[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 146 (Monday, October 25, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H10740-H10743]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       AUTHORIZING PAY ADJUSTMENTS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES

  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 915) to authorize a cost of living adjustment in the pay of 
administrative law judges, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 915

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

     SECTION 1. PAY OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES.

       Section 5372(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(1)'' 
     and by striking all after the first sentence and inserting 
     the following:
       ``(B) Within level AL-3, there shall be 6 rates of basic 
     pay, designated as AL-3, rates A through F, respectively. 
     Level AL-2 and level AL-1 shall each have 1 rate of basic 
     pay.
       ``(C) The rate of basic pay for AL-3, rate A, may not be 
     less than 65 percent of the rate of basic pay for level IV of 
     the Executive Schedule, and the rate of basic pay for AL-1 
     may not exceed the rate for level IV of the Executive 
     Schedule.'';
       (2) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ``upon'' each time it 
     appears and inserting ``at the beginning of the next pay 
     period following''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(4) Subject to paragraph (1), effective at the beginning 
     of the first applicable pay period commencing on or after the 
     first day of the month in which an adjustment takes effect 
     under section 5303 in the rates of basic pay under the 
     General Schedule, each rate of basic pay for administrative 
     law judges shall be adjusted by an amount determined by the 
     President to be appropriate.''

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).


                             General Leave

  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on H.R. 915, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 915, sponsored by my esteemed 
colleague the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas). H.R. 915 is a 
bipartisan bill to reform the process for setting the pay of the 
Federal Government's administrative law judges, otherwise known as 
ALJs. The Federal Government employs over 1,400 administrative law 
judges. Their work is crucial and very important to the Federal 
Government's operations. ALJs decide important cases, ranging from the 
Social Security complaints of senior citizens to complex securities 
litigation.
  In order to recruit and retain qualified administrative law judges, 
steps must be taken to ensure their pay remains competitive. 
Regrettably, circumstances are making this difficult. Each grade and 
step of the current ALJ pay schedule is rigidly set as a fixed 
percentage of Level IV of the Executive Schedule. As a result, pay 
increases for ALJs have lagged behind those of their colleagues under 
the general schedule or in the Senior Executive Service.
  This situation creates a disincentive for highly qualified attorneys, 
both in the Federal Government and in the private sector, to compete 
and apply for these important positions. The disincentive is 
particularly acute for private sector attorneys. While they must 
generally start at the bottom of the ALJ pay scale, government 
attorneys at least have the option to keep a comparable salary when 
they become ALJs.
  By reforming the pay-setting process, H.R. 915 will make ALJ 
positions more attractive for attorneys across the board. Although the 
bill retains the current grade and step structure for ALJs, H.R. 915 
provides the President with more flexibility to adjust ALJ pay. Rather 
than link each grade and step to a specific percentage of Level IV of 
the Executive Schedule, H.R. 915 simply establishes minimum and maximum 
rates of pay for ALJs. These are the same as the current minimum of 65 
percent of Level IV and the current maximum of 100 percent of Level IV.
  H.R. 915 also authorizes the President to adjust ALJ pay rates below 
the maximum when employees under the general schedule receive an annual 
pay adjustment. This mirrors the authority the President now has to 
adjust the pay of the Senior Executive Service.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have this chance to offer H.R. 915 for 
consideration by the House. I encourage the support of all Members.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

[[Page H10741]]

  Mr. Speaker, Federal administrative law judges, often referred to as 
the Federal Administrative Trial Judiciary, perform judicial functions 
within the Executive Branch of Government. In adjudicating cases before 
them, administrative law judges conduct formal trial-type hearings, 
make findings of fact and law, apply agency regulations and issue 
either initial or recommended decisions.
  There are over 1,300 ALJs assigned to 31 Federal agencies. The agency 
employing the largest number of ALJs, over 1,184, is the Social 
Security Administration, which has its headquarters in my district in 
Baltimore.
  I am pleased that the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas), the 
author of the legislation before us today, was able to work with the 
Office of Personnel Management to craft a bill that has bipartisan 
support. H.R. 915, a bill to authorize a cost of living adjustment in 
the pay of administrative law judges, makes a needed improvement in the 
ALJ pay system.
  Under current law, both Federal judges and ALJs are paid under the 
Executive Schedule, as are Members of Congress. ALJs are the only 
executive branch Federal employees whose pay is linked to Members of 
Congress. From 1993 through 1996, ALJs and Federal judges received no 
cost of living adjustments because Congress prohibited those subject to 
the Executive Schedule from receiving a COLA.
  When Executive Schedule pay goes unchanged, so does the basic pay for 
ALJs. Consequently, ALJ pay levels have not kept pace with those of 
other groups of Federal employees, such as the General Service and the 
Senior Executive Schedule. Under H.R. 915, the pay adjustment process 
for ALJs would mirror the process for setting the basic pay rates for 
the Senior Executive Schedule. The structure of the ALJ pay system 
would remain unchanged. The bill would retain the minimum and maximum 
rates for the ALJ pay range, while eliminating the specific linkages to 
executive pay within that range. The President would be authorized to 
adjust ALJ pay within that pay range at the same time as SES basic pay 
rates are adjusted, which is the time of the annual GS pay adjustment. 
The top ALJ pay rate could still not exceed the statutory maximum, 
which would remain the rate for the executive Level IV.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and bring the pay of 
administrative law judges in line with other groups of Federal 
employees.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to 
the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella).
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly support this bill. I think we do need 
to include the administrative law judges under H.R. 915, and I hope we 
will be able in the future to look to the Social Security appeals 
judges also.
  I am pleased to also support H.R. 915, which I think is very 
important. I thank also the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) and 
the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for their support of it.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), one who has been at the forefront 
of protecting the rights of Federal employees and who has been a mentor 
to me in regard to those kind of issues and many other issues.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the former Speaker pro tem of the 
Maryland House for his kind words.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 915, which, as 
has been stated, is a bill that will provide the President with the 
authority to provide annual cost of living adjustments to our Nation's 
more than 1,300 Federal administrative judges, the same authority he 
now has, frankly, with respect to members of the Senior Executive 
Service. Currently the pay and step levels for administrative law 
judges are tied to the Executive Schedule, so they are unable to 
receive an increase in pay in the years when the Executive Schedule 
remains unchanged. Since 1991, the basic pay for administrative law 
judges has increased only three times, in 1992, 1993 and not until 
1998, and only one time in the last 5 years, as the figures reflect.

                              {time}  1530

  That is in contrast to employees under the General Schedule and the 
Senior Executive Schedule, who have received a COLA increase in 4 of 
the last 5 years. This legislation will bring the pay of administrative 
law judges into line with career employees in the General Schedule and 
Senior Executive Service.
  Mr. Speaker, prior to 1990, administrative law judges fell under the 
General Schedule and were paid at the GS-15 and 16 rates. In 1990, as 
part of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act, a legislation 
which I had the honor of sponsoring, the judges had their pay linked to 
the executive schedule.
  While this legislation, H.R. 915, will not change the current grade 
and step structures for administrative law judges, it will tie each 
grade and step to fixed percentages of the SES.
  I support this legislation, and hope this bill will provide increased 
competition, and draw the highly qualified candidates that these 
judgeship positions require for the sound administration of the Federal 
Government and Federal rules and regulations.
  I urge my colleagues to join me and the gentlewoman from Illinois and 
the gentleman from Maryland in supporting this legislation.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just take a moment to urge my colleagues to vote 
in favor of this very important legislation. As the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) just stated, one of the things we are most 
concerned about is making sure that we attract the very best to the 
administrative law judge system.
  Certainly, as much as we might not want to think it, pay is very 
important. It is something that does attract. We want to make sure that 
they are treated fairly. They do do an outstanding job over and over 
again, and are sometimes overlooked because they are on the 
administrative law judge level. The fact is, they do a very important 
job.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I think the gentleman's comments are very 
important and relevant. We need to keep focused on that.
  Too often we tend to denigrate Federal service at whatever level, 
from the administrative law judge level to a file clerk. The fact of 
the matter is they are very important to the fair and proper 
administration of the people's government. We certainly want to make 
sure that we have people at these positions who have sound judgment, 
significant legal ability, and can wisely dispose of the issues that 
confront them.
  I also want to say that I very much appreciate the leadership of my 
colleague, the gentleman from Maryland, who has been the ranking member 
of this subcommittee, and as such has worked with the chairman in a 
very positive way in ensuring that we have a sound, wise public 
employee policy in this country. I thank the gentleman for his 
leadership.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. I thank the gentleman very much, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. 
Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for 
yielding time to me, and I thank him for his leadership. As well, I 
thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) and also I thank the 
gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).
  Let me offer to say, having worked with administrative law judges, 
and in particular, serving on the Subcommittee on Immigration and 
Claims, where there is an enormous body of administrative law judges 
that deal with some of the issues that confront immigrants who are 
seeking legal admission to the United States, I do know of the great 
value of the service of the administrative law judges.
  I wanted to offer my support for this legislation as a way of 
equalizing the compensation equal to the amount of work and the amount 
of service that the ALJs participate in.
  My first exposure to ALJs was as a lawyer, but also as a member of 
the

[[Page H10742]]

Houston City Council, because many times constituents, not knowing 
which governmental agency to call, would call with social security 
issues. Those issues invariably might be addressed at the level of the 
ALJs.
  I realize what a heavy caseload ALJs have had in a variety of areas. 
Social security happens to be one. I think that many people do not 
understand the ALJ tasks. They are not Federal judges in terms of not 
being judges that are appointed with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, they come through the administrative civil service process. 
Yet, they serve a very important responsibility.
  When I traveled to visit the detention centers, or at least one of 
the detention centers in New York, I was able to see the work of ALJs 
as they held court right in the detention centers, to give due process 
to those individuals who had been detained who might have an 
explanation or defense for their being detained as an illegal alien or 
with some other concerns. It was the ALJ who presided over the 
proceeding, and was considered the first line of defense, or at least 
the first line of justice for these individuals.
  So I say to the gentleman from Maryland, I simply wanted to add that 
ALJs play an important role in the life of justice in the United 
States. Although they are called administrative law judges, and they 
respond to the administrative process and they come through a civil 
service process, they are competent, they are qualified, they are 
trained lawyers, and therefore, they are very much a cornerstone to the 
justice system in this country.
  I am delighted that we are now correcting or at least providing 
adequate compensation in this manner.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to rise in support of H.R. 915, which 
authorizes a Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA), in the pay of 
Administrative Law Judges. Specifically, H.R. 915 reforms the 
compensation process for Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) by 
establishing maximum and minimum salaries for Administrative Law 
Judges.
  Currently, Administrative Law Judges are appointed pursuant to Title 
5 of the United States Code, establishing the Administrative Law Judge 
as an independent decision maker who implements the Administrative 
Procedure Act.
  In an age where a good percentage of this country's legal minds are 
practicing their craft in the private sector, government must do all it 
can to attract and keep qualified practitioners of the Judiciary. Under 
current law, both Federal Judges and Administrative Law Judges are paid 
under the executive Schedule, as are members of Congress.
  From 1993 through 1996, Administrative Law Judges and Federal Judges 
received no Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) because Congress 
restricted those subject to the Executive Schedule from receiving a 
COLA. When the Executive Schedule pay remains unchanged, so does the 
basic pay for Administrative Law Judges. As a result, the pay of 
Administrative Law Judges has not kept pace with those of other groups 
of federal employees, such as the General Schedule and the Senior 
Executive Schedule.
  H.R. 915 seeks to address these concerns by adjusting the pay process 
for Administrative Law Judges to mirror the process for setting the 
basic pay rates for the Senior Executive Service. This bill would 
authorize the President to adjust the pay for Administrative Law Judges 
within the pay range at the same time that Senior Executive Service 
basic pay rates are adjusted, which is the time of the annual General 
Service pay adjustment. The top Administrative Law Judge pay rate will 
still not exceed the statutory maximum, which would remain the rate for 
Executive Level IV. As a result, instead of adjusting Administrative 
Law Judges's rates only when there is an increase in executive pay, the 
President could adjust any Administrative Law Judge pay rate, which had 
not reached the statutory maximum.
  Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, this is a well-needed bill that will 
compensate our judges for a job well done. I urge its adoption.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for what she had to say. 
As I was listening to the gentlewoman, I could not help but remember, 
in law school one of the things we learn early on is before one gets to 
court, they have to exhaust their administrative process first, so they 
do play a very important role. Many cases are resolved before they get 
to the courts. Our courts would certainly be clogged if they were not 
resolved.
  I want to thank the gentlewoman for her comments. I am sure it means 
a lot to all of our administrative law judges who might be listening or 
may read this transcript.
  Mr. Speaker, again, I would urge all Members to vote in favor of this 
very important legislation. I also want to thank the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) for her efforts with regard to this, and also 
the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Scarborough), the chairman of our 
subcommittee, and certainly the chairman of the full committee and the 
ranking member.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 915 is supported by the administration, the 
Association of Administrative Law Judges, the Federal Administrative 
Law Judges Conference, the American Bar Association, and the Federal 
Bar Association.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 915 is good public policy, and will help attract 
some of the best and brightest legal minds to serve as administrative 
law judges. I thank the sponsor of this bill, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas) for his work on this important issue. I also 
applaud the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) for his leadership 
in this legislation. I urge all Members to vote for H.R. 915.
  Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support H.R. 915 and I 
am proud to have been a co-sponsor of this important legislation. I 
would like to thank my good friend and colleague from Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Gekas, for introducing this important legislation. I would also like to 
thank the Civil Service Subcommittee and Chairman Joe Scarborough for 
acting on this legislation in such a timely manner. It is a fair bill 
and is sorely needed. With the recent passage of legislation to grant 
virtually all Federal civilian and military employees a 4.8 percent pay 
raise, this bill would finally permit a small number of administrative 
law judges, also career employees, the right to have their pay 
adjustment determined by the President on an annual basis.
  At the present time, ALJs are on the Executive Pay Schedule which 
includes Members of Congress, Cabinet Secretaries, and Federal District 
Court Judges. As a result of this classification, ALJs have received 
only two cost-of-living-adjustments in the past 8 years. Unfortunately, 
ALJs have been caught in the middle of the controversial political 
debate surrounding pay raises for Members of Congress and have not 
received a pay increase. This is despite the fact that their salaries 
are commensurate with that of the Senior Executive Service (SES), or 
General Schedule employees. Clearly, it is appropriate to decouple ALJ 
pay raises from congressional pay raises and not freeze their salaries.
  These career employees are among the very few career Federal 
employees who pay is still tied to congressional salaries. H.R. 915 
will place them on the same level as the Senior Executive Service. This 
change is supported by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and was 
included in the President's FY 2000 budget request. The President will 
make the final decision each year as to what, if any pay adjustment 
these employees will have. This change is critically important to 
encouraging qualified individuals to serve as ALJs and to begin to 
adequately compensate those who are currently working as ALJs.
  Mr. Speaker, many ALJs live in my congressional district in Northern 
Virginia. I am glad to see that we are taking action on this 
legislation before the end of the year. ALJs have had to wait too many 
years for the appropriate level of compensation. This bill is good 
public policy and will encourage the best and the brightest to serve 
their government. I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 915 
today. Again, I would like to thank my colleague from Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Gekas for introducing this legislation and working tirelessly to 
shepherd it through the legislative process.
  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support for H.R. 915, a bill 
that will change the manner in which the approximately 1,300 
administrative law judges (ALJs) in Federal agencies receive annual 
cost of living adjustments. I want to thank Chairman Burton for his 
leadership in steering the bill through the Government Reform 
Committee, along with both the current and former Civil Service 
Subcommittee Chairmen Scarborough and Mica for their help in bringing 
this bill forward, and for their continued efforts to correct the 
injustice done to ALJ compensation. I would also like to thank OPM for 
their time and technical expertise in helping to put this bill 
together.
  H.R. 915 is a bipartisan and noncontroversial bill that passed 
through both the Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and 
Administrative Law and the Civil Service Subcommittee and the full 
government Reform Committees by unanimous consent on voice votes 
without objection. The bipartisan cosponsorship of

[[Page H10743]]

H.R. 915, as well as the support of the administration, expressed in a 
May, 1999 hearing in my Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and 
Administrative Law, are a testament to the strong support for this 
legislation.
  Administrative law judges serve a vital role as an administrative 
judiciary to insure agency compliance with the Administrative Procedure 
Act. In fact, the average citizen is far more likely to appeal to these 
judges for redress of claims against the government than to the Federal 
courts.
  The ALJ position demands commitment and a high degree of professional 
legal competence as a senior trial attorney. Therefore, it is important 
that Federal agencies maintain the ability to attract high quality 
lawyers to serve as ALJs.
  In 1990 in recognition of the ALJ's unique role as independent 
decision makers, Congress and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) 
created a judicial pay classification for the ALJs, at 60 percent to 90 
percent of level four of the Executive Schedule. The new classification 
is above the General Schedule 16 classification, and was to compensate 
ALJs at a level similar to Senior Executive Service (SES) employees.
  Unfortunately, according to OPM, ALJ pay has fallen to the level of 
GS 15 pay and has not maintained the level of SES pay. As a result, 
OPM, the American Bar Association, and the Federal Bar Association have 
all expressed concerns that the high quality of ALJ candidates will be 
diminished if ALJ compensation is not competitive with other senior 
level Federal employees.
  I have sought to correct this erosion in the ALJ pay since the last 
Congress, when I introduced H.R. 1240 last session to provide ALJs a 
cost of living adjustment (COLA) when the General Schedule received a 
COLA. H.R. 1240 passed the full House Judiciary Committee last year by 
voice vote without any objection, and was included in the draft Civil 
Service Subcommittee reform package.
  OPM proposed some changes to that approach, and I have embodied those 
changes in the text for H.R. 915 this year, which would treat ALJs the 
same as SES for COLA purposes. It does not grant an automatic COLA, but 
instead gives the President the discretion and authority to grant a 
COLA and the rate.
  Additionally, I would like to point out that H.R. 915 would for the 
first time allow ALJs to have access to the COLA funds already 
contained in the budgets of the agencies where they sit, requiring no 
new appropriation of funds. Currently, these already appropriated ALJ 
COLA funds go to pay additional bonuses for SES personnel.
  Enactment of H.R. 915 is a modest step to maintain a competent and 
independent Federal ALJ corps, and I urge its passage by the House.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 915, legislation 
to authorize a cost of living adjustment in the pay of administrative 
law judges. Furthermore, I want to thank the sponsor of this H.R. 915, 
my friend and colleague the gentleman from Pennsylvania, George Gekas 
and Civil Service Subcommittee chair, Joe Scarborough for all of their 
hard work on this important legislation. H.R. 915 will adjust the basic 
pay for the more than 1,300 administrative law judges employed by the 
Federal Government and will authorize to the President the same 
authority to provide annual pay adjustments to ALJs who now serve in 
the Senior Executive Service.
  The pay for ALJs has not kept pace over the years with those in other 
Federal employee positions, making it extremely difficult to attract 
and retain qualified and experienced attorneys to serve as ALJs.
  Throughout my tenure in Congress I have had the opportunity to work 
with many of our ALJs and have always found their abilities and 
commitment to public service second to none. The bill before us today 
will not only reward our ALJs for their tireless dedicated years of 
public service, but will insure that the Federal Government will 
continue to maintain an exceptional ALJ roster.
  Accordingly, I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Goodlatte). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 915, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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