[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 17, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H250-H251]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1130
  PROVIDING FOR LUMP SUM PAYMENT FOR ACCRUED ANNUAL LEAVE TO ELIGIBLE 
            FORMER EMPLOYEES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on House Oversight be discharged from further consideration of the 
resolution (H. Res. 35) providing for payment of a lump sum for accrued 
annual leave to eligible former employees of the House of 
Representatives, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Dreier). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from California?
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, under my 
reservation, I will be glad to yield to the gentleman from California 
[Mr. Thomas], the chairman of the Committee on House Oversight, for the 
purpose of explaining the objectives of this legislation.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. 
Hoyer] for yielding, and I would tell my colleague that the House 
Republican transition team has developed a plan for wholesale 
restructuring of the administration of the House officer. As the 
gentleman knows, the restructuring involves the transfers of various 
functions of the new House officers with clear probability of 
consolidation, reclassification and, to a certain extent, elimination 
of positions that are under the Committee on House Oversight's 
jurisdiction.
  House rules adopted on opening day, January 4, 1995, require that 
committee staff be reduced by one-third from corresponding levels in 
the 103d Congress. In addition to that, three committees have been 
eliminated. Because of this the Speaker has publicly announced his 
intention to provide a mechanism for the payment of accrued leave for 
up to 30 days for departing committee and administrative support 
[[Page H251]] employees. Currently there is no provision in House 
rules, or in public law, for the lump sum payment of accrued leave, and 
on January 11, 1995, as the gentleman well knows, the Committee on 
House Oversight passed a motion to instruct the chairman of the 
committee to introduce this particular resolution that is in front of 
us.
  The resolution that we are looking at, House Resolution 35, 
authorizes compensation to departing committee and administrative 
support employees in the form of a lump sum payment for any accrued 
leave, up to a maximum of 30 days, as certified by their committee 
chairmen or the relevant employing authority. It also allows Members, 
not just committees, but Members, in this Congress to compensate any 
departing personal office staff for any annual leave accrued under each 
Member's office policy. Any employee who is rehired in the legislative 
branch within 30 days will not receive that accrued leave payment since 
there was a simple interruption of employment rather than termination.
  Accrued leave compensation for departing committee staff will be paid 
out of the appropriate House account. Compensation for departing Member 
office employees will be paid from the Member's 1995 clerk hire 
account. Compensation for departing administrative support employees 
will be paid from funds already appropriated for the relevant employing 
authority for fiscal year 1995 operations. Further, any committee or 
administrative support employee who is terminated prior to July 1, 
1995, as a result of the continuing restructuring will also be entitled 
to compensation under this resolution for accrued leave up to 30 days.
  I will also tell the gentleman that there is an amendment at the 
desk, which I will offer at the appropriate time, which makes a date 
change in the resolution from January 3, 1995, which was the date in 
the motion that passed the committee, to December 31, 1994. It was not 
the intent of the committee to exclude from eligibility for accrued 
leave payments those employees who may have been taken off the payroll 
between December 31 and January 3, and so the amendment simply backs up 
the time from January 3 to include December 31, January 1, and January 
2.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I want 
to congratulate the chairman of the Committee on House Oversight for 
bringing this legislation forward. There have been a lot of 
discussions. We have a lot of individuals who, as a result of the 
changeover in terms of the Republican leadership of the House of 
Representatives, there has been a substantial change of personnel. This 
policy was very important, in my opinion, and shared on this side of 
the aisle, and shared, I think, in a bipartisan fashion to treat those 
departing employees fairly so that in, at minimum, they received 
consideration for the annual leave they had accrued during the course 
of their service for the Congress and for individual members, and I 
congratulate the gentleman from California [Mr. Thomas] for his 
leadership in this effort in a bipartisan fashion.
  We have adopted this; it is a good policy.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. 
Hoyer] for yielding, and I do want to underscore the fact that, as the 
gentleman knows, and he was very cooperative in moving this forward, we 
have actually extended this policy beyond the specific discussion of 
those committee and administrative personnel who were leaving to make 
sure that the Members' personnel offices were treated in a similar 
fashion. Since there is no policy on the books, this is a policy which 
will now be established which I do believe is useful, not only in the 
transition, but in the professional handling of staff which will be 
further seen in the bill on accountability to come up just after this, 
and I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I 
understand the gentleman has no further speakers on this issue. If that 
is the case, I will withdraw my reservation of objection.
  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                               H. Res. 35

       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. LUMP-SUM PAYMENT FOR ACCRUED ANNUAL LEAVE.

       (a) In General.--An eligible employee of the House of 
     Representatives--
       (1) who is separated from employment involuntarily;
       (2) whose last day of employment is during the period 
     beginning on January 3, 1995, and ending on June 30, 1995; 
     and
       (3) who is not reemployed by the House of Representatives, 
     the Senate, or an agency of the legislative branch within 30 
     days after such last day of employment;

     shall be paid a lump sum for the accrued annual leave of the 
     employee.
       (b) Payment.--The lump sum--
       (1) shall be paid, as certified under subsection (c), in an 
     amount equal to the value of the total accrued annual leave 
     of the employee or the value of 30 days of accrued annual 
     leave of the employee, whichever is less;
       (2) shall be paid--
       (A) for clerk hire employees, from the clerk hire allowance 
     of the Member for calendar year 1995;
       (B) for committee employees, from amounts appropriated for 
     committees; and
       (C) for other employees, from amounts appropriated to the 
     employing authority for fiscal year 1995; and
       (3) shall be computed using the rate of pay in effect with 
     respect to the employee on the last day of employment of the 
     employee.
       (c) Certification.--For purposes of this resolution, 
     accrued annual leave of an employee shall be certified by the 
     appropriate employing authority--
       (1) as of December 31, 1994, in the case of an employee 
     whose last day of employment is January 3, 1995; and
       (2) as of the last day of employment of the employee, in 
     the case of an employee whose last day of employment is after 
     January 3, 1995, and before July 1, 1995.

     SEC. 2. REGULATIONS.

       The Committee on House Oversight shall have authority to 
     prescribe regulations to carry out this resolution.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       As used in this resolution--
       (1) the term ``eligible employee'' means, with respect to 
     the House of Representatives, an employee whose pay is 
     disbursed by the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the 
     Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, 
     as applicable, except that such term does not include--
       (A) an employee under the clerk hire allowance whose 
     appointing Member is not a Member of the House of 
     Representatives in the One Hundred Fourth Congress; or
       (B) a uniformed or civilian support employee under the 
     Capitol Police Board; and
       (2) The term ``agency of the legislative branch'' means the 
     Office of the Architect of the Capitol, the Botanic Garden, 
     the General Accounting Office, the Government Printing 
     Office, the Library of Congress, the Office of Technology 
     Assessment, and the Congressional Budget Office.
                    amendment offered by mr. thomas

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I offer an amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Amendment offered by Mr. Thomas: Page 1, line 9, strike out 
     ``January 3, 1995'' and insert in lieu thereof ``December 31, 
     1994''.
       Page 3, beginning on line 5, strike out ``January 3, 1995'' 
     and insert in lieu thereof ``December 31, 1994, or January 1, 
     2, or 3, 1995''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the amendment offered by 
the gentleman from California [Mr. Thomas].
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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