[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 6 (Monday, January 13, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H105-H106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY SALARY TRANSPARENCY ACT
Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 144) 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.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 144
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. 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. 144.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Missouri?
There was no objection.
Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 144, 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 this Chamber in March of last year
under suspension of the rules by a voice vote.
This bill continues years of work to make the TVA more transparent
for its customers and the communities that it serves.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for H.R. 144, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the chairman's remarks, and the
gentleman is certainly an embodiment of the virtue of waivers.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 144, bipartisan
legislation to promote additional transparency over the salary
structure of the Tennessee Valley Authority, otherwise known as the
TVA.
As was said, the bill passed the House last Congress on suspension by
a voice vote.
The TVA is the Nation's largest government-owned wholesale power
producer, supplying power to 10 million people across the States of
Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and
Kentucky.
This legislation corrects a change that was enacted in 1995 that
removed the requirement for TVA to disclose the management structure
and salaries of its executives. Today, TVA has approximately 13,000
employees, and the median salary is $160,000. They have, in essence,
6,500 Congresspeople on salary doing TVA's work. That is absurd.
The head of the TVA, whose salary has been reported, makes $10
million a year. Mr. Lyash is a fine fellow. He is really a nice guy,
and he does a good job. He was working for a Canadian firm before he
got hired to run TVA, where he was making $2 million or $2.5 million. I
don't know if he is four times better than he was in the state of
Canada, but he is making that.
The executives, whose salaries they have to disclose, are making $2
million to $6 million each annually.
The public should know about these salaries, what they are getting,
and the salaries that are spent at TVA.
Last Congress, a fair compromise was reached between our legitimate
congressional oversight responsibilities
[[Page H106]]
over TVA and the need of TVA to retain and maintain a pool of talented,
diverse, and effective management staff and executives.
This bill would help ensure that Congress has the ability to provide
effective oversight of the TVA and its management and executives.
My prime cosponsor is Tim Burchett. Representative Burchett has been
a friend of mine since we served in the Tennessee General Assembly
together, and we raised the speed limit to 70. It had been put down to
60. It didn't hurt that Mr. Sundquist had kind of a heavy foot and
helped us with that.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett) for
his cosponsorship. I urge passage of H.R. 144, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Burchett).
Mr. BURCHETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr.
Cohen), my very good friend from Memphis, Tennessee, the home of Al
Green.
We had a lot of good times in the State senate. We brought some
famous people to the floor, such as our dear friend Steve Cropper, who
is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Some of his guitars are in the
Smithsonian. There were many others, Isaac Hayes.
Steve and I actually sang the theme from ``Shaft'' on the senate
floor. I am sure somebody will dig for that, and hopefully, that has
been erased from history.
We brought Isaac Hayes. I almost forgot about Isaac. We had a great
relationship with those folks.
People often ask me why I am friends with Congressman Cohen. He is
probably my oldest friend up here, truth be known. He is correct that
we did sponsor a bill to raise the speed limit. I think I asked for 85,
knowing we would take 70, in the house.
In the week prior to that, I had actually brought Peyton Manning to
the house floor, and I think I could have probably passed communism and
gotten 100 miles an hour if I wanted to that week because that was the
most popular I had ever been in the legislature.
Truth be known, the reason I am such good friends with Steve Cohen
is I lost my daddy years ago, and my dad was my hero. He really was. He
and my mama were exceptional people.
Steve was the first person to call my mama and offer his condolences.
I always remembered we were at the graveyard working and trying to get
the site at the veterans cemetery, and I remember mama said: Oh, Steve,
you shouldn't have called. This is costing you money.
I will never forget that. That was my sweet mama. She loved Steve.
She prayed for Steve. I don't know if it did any good, Mr. Speaker. I
know it doesn't have anything to do about the bill, but I just think
America needs to know about these things.
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I am still here.
Mr. BURCHETT. Mr. Speaker, yes, he is.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the TVA Salary Transparency Act.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is an American public power company
providing electricity to over 10 million people in Tennessee and six
surrounding States. TVA employs over 10,000 people, some of whom make
millions of dollars per year. That is millions, Mr. Speaker, and this
is in Tennessee.
Tennesseans deserve to know how TVA operates and compensates their
executives, especially when TVA covers a region that is 65,000 square
miles and the compensation is to the tune of millions of dollars.
There is no such thing as too much transparency, and I hope our
friends in the media cover this. The TVA Salary Transparency Act
requires TVA to report to Congress on the salaries of employees making
more than $123,000 annually or the highest pay rate available for
Federal employees. Specifically, TVA must report on those employees'
names, salaries, and job responsibilities.
I have continuously advocated for greater transparency from TVA in
other areas as a State legislator, as mayor, and now as a Congressman.
Passing this bill is a step in the right direction.
Mr. Speaker, once again, I thank Representative Cohen for his work on
this bill, and I ask my colleagues to support this bill. It will
provide transparency to the millions of folks who rely on the Tennessee
Valley Authority.
{time} 1715
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I will say that the bill has been well
explained. It is an important and a good bill. All that Representative
Burchett said about his father, Dean Burchett, a rich Tennessean, and
Mrs. Burchett is true. They were wonderful people.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 144 is a commonsense bill. It is going
to increase transparency at the TVA, and it is going to ensure that the
Transportation Committee conducts appropriate oversight over the
agency's actions.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for 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. 144.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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