Congressional Record, Volume 156 Issue 44 (Monday, March 22, 2010)

[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 44 (Monday, March 22, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H2181-H2182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

NATIONAL GUARD EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION ACT OF 2010

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1879) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for
employment and reemployment rights for certain individuals ordered to
full-time National Guard duty, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 1879

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``National Guard Employment
Protection Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS FOLLOWING CERTAIN NATIONAL GUARD
DUTY.

(a) Reemployment Rights.--Section 4312(c)(4) of title 38,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (D);
(2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (E)
and inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(F) ordered to full-time National Guard duty under the
provisions of section 502(f) of title 32 when the period of
duty is expressly designated in writing by the Secretary of
Defense as covered by this subparagraph.''.
(b) Effective Date.--Subparagraph (F) of section 4312(c)(4)
of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a),
shall apply with respect to an individual ordered to full-
time National Guard duty under section 502(f) of title 32,
United States Code, on or after September 11, 2001, and shall
entitle such individual to rights and benefits under chapter
43 of title 38 of such Code on or after that date.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Filner) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I would like to thank Congressman Mike Coffman of Colorado who is
here with us for introducing the National Guard Employment Protection
Act of 2010. One of the protections provided by the Uniformed Services
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA, is to require
employers to support a servicemember's absence for up to 5 years if
called to active military duty. At the time when USERRA was enacted
into law back in 1994, Congress intended to minimize the disruption to
the lives of servicemembers as well as to their employers and prohibit
discrimination against persons because of their service in the
military.
Unfortunately, current statute does not provide National Guard
members who are ordered to full-time active duty with the same
protections. This is especially disheartening at a time when our Guard
is called up to active duty in support of missions to secure the
homeland or provide relief abroad. And of course since 9/11, the Guard
has been doing almost half of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Many of them are bumping against the 5-year USERRA protection for their
civilian jobs, and H.R. 1879 seeks to address this inequity and extend
reemployment rights for those ordered to full-time National Guard duty.
Congressman Harry Teague of New Mexico worked with Congressman
Coffman to add a provision to allow the Secretary of Defense to
designate which duties qualify. So I would like to thank the gentleman
from Colorado and the gentleman from New Mexico for their bipartisan
efforts on this important bill. It is time, Madam Speaker, that
Congress ensures that members of the National Guard are afforded the
employment protections they deserve. I urge all my colleagues to join
me in support of this legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. STEARNS. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1879, as
amended.
This bill amends title 38 United States Code to provide for
employment and reemployment rights for certain individuals ordered to
full-time National Guard duty. Madam Speaker, it's well known that the
National Guard and Reserve units have carried a significant load in the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of these units have served multiple
combat tours, and others have provided homeland security services, such
as maintaining an airborne alert here in the D.C. area. Additionally,
Guard units have performed heroically at times when natural disasters
like Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
As a result of these demands, many of the members of the Guard have
accumulated significant active duty time and are now in danger of
exceeding the 5-year limit on active duty that is protected under the
Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA. So
I'm pleased that our colleague Mike Coffman from Colorado has taken the
action to recognize that active duty performed under title 32 should be
added to the types of duties exempted from the 5-year limit. I also
thank Chairman Herseth Sandlin and Ranking Member Boozman of the
Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for their bipartisan work, as well
as Chairman Filner for bringing this bill to the floor.
With that, Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to Mr.
Coffman, a fellow veteran who served in the Army and the Marines in the
first gulf war and second gulf war in Iraq.
Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. I thank the gentleman from Florida.
Madam Speaker, I am proud to stand before you today in strong support
of H.R. 1879, the National Guard Employment Protection Act. I created
this legislation in order to extend the same reemployment rights for
all of our National Guard personnel regardless of whether they are
assigned to a homeland security mission or deployed overseas to Iraq or
Afghanistan. Under current law, the members of the National Guard who
are called up for active duty in support of homeland security missions
inside the United States are not provided the same reemployment rights
to their civilian occupations that other members of the National Guard
and Reserve have when they are called to active duty for overseas
military assignments.
There is no doubt that the soldiers and the airmen serving in the
National Guard must have the same reemployment rights irrespective of
where they are ordered to serve. The bill recognizes that those who are
called up for homeland security missions can face the same hardships
and challenges in trying to return to their civilian employment as
someone who has been away from their civilian occupation due to an
overseas military assignment.
With the passage of H.R. 1879, National Guard members will no longer
have to worry about being put into a position where they are forced to
choose between retaining their civilian employment or serving our
Nation in a critical homeland security mission.
Mr. STEARNS. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R.
1879, as amended, the National Guard Employment Protection Act of 2010.
I have no further requests for time, so I yield back the balance of
my time.

General Leave

Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on H.R. 1879, as amended.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. FILNER. I want to urge everybody to support this important
legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 1879, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not
present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

[[Page H2182]]

____________________