[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 151 (Thursday, November 18, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H7560-H7569]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TELEWORK ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2010

  Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1721, I call 
up the bill (H.R. 1722) to improve teleworking in executive agencies by 
developing a telework program that allows employees to telework at 
least 20 percent of the hours worked in every 2 administrative 
workweeks, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendment thereto, 
and I have a motion at the desk.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will designate the Senate 
amendment.
  The text of the Senate amendment is as follows:

       Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Telework Enhancement Act of 
     2010''.

     SEC. 2. TELEWORK.

       (a) In General.--Part III of title 5, United States Code, 
     is amended by inserting after chapter 63 the following:

                         ``CHAPTER 65--TELEWORK

``Sec.
``6501. Definitions.
``6502. Executive agencies telework requirement.
``6503. Training and monitoring.
``6504. Policy and support.
``6505. Telework Managing Officer.
``6506. Reports.

     ``Sec. 6501. Definitions

       ``In this chapter:
       ``(1) Employee.--The term `employee' has the meaning given 
     that term under section 2105.
       ``(2) Executive agency.--Except as provided in section 
     6506, the term `executive agency' has the meaning given that 
     term under section 105.
       ``(3) Telework.--The term `telework' or `teleworking' 
     refers to a work flexibility arrangement under which an 
     employee performs the duties and responsibilities of such 
     employee's position, and other authorized activities, from an 
     approved worksite other than the location from which the 
     employee would otherwise work.

     ``Sec. 6502. Executive agencies telework requirement

       ``(a) Telework Eligibility.--
       ``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
     of enactment of this chapter, the head of each executive 
     agency shall--
       ``(A) establish a policy under which eligible employees of 
     the agency may be authorized to telework;
       ``(B) determine the eligibility for all employees of the 
     agency to participate in telework; and
       ``(C) notify all employees of the agency of their 
     eligibility to telework.
       ``(2) Limitation.--An employee may not telework under a 
     policy established under this section if--
       ``(A) the employee has been officially disciplined for 
     being absent without permission for more than 5 days in any 
     calendar year; or
       ``(B) the employee has been officially disciplined for 
     violations of subpart G of the Standards of Ethical Conduct 
     for Employees of the Executive Branch for viewing, 
     downloading, or exchanging pornography, including child 
     pornography, on a Federal Government computer or while 
     performing official Federal Government duties.
       ``(b) Participation.--The policy described under subsection 
     (a) shall--
       ``(1) ensure that telework does not diminish employee 
     performance or agency operations;
       ``(2) require a written agreement that--
       ``(A) is entered into between an agency manager and an 
     employee authorized to telework, that outlines the specific 
     work arrangement that is agreed to; and
       ``(B) is mandatory in order for any employee to participate 
     in telework;
       ``(3) provide that an employee may not be authorized to 
     telework if the performance of that employee does not comply 
     with the terms of the written agreement between the agency 
     manager and that employee;

[[Page H7561]]

       ``(4) except in emergency situations as determined by the 
     head of an agency, not apply to any employee of the agency 
     whose official duties require on a daily basis (every work 
     day)--
       ``(A) direct handling of secure materials determined to be 
     inappropriate for telework by the agency head; or
       ``(B) on-site activity that cannot be handled remotely or 
     at an alternate worksite; and
       ``(5) be incorporated as part of the continuity of 
     operations plans of the agency in the event of an emergency.

     ``Sec. 6503. Training and monitoring

       ``(a) In General.--The head of each executive agency shall 
     ensure that--
       ``(1) an interactive telework training program is provided 
     to--
       ``(A) employees eligible to participate in the telework 
     program of the agency; and
       ``(B) all managers of teleworkers;
       ``(2) except as provided under subsection (b), an employee 
     has successfully completed the interactive telework training 
     program before that employee enters into a written agreement 
     to telework described under section 6502(b)(2);
       ``(3) teleworkers and nonteleworkers are treated the same 
     for purposes of--
       ``(A) periodic appraisals of job performance of employees;
       ``(B) training, rewarding, reassigning, promoting, reducing 
     in grade, retaining, and removing employees;
       ``(C) work requirements; or
       ``(D) other acts involving managerial discretion; and
       ``(4) when determining what constitutes diminished employee 
     performance, the agency shall consult the performance 
     management guidelines of the Office of Personnel Management.
       ``(b) Training Requirement Exemptions.--The head of an 
     executive agency may provide for an exemption from the 
     training requirements under subsection (a), if the head of 
     that agency determines that the training would be unnecessary 
     because the employee is already teleworking under a work 
     arrangement in effect before the date of enactment of this 
     chapter.

     ``Sec. 6504. Policy and support

       ``(a) Agency Consultation With the Office of Personnel 
     Management.--Each executive agency shall consult with the 
     Office of Personnel Management in developing telework 
     policies.
       ``(b) Guidance and Consultation.--The Office of Personnel 
     Management shall--
       ``(1) provide policy and policy guidance for telework in 
     the areas of pay and leave, agency closure, performance 
     management, official worksite, recruitment and retention, and 
     accommodations for employees with disabilities;
       ``(2) assist each agency in establishing appropriate 
     qualitative and quantitative measures and teleworking goals; 
     and
       ``(3) consult with--
       ``(A) the Federal Emergency Management Agency on policy and 
     policy guidance for telework in the areas of continuation of 
     operations and long-term emergencies;
       ``(B) the General Services Administration on policy and 
     policy guidance for telework in the areas of telework 
     centers, travel, technology, equipment, and dependent care; 
     and
       ``(C) the National Archives and Records Administration on 
     policy and policy guidance for telework in the areas of 
     efficient and effective records management and the 
     preservation of records, including Presidential and Vice-
     Presidential records.
       ``(c) Security Guidelines.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Director of the Office of Management 
     and Budget, in coordination with the Department of Homeland 
     Security and the National Institute of Standards and 
     Technology, shall issue guidelines not later than 180 days 
     after the date of the enactment of this chapter to ensure the 
     adequacy of information and security protections for 
     information and information systems used while teleworking.
       ``(2) Contents.--Guidelines issued under this subsection 
     shall, at a minimum, include requirements necessary to--
       ``(A) control access to agency information and information 
     systems;
       ``(B) protect agency information (including personally 
     identifiable information) and information systems;
       ``(C) limit the introduction of vulnerabilities;
       ``(D) protect information systems not under the control of 
     the agency that are used for teleworking;
       ``(E) safeguard wireless and other telecommunications 
     capabilities that are used for teleworking; and
       ``(F) prevent inappropriate use of official time or 
     resources that violates subpart G of the Standards of Ethical 
     Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch by viewing, 
     downloading, or exchanging pornography, including child 
     pornography.
       ``(d) Continuity of Operations Plans.--
       ``(1) Incorporation into continuity of operations plans.--
     Each executive agency shall incorporate telework into the 
     continuity of operations plan of that agency.
       ``(2) Continuity of operations plans supersede telework 
     policy.--During any period that an executive agency is 
     operating under a continuity of operations plan, that plan 
     shall supersede any telework policy.
       ``(e) Telework Website.--The Office of Personnel Management 
     shall--
       ``(1) maintain a central telework website; and
       ``(2) include on that website related--
       ``(A) telework links;
       ``(B) announcements;
       ``(C) guidance developed by the Office of Personnel 
     Management; and
       ``(D) guidance submitted by the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency, and the General Services Administration to 
     the Office of Personnel Management not later than 10 business 
     days after the date of submission.
       ``(f) Policy Guidance on Purchasing Computer Systems.--Not 
     later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this 
     chapter, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
     shall issue policy guidance requiring each executive agency 
     when purchasing computer systems, to purchase computer 
     systems that enable and support telework, unless the head of 
     the agency determines that there is a mission-specific reason 
     not to do so.

     ``Sec. 6505. Telework Managing Officer

       ``(a) Designation.--The head of each executive agency shall 
     designate an employee of the agency as the Telework Managing 
     Officer. The Telework Managing Officer shall be established 
     within the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer or a 
     comparable office with similar functions.
       ``(b) Duties.--The Telework Managing Officer shall--
       ``(1) be devoted to policy development and implementation 
     related to agency telework programs;
       ``(2) serve as--
       ``(A) an advisor for agency leadership, including the Chief 
     Human Capital Officer;
       ``(B) a resource for managers and employees; and
       ``(C) a primary agency point of contact for the Office of 
     Personnel Management on telework matters; and
       ``(3) perform other duties as the applicable delegating 
     authority may assign.
       ``(c) Status Within Agency.--The Telework Managing Officer 
     of an agency shall be a senior official of the agency who has 
     direct access to the head of the agency.
       ``(d) Rule of Construction Regarding Status of Telework 
     Managing Officer.--Nothing in this section shall be construed 
     to prohibit an individual who holds another office or 
     position in an agency from serving as the Telework Managing 
     Officer for the agency under this chapter.

     ``Sec. 6506. Reports

       ``(a) Definition.--In this section, the term `executive 
     agency' shall not include the Government Accountability 
     Office.
       ``(b) Reports by the Office of Personnel Management.--
       ``(1) Submission of reports.--Not later than 18 months 
     after the date of enactment of this chapter and on an annual 
     basis thereafter, the Director of the Office of Personnel 
     Management, in consultation with Chief Human Capital Officers 
     Council, shall--
       ``(A) submit a report addressing the telework programs of 
     each executive agency to--
       ``(i) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
     Affairs of the Senate; and
       ``(ii) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of 
     the House of Representatives; and
       ``(B) transmit a copy of the report to the Comptroller 
     General and the Office of Management and Budget.
       ``(2) Contents.--Each report submitted under this 
     subsection shall include--
       ``(A) the degree of participation by employees of each 
     executive agency in teleworking during the period covered by 
     the report (and for each executive agency whose head is 
     referred to under section 5312, the degree of participation 
     in each bureau, division, or other major administrative unit 
     of that agency), including--
       ``(i) the total number of employees in the agency;
       ``(ii) the number and percent of employees in the agency 
     who are eligible to telework; and
       ``(iii) the number and percent of eligible employees in the 
     agency who are teleworking--

       ``(I) 3 or more days per pay period;
       ``(II) 1 or 2 days per pay period;
       ``(III) once per month; and
       ``(IV) on an occasional, episodic, or short-term basis;

       ``(B) the method for gathering telework data in each 
     agency;
       ``(C) if the total number of employees teleworking is 10 
     percent higher or lower than the previous year in any agency, 
     the reasons for the positive or negative variation;
       ``(D) the agency goal for increasing participation to the 
     extent practicable or necessary for the next reporting 
     period, as indicated by the percent of eligible employees 
     teleworking in each frequency category described under 
     subparagraph (A)(iii);
       ``(E) an explanation of whether or not the agency met the 
     goals for the last reporting period and, if not, what actions 
     are being taken to identify and eliminate barriers to 
     maximizing telework opportunities for the next reporting 
     period;
       ``(F) an assessment of the progress each agency has made in 
     meeting agency participation rate goals during the reporting 
     period, and other agency goals relating to telework, such as 
     the impact of telework on--
       ``(i) emergency readiness;
       ``(ii) energy use;
       ``(iii) recruitment and retention;
       ``(iv) performance;
       ``(v) productivity; and
       ``(vi) employee attitudes and opinions regarding telework; 
     and

[[Page H7562]]

       ``(G) the best practices in agency telework programs.
       ``(c) Comptroller General Reports.--
       ``(1) Report on government accountability office telework 
     program.--
       ``(A) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date 
     of enactment of this chapter and on an annual basis 
     thereafter, the Comptroller General shall submit a report 
     addressing the telework program of the Government 
     Accountability Office to--
       ``(i) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
     Affairs of the Senate; and
       ``(ii) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of 
     the House of Representatives.
       ``(B) Contents.--Each report submitted by the Comptroller 
     General shall include the same information as required under 
     subsection (b) applicable to the Government Accountability 
     Office.
       ``(2) Report to congress on office of personnel management 
     report.--Not later than 6 months after the submission of the 
     first report to Congress required under subsection (b), the 
     Comptroller General shall review that report required under 
     subsection (b) and submit a report to Congress on the 
     progress each executive agency has made towards the goals 
     established under section 6504(b)(2).
       ``(d) Chief Human Capital Officer Reports.--
       ``(1) In general.--Each year the Chief Human Capital 
     Officer of each executive agency, in consultation with the 
     Telework Managing Officer of that agency, shall submit a 
     report to the Chair and Vice Chair of the Chief Human Capital 
     Officers Council on agency management efforts to promote 
     telework.
       ``(2) Review and inclusion of relevant information.--The 
     Chair and Vice Chair of the Chief Human Capital Officers 
     Council shall--
       ``(A) review the reports submitted under paragraph (1);
       ``(B) include relevant information from the submitted 
     reports in the annual report to Congress required under 
     subsection (b); and
       ``(C) use that relevant information for other purposes 
     related to the strategic management of human capital.''.
       (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
       (1) Table of chapters.--The table of chapters for part III 
     of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
     the item relating to chapter 63 the following:

65. Telework...................................................6501....

       (2) Telework coordinators.--

       (A) Appropriations act, 2003.--Section 623 of the 
     Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, 
     and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003 (Public Law 
     108-7; 117 Stat. 103) is amended by striking ``designate a 
     `Telework Coordinator' to be'' and inserting ``designate a 
     Telework Managing Officer to be''.
       (B) Appropriations act, 2004.--Section 627 of the 
     Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, 
     and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004 (Public Law 
     108-199; 118 Stat. 99) is amended by striking ``designate a 
     `Telework Coordinator' to be'' and inserting ``designate a 
     Telework Managing Officer to be''.
       (C) Appropriations act, 2005.--Section 622 of the 
     Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, 
     and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005 (Public Law 
     108-447; 118 Stat. 2919) is amended by striking ``designate a 
     `Telework Coordinator' to be'' and inserting ``designate a 
     Telework Managing Officer to be''.
       (D) Appropriations act, 2006.--Section 617 of the Science, 
     State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations 
     Act, 2006 (Public Law 109-108; 119 Stat. 2340) is amended by 
     striking ``maintain a `Telework Coordinator' to be'' and 
     inserting ``maintain a Telework Managing Officer to be''.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORITY FOR TELEWORK TRAVEL EXPENSES TEST PROGRAMS.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, 
     is amended by inserting after section 5710 the following:

     ``Sec. 5711. Authority for telework travel expenses test 
       programs

       ``(a) Except as provided under subsection (f)(1), in this 
     section, the term `appropriate committees of Congress' 
     means--
       ``(1) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
     Affairs of the Senate; and
       ``(2) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of 
     the House of Representatives.
       ``(b)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
     subchapter, under a test program which the Administrator of 
     General Services determines to be in the interest of the 
     Government and approves, an employing agency may pay through 
     the proper disbursing official any necessary travel expenses 
     in lieu of any payment otherwise authorized or required under 
     this subchapter for employees participating in a telework 
     program. Under an approved test program, an agency may 
     provide an employee with the option to waive any payment 
     authorized or required under this subchapter. An agency shall 
     include in any request to the Administrator for approval of 
     such a test program an analysis of the expected costs and 
     benefits and a set of criteria for evaluating the 
     effectiveness of the program.
       ``(2) Any test program conducted under this section shall 
     be designed to enhance cost savings or other efficiencies 
     that accrue to the Government.
       ``(3) Under any test program, if an agency employee 
     voluntarily relocates from the pre-existing duty station of 
     that employee, the Administrator may authorize the employing 
     agency to establish a reasonable maximum number of occasional 
     visits to the pre-existing duty station before that employee 
     is eligible for payment of any accrued travel expenses by 
     that agency.
       ``(4) Nothing in this section is intended to limit the 
     authority of any agency to conduct test programs.
       ``(c) The Administrator shall transmit a copy of any test 
     program approved by the Administrator under this section, and 
     the rationale for approval, to the appropriate committees of 
     Congress at least 30 days before the effective date of the 
     program.
       ``(d)(1) An agency authorized to conduct a test program 
     under subsection (b) shall provide to the Administrator, the 
     Telework Managing Officer of that agency, and the appropriate 
     committees of Congress a report on the results of the program 
     not later than 3 months after completion of the program.
       ``(2) The results in a report described under paragraph (1) 
     may include--
       ``(A) the number of visits an employee makes to the pre-
     existing duty station of that employee;
       ``(B) the travel expenses paid by the agency;
       ``(C) the travel expenses paid by the employee; or
       ``(D) any other information the agency determines useful to 
     aid the Administrator, Telework Managing Officer, and 
     Congress in understanding the test program and the impact of 
     the program.
       ``(e) No more than 10 test programs under this section may 
     be conducted simultaneously.
       ``(f)(1) In this subsection, the term `appropriate 
     committee of Congress' means--
       ``(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
     Affairs of the Senate;
       ``(B) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of 
     the House of Representatives;
       ``(C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and
       ``(D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
     Representatives.
       ``(2) The Patent and Trademark Office shall conduct a test 
     program under this section, including the provision of 
     reports in accordance with subsection (d)(1).
       ``(3) In conducting the program under this subsection, the 
     Patent and Trademark Office may pay any travel expenses of an 
     employee for travel to and from a Patent and Trademark Office 
     worksite or provide an employee with the option to waive any 
     payment authorized or required under this subchapter, if--
       ``(A) the employee is employed at a Patent and Trademark 
     Office worksite and enters into an approved telework 
     arrangement;
       ``(B) the employee requests to telework from a location 
     beyond the local commuting area of the Patent and Trademark 
     Office worksite; and
       ``(C) the Patent and Trademark Office approves the 
     requested arrangement for reasons of employee convenience 
     instead of an agency need for the employee to relocate in 
     order to perform duties specific to the new location.
       ``(4)(A) The Patent and Trademark Office shall establish an 
     oversight committee comprising an equal number of members 
     representing management and labor, including representatives 
     from each collective bargaining unit.
       ``(B) The oversight committee shall develop the operating 
     procedures for the program under this subsection to--
       ``(i) provide for the effective and appropriate functioning 
     of the program; and
       ``(ii) ensure that--
       ``(I) reasonable technological or other alternatives to 
     employee travel are used before requiring employee travel, 
     including teleconferencing, videoconferencing or internet-
     based technologies;
       ``(II) the program is applied consistently and equitably 
     throughout the Patent and Trademark Office; and
       ``(III) an optimal operating standard is developed and 
     implemented for maximizing the use of the telework 
     arrangement described under paragraph (2) while minimizing 
     agency travel expenses and employee travel requirements.
       ``(5)(A) The test program under this subsection shall be 
     designed to enhance cost savings or other efficiencies that 
     accrue to the Government.
       ``(B) The Director of the Patent and Trademark Office 
     shall--
       ``(i) prepare an analysis of the expected costs and 
     benefits and a set of criteria for evaluating the 
     effectiveness of the program; and
       ``(ii) before the test program is implemented, submit the 
     analysis and criteria to the Administrator of General 
     Services and to the appropriate committees of Congress.
       ``(C) With respect to an employee of the Patent and 
     Trademark Office who voluntarily relocates from the pre-
     existing duty station of that employee, the operating 
     procedures of the program may include a reasonable maximum 
     number of occasional visits to the pre-existing duty station 
     before that employee is eligible for payment of any accrued 
     travel expenses by the Office.
       ``(g) The authority to conduct test programs under this 
     section shall expire 7 years after the date of the enactment 
     of the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010.''.
       (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of 
     sections for chapter 57 of

[[Page H7563]]

     title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
     the item relating to section 5710 the following:

``5711. Authority for telework travel expenses test programs.''.

     SEC. 4. TELEWORK RESEARCH.

       (a) Research by OPM on Telework.--The Director of the 
     Office of Personnel Management shall--
       (1) research the utilization of telework by public and 
     private sector entities that identify best practices and 
     recommendations for the Federal Government;
       (2) review the outcomes associated with an increase in 
     telework, including the effects of telework on energy 
     consumption, job creation and availability, urban 
     transportation patterns, and the ability to anticipate the 
     dispersal of work during periods of emergency; and
       (3) make any studies or reviews performed under this 
     subsection available to the public.
       (b) Use of Contract To Carry Out Research.--The Director of 
     the Office of Personnel Management may carry out subsection 
     (a) under a contract entered into by the Director using 
     competitive procedures under section 303 of the Federal 
     Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 
     253).
       (c) Use of Other Federal Agencies.--The heads of Federal 
     agencies with relevant jurisdiction over the subject matters 
     in subsection (a)(2) shall work cooperatively with the 
     Director of the Office of Personnel Management to carry out 
     that subsection, if the Director determines that coordination 
     is necessary to fulfill obligations under that subsection.

                            Motion to Concur

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Lynch moves that the House concur in the Senate 
     amendment to H.R. 1722.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1721, the 
motion shall be debatable for 1 hour equally divided and controlled by 
the chair and ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform.
  The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) and the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and add any extraneous material.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LYNCH. I now yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, as chairman of the House subcommittee with 
jurisdiction over the Federal workforce, Postal Service, and District 
of Columbia, I rise in support of H.R. 1722, the Telework Enhancement 
Act of 2010. I am pleased to offer for consideration this bipartisan 
legislation which seeks to improve and expand the access to telework 
for Federal employees in the executive branch, as well as for 
government employees within the Government Accountability Office.
  The cost-saving measure before us today was introduced by Congressman 
John Sarbanes of Maryland, along with myself and Representatives Frank 
Wolf, Gerry Connolly, Jim Moran, Dutch Ruppersberger, and Danny Davis 
back in March of 2009. This is the third time this good governance bill 
has been debated on the House floor.
  This past July, the House considered and passed this legislation 
which subsequently was amended and passed by unanimous consent by our 
Senate counterparts in September. I would like to take a moment to 
thank Chairman Akaka and Senator Voinovich on this legislation and to 
acknowledge Senator Voinovich's dedication to and respect for Federal 
employees. The Senator will be missed greatly by the Federal community.
  Madam Speaker, despite the evolving nature of the way the Federal 
Government conducts its affairs, telework, which allows an employee to 
regularly perform work in a remote location, continues to be woefully 
underutilized by Federal agencies. Private and public sector employers 
that offer telework consistently experience increased productivity and 
retention rates, thereby lowering an employer's operating costs.
  More specifically, independent research states that increased use of 
telework saves employers money by reducing the amount of needed office 
space, parking facilities, and building maintenance fees and utilities. 
Given that the Federal Government owns or leases over 8,600 individual 
buildings and spends upwards of $500 billion as a landlord annually, 
this legislation will translate into real-world savings in the near 
future.
  Successful Federal telework programs such as those used by the 
General Services Administration and the Defense Information Systems 
Agency show how telework enhances an agency's customer's service 
offering for our citizens while at the same time achieving greater cost 
efficiencies and lowering taxpayer costs.
  H.R. 1722 provides for increased numbers of Federal employees to 
participate in telework programs by requiring agencies to develop 
comprehensive telework policies within 1 year for authorized employees 
and by directing the Office of Personnel Management to develop 
regulations on overall telework policies and to annually evaluate and 
report on agency telework programs.
  H.R. 1722 also seeks to elevate the importance of incorporating 
telework into the community of operations planning of agencies in order 
to ensure that they are better prepared to maintain essential 
operations during emergencies. I am confident all of my colleagues 
appreciate the need for agencies to be able to operate during a time of 
crisis when access to office buildings might be impossible.
  A less distressing, but by no means less critical, role for the 
telework program is to assist agencies in carrying out their missions 
during difficult weather conditions. Office of Personnel Management 
Director John Berry estimates that the use of telework reduced the 
estimated cost of lost productivity during the 2009 snowstorms here in 
the Nation's capital by approximately $30 million per day.

                              {time}  1200

  According to the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation before 
us is PAYGO-neutral, meaning there is no mandatory spending in this 
bill. The Congressional Budget Office does, however, estimate that 
approximately $28 million will be needed over 5 years to implement the 
requirement in the bill. However, it is unlikely that any additional 
appropriations will be necessary because Federal agencies can 
reasonably implement the bill's requirements from existing budgets.
  While you may hear from colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
that this telework is a costly and unnecessary legislative mandate, I 
must point out that the Congressional Budget Office estimate they are 
relying on looks only at the implementation costs and not at the bill's 
potential cost savings. A closer look at the potential benefits of 
increased telework will reveal that H.R. 1722 actually saves the 
government money down the road, which has also been the case among 
telework-embracing private sector companies such as IBM, which, for 
example, reports that it saves $56 million a year in reduced office 
space costs by permitting its employees to telework.
  In fact, we only have to look at the Patent and Trademark Office to 
see such advantages within government. The Patent and Trademark Office, 
which has been an agency leader in telework efforts, reports that it 
was able to consolidate nearly 50,000 square feet of space, thereby 
avoiding $1.5 million in rent per year through greater use of telework. 
Additionally, the agency avoided securing $11 million in additional 
office space as a direct result of the agency's telework hoteling 
programs. Private-sector companies are seeing similar benefits from 
increased telework. We can expect many other government agencies to 
begin to reap the benefits of lower overhead costs because of this 
bill.
  Telework also leads to greater worker productivity. Greater 
productivity in the Federal workforce provides an important benefit to 
the taxpayer. For example, the Patent and Trademark Office also reports 
that increased utilization of telework has reduced the amount of sick 
leave taken by its employees and increased worker retention. As we have 
seen, the government can benefit from this bill by lowering overhead 
costs and increasing worker productivity. This is a win-win for the

[[Page H7564]]

taxpayer. When we take a commonsense approach to our cost-savings 
efforts, it is easy to see that the potential to save tens of millions 
of dollars every year in increased productivity and lower overhead is 
an excellent return on an initial investment of $28 million over 5 
years.
  Lastly, this past summer, our committee worked in a bipartisan 
fashion with Mr. Issa and with the Senate on amending this bill. While 
the bill before us looks somewhat different from what was previously 
agreed to in the House, I would like to note that the Federal employees 
who have been disciplined for being absent at work or for viewing, 
downloading, or exchanging pornography on a government computer while 
performing official duties will not be allowed to telework.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of 
H.R. 1722, the Telework Improvements Act. This legislation is aimed at 
ensuring Federal agencies are able to operate 24/7, as the public 
expects a 21st century employer to act, and to do so more cheaply. A 
vote in favor of this bill is a vote for the future.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, in the interest of fairness to one of our 
Members who has been very engaged in this issue, I would like to yield 
3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my 
colleague from California for yielding.
  Since the stimulus passed in February of 2009, the private sector has 
shed over 3.2 million jobs, and our national unemployment rate now 
stands at a staggering 9.5 percent. With the rest of America struggling 
to make ends meet, it is unconscionable that my Democratic colleagues 
think that we should give yet another perk to Federal employees. By 
requiring Federal agencies to duplicate an existing law, and allowing 
them to spend a fourth of their time out of the office and on a mobile 
work site, H.R. 1722 will cost the taxpayers another $30 million while 
promoting an even more inefficient Federal workforce.
  Madam Speaker, this is now the third time the House will consider 
this legislation. When H.R. 1722 initially failed to pass under 
suspension of the rules in May, the Democratic majority brought it up 
again under a closed rule in July. It was only then that my Republican 
colleagues and I had the opportunity to amend this bill through a 
successful motion to recommit which made a number of improvements to 
this legislation. However, as H.R. 1722 was considered in the Senate, 
this motion to recommit was completely dismantled. A provision that 
required an agency to certify to the Office of Personnel Management 
that the agency's telework program will save money, rather than 
increasing spending, was stripped from the bill.
  Furthermore, Madam Speaker, a provision that would prohibit Federal 
employees with seriously delinquent tax debts from teleworking was 
removed. A third item required employees of the Executive Office of the 
President to copy their official e-mail accounts on any business 
communications that are made on personal e-mail and social media 
accounts. This would ensure that Federal employees are actually working 
instead of socializing on official time. Unfortunately, this 
requirement is now gone. Finally, Madam Speaker, I am most disappointed 
that the provision included in the House-passed version of H.R. 1722, 
that would have prohibited Federal employees from engaging in union 
recruiting or collective bargaining activities while teleworking on 
official, taxpayer-funded time, has been removed by the Senate 
Democrats. OPM reported that in fiscal year 2008 alone, nearly 3 
million official time hours were used in collective bargaining or 
arbitration of grievances against an employer. It equates to over $120 
million of tax money spent on union activities, Madam Speaker. That's 
irresponsible to use these dollars for nonrelated official duties while 
on official time.
  Madam Speaker, the motion to recommit was necessary to save precious 
tax dollars and ensure the integrity of the Federal workforce. How will 
we obtain the trust of the American people who are struggling every day 
in this economy if we allow Federal employees to participate in union 
activities while on official time, give them benefits when they're 
delinquent on their taxes, and increase spending in Federal agencies 
trying to make this flawed teleworking system work?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. DeGette). The time of the gentleman has 
expired.
  Mr. ISSA. I yield the gentleman 15 additional seconds.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. I thank the gentleman.
  Madam Speaker, in conclusion, now is not the time to increase the 
bureaucratic maze in Washington but to rein in the overlapping, 
redundant policies that have made the Federal Government so large. We 
must reduce spending and diligently work towards a more efficient and 
more effective government that can live within its means. I urge my 
colleagues to oppose the bill.
  Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Maryland, Representative John Sarbanes, the lead sponsor of this 
measure.
  Mr. SARBANES. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for 
yielding. I want to thank Chairman Towns, Chairman Lynch, Chairman 
Davis, who I worked with previously on this bill, cosponsors Gerry 
Connolly, Jim Moran, Dutch Ruppersberger, and others who have 
collaborated with us on bringing this bill forward. I also want to take 
a moment to salute Frank Wolf, our colleague on the other side of the 
aisle. He has worked on this issue for two decades, and he has been a 
tremendous advocate for telework, and I appreciate all of his support 
and collaboration as we develop these ideas going forward.
  I was listening to the end of that statement that was just made, 
calling for efficiency and effectiveness in government, ways to address 
the bureaucracy and so forth. I can't think of a piece of legislation 
that does more to meet those objectives than this does. It creates a 
nimbleness on the part of the Federal Government with respect to how 
the workforce operates. And if you look at the goals that it seeks to 
promote, they all make perfect sense. They are common sense. First of 
all, the benefits include that you can improve productivity among the 
workforce. All the studies show that morale goes up, productivity goes 
up. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as it was referenced, can 
demonstrate huge increases in productivity among the workforce. So that 
is a benefit. It increases competitiveness. When the Federal Government 
goes into the marketplace, goes into the workplace to try to recruit 
good people, its ability to show that the telework opportunity is there 
is something that makes it more competitive in getting the best quality 
people to become part of our Federal Government.
  When it comes to continuing operations in some kind of a crisis 
situation, if you have the telework capacity, you've got some recourse. 
The best evidence of this most recently was last year when we had the 
snowstorm shut down the government essentially for 3 days. But during 
those 3 days, those who had the ability to telework were able to 
continue to operate. And the estimate by John Berry, heading the Office 
of Personnel Management, was that it saved the Federal Government $30 
million per day in terms of productivity that otherwise would have been 
lost. And that just gets to the cost question. Again, we've heard this 
objection based on the costs. The savings that will be generated when 
our Federal agencies adopt these telework policies will far outweigh 
any of the costs of implementing this program. So it's a very 
commonsense approach.

                              {time}  1210

  And what the bill does is very straightforward. It requires the 
agencies to have a telework policy in place to encourage it, to promote 
it, not to impose it on people who because of their particular job 
shouldn't be teleworking or don't want to do this, but to make sure 
that they have the opportunity to do it and to know that the agency 
encourages that kind of thing.
  It appoints telework managing officers so there's a person designated 
within each agency who takes responsibility for this, so that they can 
actually help to implement it over time.
  It has good evaluation components. The GAO and the Office of 
Personnel Management will conduct evaluations

[[Page H7565]]

on a periodic basis to determine the progress that this is making and 
come up with suggestions and recommendations going forward.
  And then it also encourages, as I indicated before, that these 
agencies develop plans for continuing operations under difficult 
circumstances, taking advantage of telework.
  So, for all these reasons, for the benefits that it bestows, for the 
objectives that it meets, for the commonsense aspect of it, I heartily 
urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Wolf), one of the early innovators that really brought 
telework to the Federal workforce.
  (Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I would say, as the gentleman and I were 
talking, I did support the motion to recommit and I thought there were 
many, many good ideas in it. This bill, though, where we are today I 
think is a good bill for the country.
  As someone who has worked on this issue for more than 18 years, I 
think it is good legislation. There is nothing magic about strapping 
yourself into a metal box and driving 50 miles and sitting at a metal 
desk, because that's not necessarily the way that we do things in the 
21st century.
  This bill saves money. It's important for Members to know that this 
bill saves money. This bill reduces the footprint of the government. 
This bill is deficit neutral and strengthens the continuation of 
operations plan in the event of a disaster such as a hurricane, like 
Katrina, or the massive snowstorm, as was previously mentioned, or in 
the event of an earthquake such as the Loma Prieta, the 1989 World 
Series earthquake, or in the event of a terrorist attack.
  I was here on 9/11. The Pentagon was hit. Cell phones did not work. 
Nothing worked. The government was fundamentally shut down. If we had 
had more people teleworking, we would have had the continuity and have 
been better able to function, particularly during that dark day of the 
enemy attack.
  During the February snowstorm, this bill saved money.
  This legislation adopts many of the best management practices that 
many companies, most companies now in the private sector are using. 
Almost every major company in the private sector has telework. And when 
you say you want the government to be more like the private sector, 
this is the answer.
  Lastly, Madam Speaker, every Member, or maybe almost every Member of 
this institution teleworks when they pick up their BlackBerry or their 
iPhone. To say that you have to be sitting at your desk office computer 
to be doing your work is just not accurate. That's like saying every 
Member is not working if they're not in their office sitting at their 
laptop. That doesn't make any sense.
  This brings the government into the 21st century, and I urge strong 
support of this.
  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the tireless efforts of the gentleman 
from Maryland, Mr. Sarbanes, and was pleased to work with him to author 
this legislation. I also thank the gentleman from New York, Mr. Towns, 
and the gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. Lynch, for their work to 
advance this legislation, as well as our colleagues in the Senate who 
worked on the text of what we are considering today, including Senators 
Akaka, Voinovich, Lieberman, Collins, and Coburn.
  This is good, bipartisan legislation, which was also strengthened in 
the House through the work of my colleague from Virginia, Mr. Wittman, 
and my colleague from West Virginia, Mrs. Capito.
  My colleagues will detail why this legislation is important, that it 
is deficit neutral, that it strengthens our COOP, Continuation of 
Operations Plans, in the event of disasters such as a hurricane, like 
Katrina, or a massive snowstorm, like what occurred this past February, 
or in the event of an earthquake, such as the Loma Prieta, the World 
Series earthquake, or in the event of a terrorist attack. In all these 
instances, telework was vital in ensuring that our government continued 
to operate.
  In their song The Boxer, Simon and Garfunkel said that ``man hears 
what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.'' That, unfortunately, 
has been the case with this legislation.
  Despite what you may hear, this is good legislation. Telework is good 
government policy.
  This legislation is about doing more with less. Let me repeat--
telework is about doing more with less. It is about adapting best 
practice procedures from the private sector that companies, such as 
IMB, use daily. It is about saving money. It is about reducing the 
size, the footprint, of the Federal Government. It is about forcing the 
Federal Government into the 21st century workplace.
  During the February snowstorm, telework allowed the Federal 
Government to recoup the $30 million a day for each day that the 
government was shut down. Imagine how much would have been saved if 
more people were teleworking?
  It was through my work with members, such as the gentleman from 
Maryland, Mr. Hoyer, that we forced the government to recognize the 
benefits of telework. When I was chairman of the Science-State-Justice 
and Commerce Appropriations Subcommittee, I inserted the language to 
mandate that agencies increase telework opportunities for eligible 
employees.
  Why? Because agencies weren't following our directives, our intent. 
The intent of the Congress to make the government more efficient. And 
this is what is happening now--telework isn't being used to its fullest 
extent. And maybe that's because of a lack of information, or reluctant 
management, or a combination of both. This legislation will not fix all 
the problems that exist. But it will go a long way toward improvement.
  Work is something you do, not someplace you go. There is no magic to 
strapping yourself in a metal box and driving, sometimes up to an hour 
and a half to our workplaces, and sitting in front of our computers all 
day.
  Information accessed at workplaces can just as easily be accessed 
from computers in our living rooms. With the American family under 
attack, telework provides the opportunities for parents to spend more 
time with their families, and everyone to enjoy things they like to do.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote on the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010.
  Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his long time, 18 
years, of leadership on this issue.
  At this time, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Towns), our distinguished chairman and a champion of this cause as well 
for many years.
  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, let me just say that I'm happy today to be 
here. And of course Congresswoman Wolf just indicated that he's been 
working on this for 18 years. And of course I think that the time is 
right to move this legislation forward.
  As chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I 
rise in strong support of H.R. 1722, the Telework Enhancement Act of 
2010.
  I want to congratulate Representative Sarbanes for his persistence 
and his hard work on the legislation. I also want to commend 
Representative Lynch, the chairman of the Federal Workforce Committee, 
for his help in guiding this legislation through the process. I also 
want to thank the ranking member on the Republican side, of course, for 
his work as well.
  H.R. 1722 will increase the Federal Government's use of telework. 
This will make the Federal workforce more efficient and better prepared 
to handle all emergencies. Telework saves the government money, reduces 
energy consumption, and increases worker productivity.
  This bill passed the House by an overwhelming margin on July 14, 
2010. The Senate amended the bill and passed it by unanimous consent on 
September 29, 2010. It is time for us to send this bill to the 
President for his signature.
  The Senate changes in H.R. 1722 represent a compromise between the 
House-passed bill and Senate legislation introduced by Senator Akaka. 
And of course I fully support this bipartisan compromise.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. LYNCH. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
  Mr. TOWNS. The Senate amendment includes key provisions from the 
House bill, including language drafted by the ranking member of the 
Oversight Committee, Representative Issa, and ranking member of the 
Federal Workforce Subcommittee, Representative Chaffetz. This 
discussion that led to the compromise we have before us today included 
Members from both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Capitol. 
This bill is the fruit of an inclusive and comprehensive process.
  I strongly support this bipartisan, good government bill, and I urge 
all of my colleagues to vote ``aye.''
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Indiana

[[Page H7566]]

(Mr. Burton), the former chairman of the full committee.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I support this bill, but I 
think there's something of an immediate import that needs to be 
discussed, so I'm going to diverge just a little bit from the subject 
matter.
  Yesterday, Ahmed Ghailani, 36, who was involved in the killing of 
Americans at the embassies in Tanzania and elsewhere in Kenya that 
killed 224 people, including 12 Americans--the military tribunal down 
at Guantanamo was prepared to try him, but the administration and our 
Justice Department said he should be tried in civil court in New York 
and there would be justice meted out. He was indicted on 286 counts for 
murdering Americans and others at our embassies in those two countries, 
and he was let off on all but one count. Two hundred eighty-five counts 
were ruled out.
  He killed Americans. He's a terrorist. He worked with Osama Bin 
Laden. He bought dynamite. He bought the telephone that set off the 
dynamite. He took the detonators to his house and stored them there. He 
is a murderer. He is a terrorist.
  Now, right now we have American men and women serving in our 
embassies around the world, and this is the kind of message we're 
sending, that terrorists can get away with killing Americans in our 
embassies. It's unconscionable that this administration and the Justice 
Department should let this happen.
  If you look back in history, this kind of an incident would have been 
tried in a military tribunal, and they wanted to do it. But our Justice 
Department and our President said no, they would get justice in the 
civil court. They got justice all right. But did we, the American 
people?

                              {time}  1220

  We've sent a message to terrorists around the world that, hey, you 
can kill Americans, but you'll get off pretty light if you get into an 
American courtroom. Isn't that tragic? It's tragic.
  They're cutting off heads of people, they're blowing up embassies, 
they're blowing up ships. They flew a plane into the World Trade Center 
on 9/11. The mastermind behind that is down at Guantanamo. Are we going 
to try him in a civil case in New York? That's what they want to do. 
And if they do that, are we going to let him off? He was the mastermind 
behind 9/11 that killed over 3,000 people.
  I would just say, if I were talking to the President--and I wish I 
could--I would say, ``Mr. President, this is a travesty of justice, and 
your Justice Department should be instructed to try these people in 
military tribunals.''
  No more of this baloney. American lives are at stake and the security 
of America is at stake.
  Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly) who has been at the forefront of this debate 
and who has been a great advocate and champion on behalf of Federal 
workers.
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from 
Massachusetts for his leadership, and particularly cite Congressman 
Sarbanes for his leadership, and my Republican colleague from Virginia, 
Frank Wolf, who laid out the merits of the case of the Telework 
Improvements Act.
  I have spent the last 10 years here in the national capital region 
encouraging the public sector to follow the lead of the private sector 
in promoting telework.
  In my district, for example, AT&T, a private employer, one-third of 
its workforce teleworks; not because it adds to corporate costs, but 
because in fact it detracts from corporate costs; not because it takes 
away efficiency, but in fact it improves productivity.
  In the national capital region, there is almost no region in the 
country that lends itself better to telework because of the nature of 
the white-collar workforce than does this.
  In the private sector, we are looking at close to 20 percent telework 
rates, improving productivity, improving retention and recruitment, 
improving the air quality of this region, and in fact contributing to 
the bottom line.
  Unfortunately, in the public sector, we fall behind. We are only at 6 
or 7 percent in the Federal workforce, and that is the largest single 
employer in the national capital region. And we are a nonattainment 
region in terms of air quality. We can and we must do better.
  Telework is an important and cost-effective component of efforts to 
reduce congestion, greenhouse gas pollution, and smog. According to the 
Telework Exchange, if 20 percent of Americans teleworked, we could 
eliminate 67 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, 
and reduce Persian Gulf oil imports by 40 percent, something many of my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle I know are concerned about.
  Reducing greenhouse gas emissions would lead to a reduction in 
ground-level ozone in our region, which is critically important to 
protect the health of our region's seniors and those with respiratory 
ailments.
  Today, as I said, 6 to 7 percent of eligible Federal employees 
telework on a regular basis, even though the largely white collar 
workforce in our region is so well suited for it.
  When I was the chairman of Fairfax County, we started an aggressive 
program to get to 20 percent of our eligible workforce teleworking by 
2005. We met the goal, we exceeded the goal, we have sustained that 
rate ever since. I am here to tell my colleagues that it improved our 
efficiency, it saved taxpayer money, it improved productivity, and it 
gave us a tool to recruit and retain the workforce of the future.
  We must remember that with the baby boom generation ready to retire, 
47 percent of the entire Federal workforce will be eligible to retire 
this decade. We've got to have flexible tools that help us to replace 
those skilled workers. Telework is a great way that costs us no money 
that can make a big difference.
  The Telework Improvements Act is an extraordinarily important piece 
of legislation because it will help us meet critical policy goals: 
savings of taxpayer money, improved federal efficiency, reduction of 
dependence on foreign oil, and improvement in Continuity of Operations 
Plans. I thank Congressman Sarbanes, Congressman Wolf, Office of 
Personnel Management Director John Berry, and Subcommittee Chairman 
Stephen Lynch for their leadership.
  This legislation will save taxpayer money, and is PAYGO compliant. My 
colleagues will recall that the federal government was shut down for a 
week this winter due to snow. Regardless of whether future federal 
closures are due to snow, other natural disasters, or a potential 
terrorist attack, telework is an essential part of our Continuity of 
Operations Plans that allow the federal government to stay open despite 
disruptions to our transportation infrastructure. This February, the 
federal government saved $30 million every day by achieving a 30 
percent telework rate during the snow storm. Each additional percentage 
point of telework achievement would have represented another million 
dollars saved for taxpayers. Let us not forgo that savings for 
taxpayers in the future.
  Telework is an essential part of federal personnel policy because it 
can help recruit and retain federal employees, maintain continuity of 
operations in the event of an emergency, and reduce congestion and 
related air pollution. With 48 percent of the federal workforce 
eligible for retirement within the next 5 to 10 years, we must provide 
benefits that attract highly qualified employees.
  Telework is an important and cost-effective component of efforts to 
reduce congestion, greenhouse gas pollution, and smog. According to the 
Telework Exchange, if 20 percent of Americans teleworked, we could 
eliminate 67 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually 
and reduce Persian Gulf oil imports by 40 percent. Reducing greenhouse 
gas emissions would lead to a reduction in ground level ozone in our 
region, which is critically important to protect the health of our 
region's seniors and other residents suffering from respiratory 
ailments or asthma.
  Today, less than 10 percent of eligible federal employees telework on 
a regular basis, even though the largely white collar workforce in our 
region is well suited for telework. By contrast, Fairfax County, the 
largest suburb of the National Capital Region, has 20 percent of 
eligible employees teleworking at least 1 day per week, and other 
jurisdictions from this region are approaching that regional target. 
The Telework Improvements Act provides a vehicle to increase telework 
participation by designating a Telework Managing Officer from within 
current staff for each agency and by integrating Continuity of 
Operations Planning performance metrics. According to a recently 
completed survey from the Office of Personnel Management, at least 64 
percent of federal employees are eligible to telework, yet most are not 
allowed to do so by their managers. The Telework Improvements Act will 
help

[[Page H7567]]

change management culture to support telework.
  I urge my colleagues to support the Telework Improvements Act, which 
will improve the efficiency of the federal government, reduce our 
dependence on foreign oil, and improve our national security.
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from the 
First District of Virginia (Mr. Wittman).
  Mr. WITTMAN. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from 
California for yielding. I would like to thank him, also, for his 
leadership in this issue.
  I rise today in support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 1722, the 
Telework Improvement Act.
  This legislation will foster the use of telework by Federal agencies 
by ensuring that each agency has a telework policy, and that employees 
are informed about their eligibility to telework. This bill would 
ensure that those Federal employees who are eligible to telework are 
able to do so, with an emphasis on enhancing agency operations and 
productivity.
  Virginia's First District is home to thousands of Federal employees, 
many of whom commute hours each day. Despite the fact that there are 
such numerous benefits to teleworking, such as reduced traffic 
congestion and energy consumption, cost savings, competitive hiring and 
retention, readiness and emergency preparedness, many Federal agencies 
continue to underutilize telework.
  The snowstorm last winter, as we have heard referred to today, which 
closed the Federal Government several days is a good example of how 
teleworking programs can achieve cost savings. We saw during that time 
that 30 percent of our Federal workers actually teleworked during that 
snowstorm, achieving $30 million daily in reduced costs for that 
Federal workforce being offsite. As Representative Wolf so stated 
there, that, I think, is a great example of the potential savings that 
can be achieved through teleworking.
  Under this legislation, Federal employees handling classified 
information, though, would not be eligible to telework. This policy 
effectively prevents the use of teleworking programs by employees who 
need access to classified information specifically in the areas of 
defense, homeland security, law enforcement, and intelligence.
  The Director of the National Intelligence Agency's Vision 2015 states 
that there is a definite need for cross-organizational collaboration, 
cross-functional teams, and joint duty amongst the intelligence 
agencies, and this is going to require a much more agile 
infrastructure.
  Vision 2015, as it is identified, suggests that the intelligence 
community will have to shift from the current centralized model, where 
employees are consolidated in a single location, to a model where a 
dispersed workforce can rapidly come together in a virtual environment 
to respond to new tasks and missions. This workforce is going to have 
to be flexible and is going to have to be spread out so that 
strategically we can meet whatever challenges this Nation may face in 
the future.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to further explore the 
potential of secure teleworking. Robust teleworking programs at Federal 
agencies will get cars off congested roads, enhance productivity, 
reduce costs, and ensure continuity of operations.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Virginia's 
remarks.
  At this time, I would yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from the 
District of Columbia, Ms. Eleanor Holmes Norton.
  Ms. NORTON. I want to thank Chairman Lynch and Mr. Sarbanes for this 
important bill which takes telework from policy to practice. What 
progress we have made in telework we owe largely to members of this 
region, but especially to Mr. Wolf.
  The Telework Enhancement Act takes telework all the way from a piece 
of policy lying on paper to be picked up at will, or not picked up, to 
a real practice with savings in productivity flowing directly to the 
Federal Government. The bill converts telework from a passive to an 
affirmative policy of the Federal Government, along with all the 
productivity and savings that have been documented to occur. It 
essentially makes going to work by telework the functional equivalent 
of getting on the road or getting on a crowded Metro car.
  Although this bill will be implemented nationwide, the two snowstorms 
in this region should have shocked private and public entities alike 
into telework. Admittedly, though, those are exceptional 
circumstances--9/11, natural disasters, continuity of operations--all 
are important, but they are far from the only reasons for this bill.
  Government has spent billions of dollars in state-of-the-art 
technology. This technology is underutilized as long as telework itself 
is underutilized. Nothing is more inefficient for employees and the 
government alike than compelling an employee to fight some of the worst 
traffic congestion in the Nation to get to a Federal office. Nothing is 
more costly to the government than requiring every employee lockstep to 
come to a physical place and do the work that could be accomplished 
with increased productivity and output at home. Nothing is of greater 
benefit to the oil cartels and to the trade deficit than forcing people 
on the road. Nothing is more disruptive to two-parent and single-parent 
families alike than time spent from home, sometimes an hour or two each 
day in this region, which can now be converted to family life and more 
work accomplished right there at home.

                              {time}  1230

  This bill had a bipartisan vote in committee because there was no 
addition to the deficit, because management, training limits on who can 
qualify, and emergency measures are all in place. Going to the office 
to do a job that can be done in less time, more output, greater savings 
to the government is so 20th century. This is not 1950. It's time our 
government came into the 21st century to have in place a set of 
alternatives that provide employees a better way to get the same job 
done.
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, could I inquire how much time each side has 
remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from California has 18\1/2\ 
minutes remaining. The gentleman from Massachusetts has 11 minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. ISSA. Could I further inquire as to how many additional speakers 
the majority has?
  Mr. LYNCH. I have one additional speaker.
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, this is a bill, an underlying bill, an underlying 
concept that not only do I endorse and appreciate, but I knew and 
worked with extensively in the private sector. There's no question in 
the private sector telecommuting continues to grow. But there are a 
couple of things I would like to straighten up out here today in 
consideration of this bill.
  First of all, Madam Speaker, every Member of Congress has a 
Blackberry. So do most major members of the Federal workforce. Many of 
us have portable devices like this iPad. The fact is there is no 
shortage of telecommuting tools presently at use in the Federal 
workforce. We are not talking about the ability to telecommute. We are 
talking about a new bureaucratic mandate within the Federal regime that 
requires each agency have a specific entity for that purpose, and we 
are doing so without the safeguards that my motion to recommit offered 
and overwhelmingly was accepted before the election.
  When I say before the election, I think it's also important to note, 
this will be the first vote after the American people said ``no'' to 
government waste, fraud, and abuse; government growth, government 
spending. And yet the Senate, before the election, stripped out of this 
bill something as innocuous as each agency having to show that 
telecommuting additions were going to be net cost savings. In other 
words, with all the bravado about how this wasn't going to cost but it 
was going to save, what was stripped out of this was any kind of 
assertion, not an assertion that required an audit, but just an 
assertion by the agency head that their efforts were going to save 
money.
  I was here for the snowstorm of last year, and I just want the 
American people who may not have been able to

[[Page H7568]]

be here in Washington, D.C., to understand that it was quite a 
snowstorm. And I appreciate the estimate of $30 million a day of 
savings. But I might also remind the American people that every 
restaurant was open and doing great business and the parks were filled 
with people having snowball fights. In fact, what really happened was 
the Federal workforce got a paid holiday while people who had to figure 
out how to make a buck found a way to get their people to work so they 
could still sell to those Federal workers who were having a holiday.
  It is, in fact, more common for the Federal workforce to say, go 
ahead, stay at home. That probably begs the question of telecommuting. 
But then the question is where in this bill do we require people who 
are telecommuting not to get a day off because it snows since they are 
in their home where the snow shouldn't be affecting them?
  We have a lot of safeguards not in the bill. I'm convinced today with 
the current majority that this bill will probably pass as it is. I 
intend to bring back in the next Congress additional reforms and hold 
oversight as appropriate to make sure that we improve that which is not 
being dealt with today. I expect I will have the same bipartisan 
support that we had throughout this process in the House. I am mostly 
disappointed that with an overwhelming, over 303 votes here in the 
House for the bill as it was, that it came back to us without things 
that we thought should be in it.
  Madam Speaker, I don't want to be a partisan. But I do believe it's 
important that we consider that one of the items that was in this bill 
when it left the House was a prohibition on basically union work 
outside of the cover of office. We have collective bargaining 
agreements almost universally within the Federal Government. We also 
have regulations about these people whether they have to do other work 
or not. This bill lacks the safeguard so that somebody can basically 
take a Blackberry and a notebook, disappear forever and be almost 
unaccountable as to whether they ever did any of their core work while 
doing their union organizing and running activity. That's not in the 
best interest of the taxpayers. It's not what the last election was 
about. It's not what I had hoped to see.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the former chairman of 
the Federal Workforce Subcommittee, Mr. Danny Davis of Illinois.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I want to first of all thank 
Chairman Lynch for yielding time. I also want to commend Mr. Sarbanes 
for the continuous work that he has done to bring this legislation 
before us today. I also want to commend Mr. Wolf because for a long 
time he has been the champion of this legislation, and all of us 
appreciate his work.
  I'm pleased to be a cosponsor of this bill which provides 
opportunities to do a number of things. First of all, it saves money. 
All of us have talked about saving, trying to make sure that we are as 
efficient and as effective as a Federal Government, as any workforce, 
as we can possibly be. I don't think that there is any doubt in 
anyone's mind that we can save money.
  It also provides an opportunity to deal with another issue, and 
that's the issue of the environment. How do we reduce the smog 
emissions? How do we help clean up and clear up the environment? Well 
if you could imagine, reducing not only in the Washington, D.C., area, 
but in other large metropolitan areas, the large number of vehicles 
that we have moving to and from, and especially in instances where we 
know the work can be done. And I think the U.S. Patent Office has 
proven without a doubt that you can, in fact, be effective, you can be 
efficient, you can do a good job, and you can get the job done.
  So I commend all of those who are in support of this legislation. 
Again, I want to thank Chairman Lynch for giving me time to 
participate.
  Mr. ISSA. I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Madam Speaker, I have said most of what has to be said, and I'm not 
going to use all of the time that the minority has. This bill, as I 
said, will probably pass, and it will be a shame. I would hope that all 
Republicans and Democrats who know this could be better and voted for 
it when it was better would also vote against it, not because the 
outcome is certain, but because we have an opportunity to say we're not 
going to produce a new bureaucracy without some reservation when we 
know it could have been better.
  This is not a bill that creates the opportunity for telework. Every 
agency that sees this bill will look and say, darn, I've got to create 
a special entity that is a telework czar entity. They will know that 
for what it is. What it doesn't do is it doesn't give them the kind of 
additional new guidelines that really would keep this from being, in 
some cases, just a mandate for a perk, and in other cases a mandate for 
an agency creation within an agency.
  I think that's the most dangerous part of what we do. We should 
never, never give the Federal Government a requirement to do something 
and not give them the guidance, authority, and statute necessary to 
make sure they do it right. We have that responsibility. The executive 
branch is, in fact, the administrative branch. For them to administer, 
we either need to give them the rules or require that they create rules 
that are sensible and then create oversight for it.
  That's not what this bill does today. As I said, in no case will this 
create one new telework job. It simply will create a new bureaucracy, 
and it does so without any of the protections the motion to recommit, 
widely accepted by the House, brought before the elections.

                              {time}  1240

  Additionally, creating efficiency in government is now essential. 
When we reconvene in January, our problem will be $1.4 trillion worth 
of spending--spending greater than what the American people are willing 
to pay or are able to pay to fund our government. That means to us that 
we're going to have to find a way to have less Federal workers, Federal 
workers that cost less, Federal workers that need less facilities. So I 
will continue to support telework if it means that we're not building 
new Federal buildings, we're not causing the infrastructure to grow; in 
other words, Madam Speaker, that we're saving money.
  I'm sad to say that this bill, when it is signed by the President, 
will do none of that. But the President knows, the Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget knows, the Vice President knows, the 
House knows, and certainly the Senate knows that we have a long way to 
go when we talk about private sector telecommuting to be as efficient 
as the private sector. We are not. What we do is in fact we use the 
word ``telecommute'' often to say, Well, look, we're using the gadgets. 
We must be doing better.
  Madam Speaker, we can do better. We should do better. I understand 
this is an important vote to many people who feel that the Federal 
workforce needs a perk, a symbol that we're going to do something for 
them. Madam Speaker, this is not doing something for the Federal 
workforce unless the American people have confidence that the Federal 
workforce is becoming leaner, more efficient, more effective in doing 
what the people want done for them. In that case, Madam Speaker, I will 
recommend that all of my side and as many of those that will listen on 
the other side of the aisle vote ``no'' today as a symbol that in fact 
we can do better.
  The guidance from the Congress should be to increase efficiency and 
to describe that in a way in which the Federal workforce can have 
confidence that we're on the same team, we're on the same side. We want 
them to avoid excessive commuting. We want this to be more efficient 
and effective. But we also want to be a Congress that provides such 
guidelines as necessary rather than simply a mandate for a new 
bureaucracy in every agency that is now going to be the telecommuting 
agency.
  With that, Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle because we did work long and hard to try to get a better bill. We 
sent the Senate a better bill. We now, today, can only consider what 
has been brought before us.
  I recommend a ``no'' vote and yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. At this time I just want to thank Mr. Wolf and Mr. 
Wittman, my colleagues across the other side of the aisle who stood and 
spoke in favor of this bill. Despite the highlight of our

[[Page H7569]]

differences, I would like to remind our colleagues that this bill was 
entirely acceptable to all of the Democratic and Republicans on the 
Oversight Committee prior to this bill reaching the floor.
  H.R. 1722 received full consideration by the Federal Workforce 
Subcommittee that I chair. It was referred unanimously by the 
subcommittee to the full Oversight Committee. And during the full 
committee consideration, I am proud to say that Republican amendments 
were offered and they were accepted and the legislation was then 
advanced to the House without a single objection by any Republican 
member. And I am proud of that fact. That is bipartisanship. My friends 
on the other side of the aisle, good Republicans, had every opportunity 
to attempt to add additional provisions in the committee, where they 
would have received full consideration rather than the 5 minutes of 
hurried debate prior to the vote on the Republican motion to recommit.
  But today I'm pleased that we have the opportunity to consider the 
excellent, comprehensive, bipartisan compromise we were able to 
negotiate with the Senate. And I would also like to add that all the 
House and Senate committee staff, majority and minority, met following 
Senate passage to discuss possible alternatives that would be 
acceptable.
  This has been a bipartisan process. This is something I think we can 
agree on. I would not want the perfect to be the enemy of the good in 
this case. I think we have a good bill here. I think there's been good 
input from both sides of the aisle here, and it shows in the end 
product.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, as a representative of a district with 
a large number of Federal employees, I rise in strong support of H.R. 
1722, The Telework Improvements Act. I want to thank Chairmen Towns and 
Lynch and Representative Sarbanes for their leadership in crafting this 
important bipartisan bill.
  The Telework Improvements Act makes administrative, fiscal and 
environmental sense. If passed, the measure will save money for the 
American taxpayers, make government operations more efficient, and put 
the Federal Government on equal footing with many private sector 
employers and State governments which allow their employees to perform 
many of their duties and responsibilities from home or at another work 
site.
  Passing this bill will help attract more workers to government 
service. There is an effort under way to encourage more young people to 
work for the Federal Government to offset the growing number of older 
employees who are retiring. Offering prospective employees the option 
to telework increases the possibility that those employees with 
families will join the Federal workforce.
  Passing this bill is smart fiscal policy. According to the Office of 
Personnel Management, during the blizzard that hit Washington, DC last 
winter, the government lost tens of millions of dollars worth of 
productivity for each day it remained closed. This number might have 
been far larger had some Federal workers not had the opportunity to 
work from home. The bill will also reduce costs for taxpayers by 
lowering absenteeism.
  Passing this bill makes environmental sense. Increasing teleworking 
opportunities for employees of the country's largest employer means 
fewer cars on the roads and lower carbon emissions. According to the 
Telework Exchange, if 20 percent of Americans teleworked, we could 
eliminate 67 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually 
and reduce Persian Gulf oil imports by 40 percent.
  Madam Speaker, passing The Telework Improvements Act will save money 
for the taxpayer, help ease pressure on the environment and make the 
government run more efficiently. The bill is also PAYGO compliant.
  I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting the bill and I 
urge its immediate passage.
  Mr. LYNCH. I ask all Members to vote in favor of H.R. 1722, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
  Pursuant to clause 1(c) of rule XIX, further consideration of this 
motion is postponed.

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