[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 9, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H485]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN ENHANCEMENT ACT AND FEDERAL 
                 EMPLOYEE CHILD CARE AFFORDABILITY ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Sweeney). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 19, 1999, the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. 
Morella) is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce the recent 
introduction of two important pieces of legislation to enhance the 
quality of life of Federal employees and to invite my colleagues to 
join in cosponsoring this legislation.
  Federal employees play vital roles in ensuring that the many 
important services offered by the Federal Government are provided to 
citizens of the United States when they are needed. All too often, 
instead of being rewarded for their work on behalf of all Americans, 
Federal employees find themselves facing many arbitrary barriers 
restricting their ability to enjoy many of the privileges that other 
Americans enjoy.
  In a recent column in the Washington Post, Mike Causey pointed out 
the unfair situation under current law prohibiting Federal employees 
from saving for their retirement in the same manner as private sector 
employees with 401(k) plans. To address this, and other inequities 
affecting Federal employees' retirement savings, I have introduced H.R. 
483, the Federal Thrift Savings Plan Enhancement Act. This legislation 
will provide Federal employees with tools essential to ensure that the 
Thrift Savings Plan meets their retirement needs.
  The bill will allow employees to invest up to the IRS limit of 
$10,000 to the Thrift Savings Plan without changing the government 
contribution. Currently, FERS employees can put up to 10 percent of 
their salary into their TSP accounts. CSRS employees can only invest up 
to 5 percent of their salary into these accounts. This arbitrary 
percentage limitation works to the clear detriment of Federal 
employees.
  For instance, a FERS employee at a GS-10 level earning $35,498 per 
year, may only contribute 10 percent, or $3,550 annually, into his or 
her TSP account. However, someone in the private sector earning the 
same amount may contribute as much as $10,000 annually into his or her 
401(k) account, which is $6,450 more than the similarly situated 
Federal employee may invest.
  My legislation is a sensible way to encourage Federal employees to 
increase their savings for retirement. At a time when we are 
encouraging Americans of all age to save and invest more for their 
retirements, it is absolutely inequitable to arbitrarily restrict the 
ability of these employees to invest in their retirements in the same 
manner as private sector employees with 401(k) plans.
  In addition to remedying this inequity, my bill will eliminate all 
waiting periods for employee contributions to the TSP for new hires and 
rehires, making these employees eligible to contribute their own funds 
to the TSP immediately. President Clinton declared, during his State of 
the Union address, that ``We must help all Americans from their first 
day on the job to save, to invest, to create wealth.'' Well, this bill 
will enable Federal employees to do just that, to begin investing for 
their retirement from day one.
  Finally, this legislation ensures the portability of retirement 
savings by authorizing employees to roll in money from a private sector 
401(k) to their TSP accounts. That really does make sense. Doing this 
gives employees entering the Federal work force the ability to continue 
managing their retirement account and maximize the wealth that these 
accounts create.
  America has one of the lowest savings rates among industrialized 
countries. It has fallen steadily over the last 20 years, seriously 
jeopardizing Americans' security during what should be their golden 
years. While Americans recognize they should be saving more, half of 
all family heads in their late 50s possess less than $10,000 in net 
financial assets. With the retirement of America's baby boomers 
approaching, Congress must encourage Americans to save more, and this 
legislation is an important tool in empowering Federal employees to do 
precisely that.
  I also want to point out that I am also working on child care needs. 
Critically important. I have introduced H.R. 206, the Federal Employee 
Child Care Affordability Act. It is a bipartisan bill. It will allow 
Federal agencies to use their salary and expense accounts to help 
executive agency employees pay for child care. Surprisingly enough, 
under current law, they cannot do that. So they need the authorization 
which would come from this bill, and the Federal agencies want it.
  This bill, developed with the help of OPM, would allow agencies to 
pay a portion of the providers' operating costs, thus enabling child 
care centers to reduce the fees charged to lower income Federal 
employees. And, frankly, Mr. Speaker, it does not require any 
additional appropriations.
  I do hope that all of my colleagues will join in cosponsoring these 
two important pieces of legislation.

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