[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 194 (Monday, December 10, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H9792-H9794]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1645
               SECRET SERVICE OVERTIME PAY EXTENSION ACT

  Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 6893) to amend the Overtime Pay for Protective 
Services Act of 2016 to extend the Secret Service overtime pay 
exception through 2019, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6893

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Secret Service Overtime Pay 
     Extension Act''.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF OVERTIME PAY EXCEPTION THROUGH 2020 FOR 
                   PROTECTIVE SERVICES.

       (a) In General.--Section 2 of the Overtime Pay for 
     Protective Services Act of 2016 (5 U.S.C. 5547 note), as 
     amended by Public Law 115-160, is further amended--
       (1) in the section heading, by striking ``2018'' and 
     inserting ``2020'';
       (2) in subsection (a), by striking ``or 2018'' and 
     inserting ``2018, 2019, or 2020''; and
       (3) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``and 2018'' and 
     inserting ``2018, 2019, and 2020''.
       (b) Report on Extensions.--Not later than January 30 of 
     each of calendar years 2020 and 2021, the Director of the 
     Secret Service shall submit to the Committees on 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 
     Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee 
     on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 
     Representatives, and the Committee on Homeland Security and 
     Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on the effects of 
     the amendments made by subsection (a). The report shall 
     include, with respect to the previous calendar year, the 
     information described under paragraphs (1) through (7) of 
     section 2(c) of Public Law 115-160.

[[Page H9793]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Jody B. Hice) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Lynch) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Secret Service is the premier protective agency 
in the world. Secret Service agents and officers play a vital role in 
defending the President, high-ranking government officials, and events 
of national significance.
  Protection is a round-the-clock job, and Secret Service personnel 
often work extensive overtime to fulfill their zero-fail mission.
  Under current law, Federal employees across the government may not be 
paid above an annual premium pay cap. The cap consists of base pay, 
including locality pay, and premium pay, such as overtime. The cap is 
in place to ensure a hierarchy of pay so that frontline employees do 
not earn more than their supervisors who are ineligible for overtime 
pay. It also helps to control agency spending on compensation.
  The cap, however, has led to issues at the Secret Service. Due to a 
staffing shortage and increased protective responsibilities, Secret 
Service personnel are expected to work increasing amounts of overtime, 
causing them to hit the premium pay cap well in advance of the end of 
the year.
  Secret Service personnel are expected to continue working once they 
hit the cap, but they receive no extra compensation for this work. This 
phenomenon is known as maxing out at the agency, and it can cause 
morale and attrition problems.
  Committee staff recently traveled to observe Secret Service 
operations in Europe. During that trip, the topic of maxing out came up 
as an issue consistently on the minds of personnel in the field. The 
maxing out issue is expected to get worse in 2020, when the burdens of 
the Presidential campaign cycle cause a large increase in hours worked 
by the Secret Service.
  In the previous Presidential election cycle, Congress raised the 
premium pay cap for Secret Service personnel to the Executive Schedule 
Level II, ensuring Secret Service personnel receive additional 
compensation commensurate with the amount of time they must work.
  This waiver of the governmentwide premium pay cap was extended to the 
end of 2018 by the Secret Service Recruitment and Retention Act. 
Without a further extension, Secret Service personnel will once again 
be subject to the lower pay cap.
  H.R. 6893 extends the premium pay cap waiver to the end of 2020. 
Between 700 and 900 personnel will be eligible for extra pay in 2019, 
while approximately 1,150 will be eligible in 2020.
  The bill also continues a series of reports due to Congress on the 
premium pay cap, to ensure its appropriate use.
  Extending the premium pay cap waiver also gives time for the 
Government Accountability Office to complete ongoing review of the 
Secret Service's staffing issues.
  Finally, it ensures the agency doesn't backtrack on staffing progress 
made to date. The Oversight and Government Reform Committee continues 
to maintain that the premium pay cap waiver cannot be a permanent 
change and that the Secret Service must fix its own staffing issues and 
problems.
  For now, however, I do urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, first of all, I thank and acknowledge the remarks of the 
gentleman from Georgia on this bill. As ranking member of the 
Subcommittee on National Security, I also express my strong support for 
H.R. 6893, the Secret Service Overtime Pay Extension Act, introduced by 
my friend  Steve Russell from Oklahoma, who is the chairman of our 
subcommittee.
  In light of previous legislation reported out of the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform on a bipartisan basis, this bill would 
ensure that the United States Secret Service retains the ability to 
provide overtime pay to its dedicated workforce for the additional work 
that agents will be required to perform in 2019 and through the 2020 
Presidential election process.
  The bipartisan investigation conducted by our committee during the 
114th Congress examined how best to strengthen the core protective 
mission of the Secret Service. The Secret Service is our Nation's 
primary security force for the protection of the President, the First 
Family, Presidential candidates, and, when necessary, other elected 
officials and world leaders.
  The Secret Service currently faces serious administrative challenges. 
According to the bipartisan report unanimously adopted by our committee 
in 2016, chief among those challenges is a staffing crisis that poses 
perhaps the greatest threat to the agency and that allowed a series of 
brazen security breaches during both the Obama and Trump 
administrations.
  The safety and security of the Secret Service mission demands that 
the Congress provide sufficient funding to restore the agency to 
adequate staffing levels. At a minimum, we must first ensure that the 
agency retains the basic ability to compensate its agents with the 
overtime pay that they have earned and that they deserve.
  In 2017, we passed legislation on a bipartisan basis to retroactively 
authorize overtime pay for the thousands of additional hours worked by 
Secret Service employees in the midst of an extraordinarily taxing and 
extended 2016 Presidential campaign season.
  Recognizing that the agency now provides security details for a 
President with a larger First Family and multiple and extensive travel 
schedules, we subsequently passed legislation extending that 
authorization through 2018.
  As underscored by the Federal union representing rank-and-file Secret 
Service agents, the 2020 Presidential campaign season is expected to 
involve the participation of multiple candidates who may require 
earlier Secret Service protection than customary and include an 
extended Presidential primary cycle, thereby imposing further demands 
on the already understaffed Secret Service workforce.
  That is why our committee approved Representative  Steve Russell's 
legislation to fund overtime pay for the Secret Service for calendar 
year 2019, as well as an amendment introduced by our full committee 
ranking member, the gentleman from Maryland, Elijah Cummings, to extend 
this authorization through the 2020 campaign year. I note that the 2-
year authorization request was specifically supported by the Secret 
Service.
  The hardworking men and women of the Secret Service put their lives 
on the line every day and make tremendous personal sacrifices for our 
country. Congress has a fundamental responsibility to provide the 
resources that they need to do their jobs safely and successfully.
  While I believe Congress should also spend some time working together 
on a permanent fix to this problem, I, nevertheless, stand proud to 
join my colleagues in this bipartisan effort to support the Secret 
Service in this effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I also urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I will take just a moment to give a huge thank you to 
the sponsor of this bill, Mr.  Steve Russell from Oklahoma. 
Unfortunately, his flight was delayed. I know he would have loved to 
have been here to speak on this bill. I give a shout-out to him, 
thanking him for his leadership here. And also, as the gentleman from 
Massachusetts mentioned, other cosponsors, Mr. Cummings, Mrs. Watson 
Coleman, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Katko), and others, thanks to 
each of them.
  Mr. Speaker, may the gentleman from Massachusetts be aware that I 
have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.

[[Page H9794]]

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.
  Mr. Speaker, again, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle 
to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I also urge adoption of 
this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Jody B. Hice) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6893, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to amend 
the Overtime Pay for Protective Services Act of 2016 to extend the 
Secret Service overtime pay exception through 2020, and for other 
purposes.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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