[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 156 (Monday, November 8, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S14296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DODD:
  S. 1881. A bill to amend chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, 
to make certain temporary Federal service creditable for retirement 
purposes; to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.


                      THE FERS BUYBACK ACT OF 1999

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, today I am introducing the FERS Buyback Act 
of 1999, legislation that offers retirement security to many federal 
employees. Companion legislation has already been introduced in the 
House. Specifically, this legislation would help employees throughout 
the country hired as temporary workers in the 1980s that continued to 
work for the federal government into the 1990s.
  Hundreds of current and former term employees in federal service find 
themselves ineligible to receive retirement benefits because of their 
inability to receive credit for post-1988 service as temporary federal 
workers.
  This legislation would close a loophole in the federal pension system 
that has adversely impacted many federal workers through no fault of 
their own. It would change current law to allow individuals who have 
become eligible for the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) the 
option to receive credit for their past service as temporary employees 
and pay into the retirement fund for the prior years they worked as 
temporary employees. Because the legislation would merely allow 
qualified workers to buy into the retirement system, the government 
would not incur costs that it would not have incurred had the law 
treated them as permanent employees.
  During the 1980s, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) 
hired thousands of employees under temporary status in response to the 
savings and loan crisis. Despite their temporary designation, many 
served in excess of five years with the federal government because of 
the FDIC's annual renewal of their one-year contracts. Unfortunately, 
these loyal employees did not enjoy the retirement benefits accorded 
their colleagues serving the same length of service under permanent 
status. To their credit, the FDIC did try to rectify the problem 
several years ago by granting many of their former temporary employees 
term appointments. Such appointments are for more than one year and 
allowed employees to be eligible for FERS.
  The original FERS Act allowed for employees to make payments or buy 
back certain years of service prior to 1989 for which deductions were 
not taken. Therefore, the bill unintentionally denied many federal 
employees credit for time served after January 1, 1989.
  I invite you to join me in correcting this inequity and ask that you 
cosponsor this fair and straightforward legislation.
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