[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 188 (Tuesday, November 28, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2246]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE FBI DUE PROCESS IMPROVEMENT ACT

                                 ______


                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 28, 1995

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I have learned some Federal Bureau of 
Investigation [FBI] special agents are accorded Merit System Protection 
Board [MSPB] appeal rights and others are not. This discriminatory 
policy offends traditional notions of fairness and should change. It is 
not fair that some agents receive MSPB appeal rights while others do 
not.
  Because of my concern about this policy, today I will introduce 
legislation, the FBI Due Process Improvement Act, a copy of which 
appears at the end of my statement. This simple legislation would amend 
5 U.S.C. Sec. 7511(b)(8) by striking ``the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation,'' thereby extending certain procedural and appeal rights 
with respect to certain adverse personnel actions to all employees of 
the FBI. This legislation corrects the current disparate treatment of 
nonveteran special agents regarding their ability to appeal adverse 
personnel actions and ensures the due process rights of all employees 
of the FBI.
  Special agents of the FBI are loyal civil servants dedicated to 
protecting Americans from the worst kinds of crime. Their jobs are 
difficult, demanding, and sometimes dangerous. They are often 
transferred to posts far from home which demands considerable sacrifice 
by FBI families. FBI agents are on the front line of the fight against 
crime. They endeavor to reunite mothers and fathers with their kidnaped 
children; they work to maintain the high integrity of the American 
political system by investigating public corruption; they protect all 
Americans from foreign and domestic terrorism; they risk life and limb 
infiltrating and thwarting the scourge of organized crime; they help 
keep drugs out of the hands of America's most vulnerable citizens; they 
investigate white collar crime, pornography, and a host of countless 
other Federal criminal offenses. In short, FBI agents are the often 
unseen but indispensable protectors of tranquility and freedom within 
the United States. The FBI motto--fidelity, bravery, and integrity--
accurately characterizes the manner in which agents approach their 
important work.
  These duties are performed by all agents, veteran and nonveteran 
alike. However, these two categories of agents receive disparate 
treatment when charged with misconduct. Military veterans are permitted 
full due process rights including the ability to appeal adverse 
personnel actions to the MSPB. In other words, veteran agents, who are 
in the excepted service, receive the same due process rights that 
employees in the competitive service receive. Nonveteran agents, also 
members of the excepted service, do not. This means that a veteran 
agent will receive an outside, independent, objective review of his/her 
case while a nonveteran agent will not. Is this fair? I maintain that 
it is not. Furthermore, female special agents are particularly hit hard 
by this policy because few have served in the military; thus they are 
not eligible to receive the MSPB appeal rights that veteran agents, who 
are predominantly men, do. Also, FBI agents should have the same MSPB 
appeal rights as Federal law enforcement agents who work for the Bureau 
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Drug Enforcement Administration, 
Customs Service, and Border Patrol.
  The Congress should eliminate this discriminatory policy because it 
serves no rational or useful purpose. The Congress should have 
rectified this disparity in 1990 when it enacted legislation (P.L. 101-
376) which granted appeal rights to members of the excepted service 
affected by adverse personnel actions. The Committee on Post Office and 
Civil Service, in its report on the bill (H. Rept. 101-328), preserved 
the disparate treatment between preference eligible veteran agents and 
other agents because of the FBI's ``sensitive mission.'' However, this 
conclusion was not supported by any concrete examples about how MSPB 
appeal rights would adversely affect the FBI's sensitive mission. In 
fact, if the denial of MSPB appeal rights is so vital to the sensitive 
mission of the FBI, the prudent course would have been to deny those 
rights to all agents, including preference eligible agents. Obviously, 
the grant of MSPB rights to all agents would not adversely impact the 
FBI's mission. The Bureau has long experience with the MSPB process 
used by its preference eligible agents, and there have been no reports 
of abuse of the system. Furthermore, there is no evidence that it has 
compromised the FBI's sensitive mission.

  Mr. Speaker, there is no reason to maintain the distinction between 
preference eligible veteran and nonveteran agents. All agents, whether 
veterans or not, should be treated in a fair and equitable manner. As I 
have already stated, the FBI has considerable experience with the MSPB 
process available to veteran agents. I am not aware that there has been 
any particular abuse of the MSPB process by preference eligible agents. 
Likewise, I do not anticipate that expansion of MSPB rights to all 
agents would be burdensome on the FBI. There is no room in the modern 
FBI for discriminatory personnel policies; therefore, nonveteran agents 
should receive all the rights and enjoy all the privileges accorded to 
their preference eligible veteran counterparts.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to cosponsor this important 
legislation. I also urge Congressman Mica, chairman of the House Civil 
Service Subcommittee, to move this legislation as expeditiously as 
possible. Finally, I ask unanimous consent to include a copy of this 
bill and a letter from the FBI Agents' Association in support of this 
legislation in the record immediately following my statement.

                                H.R. --

         Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
     of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Due Process for FBI Agents 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF RIGHTS.

       Section 7511(b)(8) of title 5, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking ``the Federal Bureau of Investigation,''.

     SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       The amendment made by this Act shall apply with respect to 
     any personnel action taking effect after the end of the 45-
     day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
     Act.
                                  ____

                                   Federal Bureau of Investigation


                                           Agents Association,

                              New Rochelle, NY, November 28, 1995.
     Hon. Frank R. Wolf,
     House of Representatives, 241 Cannon House Office Building, 
       Washington, DC.
     Re Due Process For FBI Agents Act.
       Dear Congressman Wolf: This letter is to inform you that I 
     have reviewed and the FBI Agents Association fully and 
     enthusiastically supports your bill, the ``Due Process For 
     FBI Agents Act.''
       It is time to end all vestiges of disparate treatment by 
     extending MSPB rights to all FBI agents.
       Thank you for you willingness to take the lead on this most 
     important matter.
           Very truly yours,
                                                       Ed Bethune,
     General Counsel.

                          ____________________