[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 132 (Tuesday, September 28, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H7038-H7039]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               AMENDING RULE ON FIREFIGHTER OVERTIME PAY

  Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 3243) to amend section 5542 of title 5, United States Code, to 
provide that any hours worked by Federal firefighters under a qualified 
trade-of-time arrangement shall be excluded for purposes of 
determinations relating to overtime pay.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3243

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

     SECTION 1. TREATMENT OF HOURS WORKED UNDER A TRADE-OF-TIME 
                   ARRANGEMENTS.

       Section 5542 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(g)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
     section, any hours worked by a firefighter under a qualified 
     trade-of-time arrangement shall be disregarded for purposes 
     of any determination relating to eligibility for or the 
     amount of any overtime pay under this section.
       ``(2) For purposes of this section--
       ``(A) the term `qualified trade-of-time arrangement' means 
     an arrangement under which 2 firefighters who are employed by 
     the same agency agree, solely at their option and with the 
     approval of their employing agency, to substitute for one 
     another during scheduled work hours in performance of work in 
     the same capacity; and
       ``(B) the term `firefighter' has the meaning given such 
     term by sections 8331(21) and 8401(14), respectively.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Chu) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.


                             General Leave

  Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 3243, legislation to promote flexibility in 
work arrangements and scheduling for Federal firefighters. H.R. 3243 
was introduced by Representative John Sarbanes, the gentleman from 
Maryland, on July 16, 2009. The bill was reported favorably by the 
Oversight and Government Reform Committee on September 23, 2010.
  H.R. 3243 allows federal firefighters to trade shifts without 
triggering mandatory overtime payments and added costs for their 
agency. The bill simply allows traded time to be excluded from the 
calculation of overtime. This grants more leave flexibility to these 
workers, without costing the government any money. The change is 
consistent with the workplace practices of state and municipal fire 
departments across the country. Under the bill, any decision to approve 
the workers' request to switch shifts would remain at the discretion of 
the employing agency. Trade time will boost federal agencies' ability 
to recruit and retain trained firefighters. The bill is strongly 
supported by the International Association of Firefighters.
  I thank Mr. Sarbanes for his work on this bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we have a substantive bill here, and I appreciate the 
leadership bringing it up in the committee we are working on.
  One of the things we haven't done enough on Government Oversight, and 
I think the American people say we haven't done enough as a Congress as 
a whole, is to look at those things that we are doing in the government 
that are not efficient, not effective, and, frankly, can be very 
wasteful not just of the taxpayers' money but in their time.
  This bill is a commonsense approach. It changes the accounting 
process and really makes the system much more user friendly for those 
who are serving.
  As the lady from California pointed out, those of us from California 
know how important the Federal firefighters can be. We just recently 
had massive fires break out again, and we are sadly looking forward to 
another season that could be very, very damaging. These firefighters 
are not just those covering military installations but actually protect 
homes throughout the country, especially in those fire-prone areas such 
as California.
  I would again just say that I think this is appropriate. It is those 
little things that add up that the American people have been asking us 
to do more of, and I think this is one of those bipartisan issues. We 
can go back to our districts and say there is a lot of stuff we haven't 
done, we really need to do more, but at least we got together and got 
this item done. And this item could not only save money but may be able 
to make the system work efficiently.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, as Chairman of the House Subcommittee with 
jurisdiction over the Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the 
District of Columbia, and as a strong supporter of this bill, I am 
pleased that the House will act today to advance H.R. 3243. The bill, 
introduced by Congressman John Sarbanes of Maryland, will allow federal 
fire fighters to trade shifts with each other, without triggering 
required overtime payments from their employing agencies. Notably, 
state and municipal fire fighters have long been able to swap shifts, 
or to exchange time, and still be paid according to the original work 
schedule. Such workplace flexibility aids in boosting employee morale 
and increases overall retention rates, without costing these local and 
state governments any additional money.
  The Sarbanes bill simply amends title 5 by excluding trade time from 
the calculation of overtime pay for federal fire fighters. Clearly, it 
will still be up to the agency--such as the Department of Defense--to 
approve the request to switch schedules. The bill's enactment will 
actually save federal agencies money, because under current law, 
agencies must at times pay overtime for fill-in workers. However, under 
this legislation, these entities will now have employees voluntarily 
agreeing to work shifts without overtime being required.
  Again, extending a small amount of scheduling flexibility to our 
federal fire fighters--that neither increases agency costs nor reduces 
manpower--is the right thing to do. Moreover, the bill's enactment will 
increase the attractiveness of federal fire fighters positions,

[[Page H7039]]

that at present can actually go unfilled for as long as half a year.
  I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all federal fire fighters 
as well as other fire fighters, including those recently combating the 
fires in the Salt Lake City suburbs, as well as my own fire fighters 
from Boston Local 718.
  I also want to express my appreciation to Chairman Towns for his 
unwavering commitment to extending workplace flexibilities to all 
federal workers--regardless of whether they are white collar desk 
workers or shift workers such as our federal fire fighters.
  Mr. BIlBRAY. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. CHU. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3243.
  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. BILBRAY. Mr. 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.

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