[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 113 (Tuesday, July 9, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S4305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2111. Mr. ROMNEY (for himself and Mr. Manchin) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4638, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2025 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for 
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military 
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which 
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. ___. TELEWORK.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 65 of title 5, United States Code, 
     is amended--
       (1) in section 6502--
       (A) in subsection (b)(2)--
       (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the end; 
     and
       (ii) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(C) provides that, subject to subsection (d), an employee 
     may not telework for more than 40 percent of the work days of 
     the employee per pay period;
       ``(D) shall be reviewed on an annual basis by, and be 
     subject to the annual approval of, the head of the executive 
     agency; and
       ``(E) provides that the executive agency, by using remote 
     technical means or other appropriate methods, will monitor 
     and evaluate the applicable employee when the employee is 
     engaged in telework;''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(d) Adjustments to the Permitted Number of Telework 
     Days.--With respect to the limitation under subsection 
     (b)(2)(C), the head of an executive agency may--
       ``(1) further limit the number of work days per pay period 
     that an employee of the executive agency may telework based 
     on the specific role of the employee or other circumstances 
     determined appropriate by the head of the executive agency, 
     including--
       ``(A) the frequency with which the employee needs to access 
     classified information;
       ``(B) whether the employee is newly appointed; and
       ``(C) whether the employee occupies a managerial position 
     within the executive agency; or
       ``(2) waive that limitation with respect to an employee of 
     the executive agency if--
       ``(A) the employee is a spouse of--
       ``(i) a member of the Armed Forces; or
       ``(ii) a Federal law enforcement officer;
       ``(B) the employee occupies a position--
       ``(i) the duties of which require--

       ``(I) highly specialized expertise; or
       ``(II) frequent travel; or

       ``(ii) for which finding qualified candidates is 
     challenging; or
       ``(C) inclement weather or other exigent circumstances 
     prevent the employee from reaching the worksite of the 
     employee during a pay period.''; and
       (2) in section 6506, by adding at the end the following:
       ``(e) Executive Agency Reports.--
       ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, the 
     head of each executive agency shall submit to the Committee 
     on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 
     and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the 
     House of Representatives a report that describes, for the 
     period covered by the report, the following:
       ``(A) What metrics and methods the executive agency uses to 
     determine the productivity of employees who telework.
       ``(B) What barriers, if any, prevent the executive agency 
     from enforcing the limitation under section 6502(b)(2)(C) and 
     any initiatives of the executive agency to address those 
     barriers.
       ``(C) Any negative effects of telework, including whether 
     telework results in increased costs, security 
     vulnerabilities, lower employee morale, decreased employee 
     productivity, or waste, fraud, or abuse.
       ``(D) Any actions taken by the executive agency (or a 
     detailed justification for any lack of action) in response to 
     any findings of, or recommendations made by, the Inspector 
     General of the executive agency with respect to telework.
       ``(2) GAO report.--With respect to each report submitted by 
     the head of an executive agency under paragraph (1), the 
     Comptroller General of the United States shall submit an 
     accompanying report that evaluates the accuracy and 
     thoroughness of the report submitted by the head of the 
     executive agency with respect to the matters required to be 
     included in the report of the executive agency under that 
     paragraph.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date 
     of enactment of this Act.
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