[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25924]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



     FEDERAL PHYSICIANS COMPARABILITY ALLOWANCE AMENDMENTS OF 2000

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                               speech of

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 31, 2000

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of 
H.R. 207, to amend title 5, of the United States Code, which provides 
that federal physicians comparability allowances be treated as part of 
basic pay for retirement purposes.
  Across our country, hundreds of federal physicians are working on 
cures for AIDS, epilepsy, cancer, and heart disease, protecting the 
safety of food and drugs, and providing medical care to such segments 
of our population including Native Americans, Defense personnel and 
their dependents. In the district that I represent, more than 200 of 
these federal physician's are employed either by the Indian Health 
Service or the Veterans Administration.
  Today, the government does not pay physicians on the same scale as 
physicians employed in hospitals, HMOs, and universities. Therefore, 
one of the most important points of this legislation is that the 
inclusion of this special pay in retirement calculations will further 
help the recruitment efforts by federal agencies such as the Indian 
Health Service, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and 
Drug Administration. This legislation will strengthen the quality of 
our federal clinical and medical research programs and have a 
beneficial effect on health care both on the national and local levels.
  I am pleased with the bi-partisan support for H.R. 207, co-sponsored 
by myself, and Connie Morella. This legislation would ensure that all 
federally employed physicians are treated equally in terms of 
retirement pay calculations.
  This is a good bill because it is the fair, equitable, and a just 
course of action that we should take.

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