[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 30, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E69]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


      FEDERAL EMPLOYEE DEPENDENT CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, H.R. 252

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 30, 2001

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation, which 
will benefit Federal employees around the country. This bill will 
provide our Federal employees with a benefit that many of their 
counterparts in the private sector enjoy.
  The time has finally arrived for the Federal Government to become 
more competitive with the private sector to help gain and retain 
qualified employees. The private sector has been able to hire the best 
and brightest employees and offer competitive benefits and pay while 
the Federal Government has seen its top workers flee for the higher 
paying jobs of the private sector.
  By providing employees with the opportunity to participate in the 
Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP), we are giving parents more 
flexibility and choices when it comes to paying for child care. DCAP is 
similar to a medical savings account in that an employee can choose to 
set aside a portion of their income without it being taxed, for the 
sole purpose of paying for child care expenses. This type of program is 
used widely in the public sector and it is high time for Federal 
Employees to be able to use this program as well.
  Moreover, this legislation sets an example for those businesses that 
do not offer similar benefits to their employees. For years, the 
Federal government has been a model for the private sector especially 
in the area of employee provided health care benefits and coverage of 
medical procedures and it is our hope that this legislation will 
inspire more businesses to offer similar benefits to their employees.
  Accordingly, I am pleased to be sponsoring this legislation and I am 
confident that by affording our Federal employees their benefit, we 
will help to create a more family friendly Federal Government.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit a full copy of this Text of H.R. 252 to be 
inserting at this point in the Record:

                                H.R. 252

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

     SECTION 1. DEPENDENT CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR FEDERAL 
                   EMPLOYEES.

       Subpart G of part III of title 5, United States Code, is 
     amended by inserting after chapter 87 the following:
            ``CHAPTER 88--DEPENDENT CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

     ``Sec. 8801. Definitions

       ``(a) For the purpose of this chapter, `employee' means--
       ``(1) an employee as defined by section 2105 of this title;
       ``(2) a Member of Congress as defined by section 2106 of 
     this title;
       ``(3) a Congressional employee as defined by section 2107 
     of this title;
       ``(4) the President;
       ``(5) a justice or judge of the United States appointed to 
     hold office during good behavior (i) who is in regular active 
     judicial service, or (ii) who is retired from regular active 
     service under section 371(b) or 372(a) of title 28, United 
     States Code, or (iii) who has resigned the judicial office 
     under section 371(a) of title 28 with the continued right 
     during the remainder of his lifetime to receive the salary of 
     the office at the time of his resignation;
       ``(6) an individual first employed by the government of the 
     District of Columbia before October 1, 1987;
       ``(7) an individual employed by Gallaudet College;
       ``(8) an individual employed by a county committee 
     established under section 590h(b) of title 16;
       ``(9) an individual appointed to a position on the office 
     staff of a former President under section 1(b) of the Act of 
     August 25, 1958 (72 Stat. 838); and
       ``(10) an individual appointed to a position on the office 
     staff of a former President, or a former Vice President under 
     section 4 of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, as 
     amended (78 Stat. 153), who immediately before the date of 
     such appointment was an employee as defined under any other 
     paragraph of this subsection;

     but does not include--
       ``(A) an employee of a corporation supervised by the Farm 
     Credit Administration if private interests elect or appoint a 
     member of the board of directors;
       ``(B) an individual who is not a citizen or national of the 
     United States and whose permanent duty station is outside the 
     United States, unless the individual was an employee for the 
     purpose of this chapter on September 30, 1979, by reason of 
     service in an Executive agency, the United States Postal 
     Service, or the Smithsonian Institution in the area which was 
     then known as the Canal Zone; or
       ``(C) an employee excluded by regulation of the Office of 
     Personnel Management under section 8716(b) of this title.
       ``(b) For the purpose of this chapter, `dependent care 
     assistance program' has the meaning given such term by 
     section 129(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

     Sec. 8802. Dependent care assistance program

       ``The Office of Personnel Management shall establish and 
     maintain a dependent care assistance program for the benefit 
     of employees.''.