[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 130 (Friday, August 1, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          OPTIONAL ELECTRONIC PAY STUBS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

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                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 29, 2008

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
H.R. 6073, ``To provide that Federal employees receiving their pay by 
electronic funds transfer shall be given the option of receiving their 
pay stubs electronically.'' First, I would like to thank my colleague, 
Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, for introducing this important 
legislation. This bill will allow all Federal employees receiving their 
pay by electronic funds transfer to receive their pay stubs 
electronically. This will bring much needed reform to a system that has 
become less transparent due to the advent of electronic, online 
banking. I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this act.
  H.R. 6073 is important because of the need to create a streamlined, 
direct pay system that is at the same time transparent with clear 
authentication, allowing the over 1 million Federal employees to be 
able to back up their electronic funds with electronic pay stubs. These 
pay stubs will provide a necessary, substantive back-up to ensure that 
the many employees using electronic funds transfer have the same access 
to a transparent financial record.
  H.R. 6073, ``To provide that Federal employees receiving their pay by 
electronic funds transfer shall be given the option of receiving their 
pay stubs electronically,'' is a fair, equitable step that will bring 
the Federal Government toward a clearer, more direct standard for all 
Federal employees using electronic funds transfer.
  Upon enactment of the act, the Office of Personnel Management, OPM, 
would be required to provide Federal employees that receive their pay 
through electronic transfer with the option of also receiving their pay 
stubs electronically. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 
implementation of this act will have no effect on the budget, and this 
act does not contain any intergovernmental or private sector mandates, 
and hence does not apply to local or State governments.
  This bill will benefit the many thousands of Federal employees 
receiving their pay by electronic funds transfer by giving them the 
option to receive their pay stubs electronically. This option will 
provide greater authentication and transparency, without costing 
taxpayers, and without affecting private businesses, and State and 
local government.
  This bipartisan bill will benefit the many Federal Government 
employees in Houston, Texas, and the Nation as a whole, while coming at 
no cost to the taxpayers of Texas' 18th. This simple reform should 
create an improved electronic pay system, benefiting countless 
Government employees.

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