[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 100 (Wednesday, June 25, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1069-E1070]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2015

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. JOE COURTNEY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 19, 2014

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4870) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes:

  Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Chair, as ranking member of the subcommittee on 
Workforce Protections that has jurisdiction over this issue, I rise in 
opposition to the amendment offered by the gentleman from Michigan.
  Earlier this year, Chairman Walberg and I raised bipartisan concerns 
with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP)'s enforcement 
activity with regards to TRICARE participants. Under the OFCCP's 2010 
directive, there was very real concern that any hospital that 
participated in TRICARE would be considered to be a federal contractor 
under the OFCCP's jurisdiction. While I support the mission of the 
OFCCP, I shared the concern of many that application of the agency's 
contracting rules could disrupt the vital mission of providing quality 
health care for our active duty servicemembers, retirees and their 
families.
  To this end, as a conferee on the FY2012 National Defense 
Authorization Act, I supported language clarifying that a TRICARE 
health care provider was not a federal contractor or subcontractor. 
Despite the clear congressional intent in that language, and the 
withdrawal of the 2010 directive that is the subject of this amendment, 
our recent hearings in the Workforce Protections subcommittee on the 
subject showed there was still a great deal of misunderstanding over 
the reach of OFCCP into TRICARE providers.
  That is why I deeply appreciate the personal engagement of our 
Secretary of Labor, Tom Perez, in hearing out our concerns and taking 
action to address them. As the gentleman noted, Secretary Perez has 
already addressed this matter through Directive 2014-01 establishing a 
moratorium on the OFCCP's enforcement activity with regards to TRICARE 
participants, addressing many of the concerns raised on the floor here 
today. For instance, instead of a temporary one-year rider proposed 
through this amendment the Secretary's

[[Page E1070]]

directive established a five year moratorium on applying OFCCP's 
jurisdiction to TRICARE providers--meaning that any open OFCCP audits 
of TRICARE providers will be terminated and no new enforcement activity 
will occur during that time.
  I would also note for the record that, per Secretary Perez's written 
commitment to our subcommittee, the OFCCP withdrew its complaint 
against Florida Hospital of Orlando on March 28, 2014. This case was 
the source of much of the bipartisan concern regarding the application 
of OFCCP rules on TRICARE providers. I mention this point because the 
gentleman cited this enforcement action in his remarks in support of 
the amendment, but did not inform the House that in fact this case no 
longer exists.
  Madam Chair, I strongly believe that the Secretary's moratorium is a 
good faith effort to heed our bipartisan concerns and provides the time 
needed for Congress and the Department to take another look at this 
issue. With the Secretary's quick and direct response to our 
subcommittee's concerns on this issue, this amendment is unnecessary, 
and arguably a step backwards from the action already taken.
  I appreciate the opportunity to provide this information for the 
record, and I look forward to continuing to work with Secretary Perez, 
Chairman Walberg and our colleagues on the Workforce Protections 
subcommittee on this important issue.

                          ____________________