[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 43 (Monday, March 11, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H1078-H1079]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY SALARY TRANSPARENCY ACT

  Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 4693) to provide that the Federal Reports 
Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 does not apply to certain reports 
required to be submitted by the Tennessee Valley Authority, and for 
other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4693

       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 ``Tennessee Valley Authority 
     Salary Transparency Act''.

     SEC. 2. SALARY DISCLOSURE; EXCEPTION TO REPORT ELIMINATION.

       Section 9 of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 (16 
     U.S.C. 831h) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``a financial 
     statement'' and all that follows through ``$1,500 a year'' 
     and inserting ``a report of the total number of employees at 
     the management level or above, to include all executives and 
     board members, that shall include the names, salaries, and 
     duties of such employees, that are receiving compensation at 
     or greater than the maximum rate of basic pay for grade GS-15 
     of the General Schedule'';
       (2) by striking all that precedes ``The Board shall'' and 
     inserting the following:

     ``SEC. 9. FINANCIAL REPORTING.

       ``(a) Report on Compensation.--
       ``(1) In general.--''; and
       (3) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
       ``(2) Exemption.--The information concerning salaries of 
     employees of the Corporation contained in, or filed with, the 
     report described in paragraph (1) is exempt from--
       ``(A) disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5, United 
     States Code; and
       ``(B) the requirements of the Access to Congressionally 
     Mandated Reports Act (Public Law 117-263).''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Graves) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.


                             General Leave

  Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 4693.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Missouri?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4693, the Tennessee 
Valley Authority Salary Transparency Act. This legislation simply 
reinstates an annual reporting requirement for the Tennessee Valley 
Authority to disclose to Congress the salaries for upper-level 
management.
  I thank Representatives Cohen and Burchett for their bipartisan work 
on this legislation, which passed out of the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure by voice vote this last year.
  The bill continues years of work to make the TVA more transparent for 
its customers and the communities that it obviously serves.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support of H.R. 4693, and I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Graves for his help with this legislation.
  I rise in support of H.R. 4693, bipartisan legislation to promote 
additional transparency over the management structure of the TVA.
  I thank my dear friend and colleague from days in Tennessee and days 
up here, Representative Burchett, for his tireless work on this issue 
and for partnering with me on this act.
  The Tennessee Valley Authority, or the TVA, is better known as the 
Nation's largest government-owned wholesale power producer, supplying 
power to ten million people across the States of Tennessee, 
Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky.
  The legislation corrects a change enacted in 1995 that removed a 
requirement to disclose the management structure and salaries of TVA 
executives as part of the legislation to eliminate antiquated Federal 
agency reporting requirements. Well, this wasn't an antiquated portion 
that was deleted. This was something the public needs to see and know.
  This bill reflects a fair compromise between our legitimate 
congressional oversight responsibilities over TVA and the need of TVA 
to retain and maintain a pool of talented, diverse, and effective 
management staff, executives, and board members.
  It would ensure that Congress has the ability to provide effective 
oversight of the TVA and its management and executives.
  I have asked TVA for salary transparency time and time again but have 
been refused information beyond that of the five highest-paid employees 
included in their annual SEC disclosure, which does indicate that the 
head of TVA makes $10 million. That is, in my

[[Page H1079]]

opinion, too much for a public employee, even if it is a quasi-public 
employee. The fact is, when this gentleman, who is a good gentleman, 
was working in Canada when we hired him, he was earning $2 million 
managing a utility. When he came to Tennessee, he followed in the 
footsteps of his predecessor, and his salary crept up to $10 million.
  Congress should have oversight, and the public should know what 
people are being paid. There are quite a few people being paid 
multimillions of dollars, not what F.D.R. envisioned when he helped 
pass the TVA bill back in the days of F.D.R.'s administration.
  TVA's mission to make life better for the people in the Tennessee 
Valley is still there. We strayed from it in some ways. Hopefully, this 
bill is a vote for a more transparent and more accountable, better TVA.
  It is going to give TVA a new deal, the New Deal they were originally 
passed under.
  Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 4693, and I urge my colleagues to do the 
same. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett), one of the cosponsors of this 
piece of legislation.
  Mr. BURCHETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4693, the Tennessee Valley 
Authority Salary Transparency Act.
  The Tennessee Valley Authority controls a vital part of east 
Tennesseans' lives. It controls how they get energy, Mr. Speaker. If my 
constituents are going to rely on TVA every day, they deserve to know 
how TVA is spending its money. They deserve to know with certainty that 
TVA is doing right by them.

                              {time}  1645

  My first bill in Congress focused on transparency in TVA and, 
dadgummit, I have been proud to partner with my friend, Congressman 
Steve Cohen, on several bills over the past few years on that very 
issue.
  This bill, the Tennessee Valley Authority Salary Transparency Act, 
would make sure the public has access to information about the salaries 
of employees at TVA. If government money flows into it, Mr. Speaker, we 
ought to know what they are paying and who they are paying. These are 
the GS-15 level or above. My constituents and all the Tennessee Valley 
should know exactly what the high earners at TVA are really making.
  Transparency has been a problem for TVA in the past, but it has been 
getting better recently. I want to make sure that that pattern 
continues. This bill will help make that happen.
  The Tennessee Valley Authority Salary Transparency Act will help 
Congress keep TVA accountable for how it pays its employees, which is 
an important part of preserving the public trust.
  I thank my friend and colleague, Steve Cohen, for his hard work. When 
I think of Memphis, I think of barbecue, Stax Records, Elvis, Al Green, 
and Steve Cohen. I thank him for working with me on this bill, and I 
strongly encourage all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
support it.
  Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, first, I would have to say in the spirit of 
Elvis: ``Thank you, thank you very much.'' That is nice company to be 
put into, with Stax, Al Green, and barbecue.
  I thank Mr. Burchett for his work. In fact, this morning, Mr. 
Burchett's picture was in The Commercial Appeal looking up at the solar 
eclipse. He had glasses on, though; that was a good thing.
  This is a good bill. I appreciate all the help we have had to get it 
to this point. The public deserves to see what the salaries are of the 
people serving in the public sector of the TVA.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the bill, and I yield back the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4693, the Tennessee Valley 
Authority Salary Transparency Act, is a commonsense piece of 
legislation that is going to help increase transparency at the TVA and 
ensure that the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee can conduct 
appropriate oversight over the agency's actions.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the 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 Missouri (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4693, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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