[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 4 (Monday, January 9, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN:
  S. 177. A bill to repeal the Ramspeck Act; to the Committee on 
Governmental Affairs.


                    the ramspeck repeal act of 1995

 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I introduce the Ramspeck Repeal 
Act, which would terminate the Ramspeck Act after a 2-year period. I 
believe the Ramspeck Act is obsolete and unfair, and the time has come 
to do away with it.
  A description of the Ramspeck Act will quickly outline why I think it 
is unnecessary and unjustified. Signed into law in 1940, the Ramspeck 
Act provides exclusive privileges to former legislative and judicial 
branch employees to secure career civil service positions with the 
Federal Government. The Ramspeck Act makes a special exception to 
certain competitive requirements of civil service positions for 
individuals who have served 3 years in the legislative branch or 4 
years in the judicial branch.
  Under the Ramspeck Act, legislative branch employees are awarded 
status for direct appointment to a civil service position if they have 
been involuntarily separated from their job, and they are allowed 1 
year from their date of separation in which to exercise this privilege. 
Furthermore, the Ramspeck Act waives any competitive examination which 
ranks applicants for a job for individuals who are former legislative 
or judicial branch employees. Therefore, if a competitive exam is 
required to rank candidates for a civil service position, the Ramspeck 
Act enables a select group of individuals to skip that hurdle, while 
assuring them of being able to be selected for the job.
  Finally, individuals appointed under this act become career employees 
in the civil service without regard to the tenure of service 
requirements that exist for all other civil service employees. Most 
people who have successfully competed for a position with the civil 
service must then serve a 3-year probationary period before they 
achieve career status with their agency. Ramspeck appointees, however, 
are afforded career status immediately.
  It is not appropriate for former legislative employees to receive 
special reemployment privileges that allow them to jump ahead of their 
fellow citizens when seeking a civil service position. It is both 
reasonable and equitable to require former legislative or judicial 
branch employees to compete for civil service jobs under the same terms 
that other Americans have to. Leveling the playing field for qualified 
individuals from the private sector who are interested in entering the 
civil service is a worthy endeavor, Mr. President, and one of the 
primary objectives of this proposal. By offering this legislation, I am 
also continuing my efforts to make the Congress abide by the same rules 
that our constituents live by.
  Let me say that while I want to swiftly repeal the Ramspeck Act, I do 
not want to act in a manner that has a partisan or punitive impact. 
This proposal would have no impact on any former Senate or House 
employees who lost their jobs in the November 1994 election. I 
recognize that while the results of this November's election caused a 
large number of involuntary job losses among Democratic legislative 
employees, and many of them may currently be trying to utilize the 
Ramspeck Act to secure a civil service position. Clearly, Republican 
legislative branch employees have utilized their eligibility under the 
Ramspeck Act to seek civil service jobs after other elections, as well.
  I strongly believe that the Ramspeck Act affords unfair employment 
privileges for both Republicans and Democrats alike, to the detriment 
of their fellow citizens who may not have had the opportunity to work 
in the legislative branch. Therefore, the legislation I am introducing 
today would terminate this reemployment perk 2 years after the 
enactment of this measure.
  A repeal of the Rampseck Act is warranted because it is wrong for 
former legislative and judicial branch employees to be given special 
reemployment privileges that allow them to leap in front of equally 
qualified individuals--especially on the basis that they recently 
worked for a Senator or Congressmen who was recently defeated for 
reelection.
  In closing, Mr. President, this legislation is about fairness and 
equal opportunity. The Ramspeck Act is an unnecessary and unjustified 
relic from another era, and it's time we repealed it. I hope the Senate 
will pass this legislation and take a sound step toward reforming a 
part of Federal civil service law that is an affront to the principles 
of merit-based job selections and true competition. I ask my colleagues 
to join with me in reaffirming these principals by supporting the 
Ramspeck Repeal Act.
                                 ______