[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 172 (Wednesday, November 7, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        INTRODUCTION OF THE ``TELEWORK IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2007''

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                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 7, 2007

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, telework continues to be under 
utilized by Federal agencies. Improvements are needed to allow more 
Federal employees to participate in telework programs. Today, 
Representative Sarbanes will join me in introducing legislation that 
will ensure that agencies make those much needed improvements. Telework 
provides numerous benefits including increased flexibilities for both 
employers and employees, continuity of operations during emergency 
events, and decreased energy use and air pollution.
  The Office of Personnel Management, OPM, defines telework as ``work 
arrangements in which an employee regularly performs officially 
assigned duties at home or other worksites geographically convenient to 
the residence of the employee.'' Many of the current Federal programs 
were developed in response to a provision included in an appropriations 
bill enacted in October 2000. This law requires each executive branch 
agency to establish a telework policy under which eligible employees 
``may participate in telecommunting to the maximum extent possible 
without diminishing employee performance.'' Under the current 
legislative framework, the General Services Administration, GSA, and 
OPM have leading roles in implementing government-wide telework 
initiatives.
  Unfortunately, telework is not being used to the extent it should be. 
According to OPM's most recent report, only about 119,000 of the 
approximately 1.8 million Federal employees participated in telework in 
2005. That figure represents only 6.6 percent of Federal agency 
employees. Some of the barriers to telework include office coverage, 
organizational culture, management resistance, and technology security 
and funding. Today we want to examine ways to address these barriers 
and encourage teleworking.
  On May 7, 2007, I, along with my colleagues, Representative Kenny 
Marchant, full committee Chairman Henry Waxman, and Ranking Member Tom 
Davis sent a letter to 25 Federal departments and agencies requesting 
information on the telework programs of those agencies. The letter was 
intended to help us better understand how well agency telework programs 
are working. What we found is that not only is telework inconsistently 
defined across agencies, many agencies, do not effectively measure and 
track teleworkers. Some agencies do not even know how many of their 
employees actually telework.
  In recent years, telework has increasingly been viewed as an 
important tool for ensuring continuity of essential government services 
in a time of crisis, such as in the event of a natural disaster or a 
terrorist attack. To help improve the preparedness of the Federal 
Government's operation in emergency situations, last session, I 
introduced H.R. 5366, the ``Continuity of Operations Demonstration 
Project Act.'' This legislation provided for a demonstration project 
under which at least two Federal agencies would perform services and 
operations under a simulated emergency in which Federal employees would 
have to work at locations away from their usual workplace, including 
home, for at least 10 consecutive days. A number of agencies have taken 
the initiative to perform demonstration exercises in the last several 
years but there are still many agencies that have not done so. I would 
like to see more agencies test their ability to continue operations in 
an emergency and incorporate telework into their continuity of 
operations plans.
  Representative John Sarbanes, House Oversight and Government Reform 
Chairman Henry Waxman, and Representative Frank Wolf have joined me in 
introducing the ``Telework Improvement Act of 2007.'' This legislation 
breaks new ground by ensuring that eligible Federal employees have the 
opportunity to telework and that agencies are incorporating telework 
into their continuity of operations planning. The Act spurs Federal 
agencies to improve their telework policies by requiring every Federal 
agency to develop a telework program that allows employees to telework 
at least 20 percent of every 2-week work period, designate a senior 
level employee as a telework managing officer, and incorporate telework 
into their continuity of operations planning.
  Our expectation is that this legislation will increase the number of 
Federal employees that are allowed to telework and thereby better 
prepare the Government for emergency events, reduce congestion and 
pollution, and create a more family-friendly workplace.

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