[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 206 (Thursday, December 21, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H15549-H15550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




EARLY RETIREMENT INCENTIVE ACT AND STRATEGIC AND REEMPLOYMENT TRAINING 
                                  ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Maryland [Mrs. Morella] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, in light of the streamlining goals of the 
administration and the additional budget cuts proposed by this 
Congress, Federal workers are bracing themselves for difficult times. I 
recently read in the Washington Post that one out of every four Federal 
workers believes that budget cuts will affect him/her.
  In the Washington area alone, studies have indicated that over 60,000 
Federal jobs will be lost over the next 5 years. And the simple truth 
is that retirement and attrition will not help Congress and the 
administration reach the goal of 272,000 job cuts mandated by the 
Workforce Restructuring Act of 1994. RIF's will be needed. This fact 
further increases the anxiety of Federal workers, reduces agency 
productivity, and sends a chilling message to local economies with a 
strong Federal workforce base.
  Today, I am introducing two bills that will help offset the negative 
effects of RIF's and restructuring. These bills will provide executives 
and managers with humane options for streamlining the workforce and 
assisting displaced employees, while controlling the disruption in 
agencies and assuring that they can continue to meet their missions.
  I am a firm believer that loyalty must be repaid with loyalty. The 
Federal work force has provided outstanding service to the Nation. They 
have helped build, protect and preserve this land, and now this 
workforce needs Congress' help. It is time take on this responsibility 
and devise strategies that will help them through this tough period.
  I believe the strategies must center around two fundamental concepts: 
First, creating incentives for retirement, and Second, retraining 
displaced workers for jobs in the private sector.


                         The 2-Percent Solution

  As a member of the Civil Service Subcommittee, I have sat through a 
number of hearings where the 2-percent penalty associated with early 
retirement has been called a deterrent to early-out initiatives. 
Clearly, a waiver of the 2-percent penalty would cause a significant 
number of individuals to leave the workforce, but it would also have 
tremendous financial implications for the government.
  The bill that I will introduce will bridge these two concerns by 
redefining the ``2-percent'' penalty. The bill would reduce the penalty 
for federal retirees by 2 percent for each birthday celebrated toward 
age 55. The end result would be that the individuals would be entitled 
to the annuity they would have received had they been age 55 when they 
retired.
  For example, an employee who is 48 years old with 25 years of Federal 
service will suffer a 14-percent penalty under the current law. Under 
my bill, when this retiree reached age 49, the penalty would be reduced 
to 12 percent; when the retiree reached age 50, the penalty would be 
reduced to 10 percent. This would continue until the retiree reached 
age 55.
  To assure that this is a cost-effective measure, agencies would 
establish a 90-day period to offer this incentive to employees. The 
agencies also would not be allowed to fill positions vacated by 
employees. This would reduce salary and other related expenses.
  In addition, employees who receive buyouts under the ``Federal 
Workforce Restructuring Act'' or under the proposed, ``Federal Employee 
Separation Incentive and Reemployment Act'' could not participate in 
this program.


                         Reemployment Training

  In a report entitled, ``Improving Transition Assistance for Federal 
Employees Affected by Downsizing,'' OPM found ``* * * that placement of 
RIF-ed workers within the Government will not be a realistic option for 
many employees affected by downsizing.'' It goes on to say that ``* * * 
any new program to help displaced workers find jobs must logically 
focus on private sector as well as public sector opportunities.''
  I, too, believe that the partnerships must be forged with the private 
sector to assure that displaced workers are successfully placed. Part 
of this partnership will hinge on our ability to retrain Federal 
employees for private sector jobs.
  In a study prepared by the Greater Washington Research Center for the 
Greater Washington Board of Trade, it concluded that the private 
sector--Washington area--is projected to add 322,500 jobs during the 
1995-99 period.
  However, many of these jobs will require strong technical and 
computer skills. The potential exists for skill mismatches between the 
Federal workers who lose their jobs and the skill requirements of jobs 
created in the private sector.
  My bill, which I call the Strategic and Reemployment Act of 1995 will 
amend the current law governing employee training to allow the head of 
an agency to pay for retraining for placement outside of Government. 
This simple, but very important change to the law will help Federal 
agencies be more proactive in the retraining of their employees and 
assure their retraining and downsizing objectives are in concert with 
their strategic plan and mission. 

[[Page H15550]]
In most cases, the Federal agency is in the best position to assess the 
skills of their workers and arrange reemployment training and 
outplacement assistance.
  Mr. Speaker, I feel these bills make an important statement to the 
Federal workforce--this Congress appreciates their hard work and 
dedication in serving this country, and during this time of downsizing, 
we are committed to assuring that there is stability in their lives 
too.

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