must finally be allowed to catch up to private sector 401-k plans. given the thrift savings plans' integral role in providing

Stephen F. Lynch

2:28:41 to 2:29:02( Edit History Discussion )

Stephen F. Lynch: retirement income, security for federal employees, it's time for congress to adopt and extend the auto enrollment plan to t.s.p. participants. this legislation would allow the thrift savings plan to offer a roth option. both sides have talked about the impact of that. i think it's important to point

Stephen F. Lynch

2:29:03 to 2:29:24( Edit History Discussion )

Stephen F. Lynch: out that by having federal employees using this roth option, it is calculated that we will bring in approximately $2.2 billion in new taxes, new tax revenues, from federal contributions, there federal employees, over the next 10 years. this bill unlike a lot of other bills on this floor basically

Stephen F. Lynch

2:29:25 to 2:29:46( Edit History Discussion )

Stephen F. Lynch: pays for itself. mr. speaker, in my role as chairman of the federal work force postal service and district of columbia subcommittee, i believe that the federal government must ensur that it benefits -- that it benefits to retain and recruit the best and the brightest. towards that end i authored h.r. 1263, legislation that would

Stephen F. Lynch

2:29:47 to 2:30:07( Edit History Discussion )

Stephen F. Lynch: make improvements to the t.s.p. as well as to federal retirement programs. i have been pleased to work with both chairman towns and former chairman waxman on the issue, as well as my friend and colleague, jim moran, from virginia. .

Stephen F. Lynch

2:30:08 to 2:30:28( Edit History Discussion )

Stephen F. Lynch: this bill amends the federal re250eur789 system for time for credit for unused sick leave. they have called for crediting unused sick leave in the same way the civil service system treats unused sick leave. this fixes a csrs annuity calculation problem for those

Stephen F. Lynch

2:30:29 to 2:30:49( Edit History Discussion )

Stephen F. Lynch: who wish to phase down to part-time work at the end of their federal careers, an important option given the aging demographics of our federal workforce. at a time of an overall aging workforce in america and particularly aging workforce, the government must take the lead in addressing workplace realities.

Stephen F. Lynch

2:30:50 to 2:31:10( Edit History Discussion )

Stephen F. Lynch: i conclude my remarks by stating i give my full support to the civil service provisions on balf of the national active and retired federal services association. i would also like to make it clear that this new obligation, this is important, this new obligation does not result in an unfunded obligation for the civil service retirement and disability fund as current law

Stephen F. Lynch

2:31:11 to 2:31:15( Edit History Discussion )

Stephen F. Lynch: provides that new payments are fully funded. i am supporting an additional

Darrell E. Issa

2:31:16 to 2:31:36( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: clarification to that effect as part of the record. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. issa: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro mpore: the gentleman is recognize plsmed sy issa: i have to say, it's not the front end of this bill that anyone objects to.

Darrell E. Issa

2:31:20 to 2:32:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Darrell E. Issa

Darrell E. Issa

2:31:37 to 2:31:58( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: as chairman lynch said and said rightfully, it's calculated that this piece of legislation will save, net, approximately $2.2 billion, for better or worse, on the backs of our retirees. it's a short-term savings, mr. speaker. it is not in fact a long-term savings. any time you do connect money now but don't collect it later,

Darrell E. Issa

2:31:59 to 2:32:20( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: it's going to eventually catch up. for the short period of time in which this $2.2 billion is generated, it would have been appropriate for all of us to be able to use this money in the committee for the federal workforce. that's the part that upsets me, is we're neither returning it to the taxpayers in the form of less deficit, nor are we using it for structural changes for

Darrell E. Issa

2:32:21 to 2:32:40( Edit History Discussion )

Darrell E. Issa: the federal workforce, whether uniformed, military, or civilian. that's the only problem. whathis bill does it does well. what this bill eventually does is fund a pet project of the former chairman, mr. waxman, for tobacco programs, something that's been funded very well, funded on the backs of plenty of other programs.

Edolphus Towns

2:32:41 to 2:32:55( Edit History Discussion )

Edolphus Towns: candidly, i don't believe that this is the best use of the money at a time where we're running trillions in deficits. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new york.

Edolphus Towns

2:32:45 to 2:32:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Edolphus Towns

Solomon P. Ortiz

2:32:56 to 2:33:16( Edit History Discussion )

Solomon P. Ortiz: mr. towns: thank you very much, mr. speaker. at this time, i yield two minutes to the chairman of the readiness subcommittee on armed services, the gentleman from texas, mr. ortiz, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. ortiz: thank you, mr. eaker, mr. towns, mr.

Solomon P. Ortiz

2:33:00 to 2:35:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Solomon P. Ortiz

Solomon P. Ortiz

2:33:17 to 2:33:38( Edit History Discussion )

Solomon P. Ortiz: skelton, mr. brown. i rise in support of the bill before us today and today the coonk takes another important step that we're providing surviving spouses of military servicemens relief by addressing a long-standing problem in our military survivors benefit system called the widows' tax. like most matters that involve

Solomon P. Ortiz

2:33:39 to 2:34:00( Edit History Discussion )

Solomon P. Ortiz: federal payments thises a complex yet pivotal matter to the survival of servicemens. essentially, if servicemens purchase a plan for their loved ones, the survivors receive a death. 23 that servicemens dies of a service-connected cause, the survivor is entitled to

Solomon P. Ortiz

2:34:01 to 2:34:21( Edit History Discussion )

Solomon P. Ortiz: compensation from the v.a. however, per current law, the benefit payment is decreased the amount of the v.a. payment, dollar for dollar, and thus the amount the survivor will get, not the full amount of entitlements. this affects approximately 59,000 widows.

Solomon P. Ortiz

2:34:22 to 2:34:44( Edit History Discussion )

Solomon P. Ortiz: for too long, the offset between the two programs has done precisely the opposite of what they're intended to do, protect survive yog loved ones. the defend our co best. congress addressed the offset in the 2008 authorization act

Solomon P. Ortiz

2:34:45 to 2:35:05( Edit History Discussion )

Solomon P. Ortiz: by creating a monthly survivor allowance, subject to the offset. i'm eased this bill considered today builds upon those iferts by providing a substantial increase in the monthly payment to spouses from the survivors' allowance. although there's much work to be done this bill is an important step toward the complete elimination of the

Solomon P. Ortiz

2:35:06 to 2:35:26( Edit History Discussion )

Solomon P. Ortiz: offset and reflects our bipartisan desire to provide the surviving -- survivors of our military servicemens. i support this bill and i urge my colleagues to support this bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. issa: i reserve the

Solomon P. Ortiz

2:35:27 to 2:35:41( Edit History Discussion )

Solomon P. Ortiz: remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. towns: i yield one minute to susan davis, the chairwoman of military personnel subcommittee, congresswoman

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