[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16835-16836]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          OPTIONAL ELECTRONIC PAY STUBS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 6073) to provide that Federal employees receiving 
their pay by electronic funds transfer shall be given the option of 
receiving their pay stubs electronically.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6073

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

     SECTION 1. ELECTRONIC PAY STUBS.

       (a) In General.--The Office of Personnel Management shall 
     take such measures as may be appropriate to ensure that all 
     employees who receive their pay by electronic funds transfer 
     shall be given the option of receiving their pay stubs 
     electronically.
       (b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
       (1) the term ``electronic funds transfer'' has the meaning 
     given such term by section 3332 of title 31, United States 
     Code;
       (2) the term ``employee'' means an individual employed in 
     or under an Executive agency; and
       (3) the term ``Executive agency'' has the meaning given 
     such term by section 105 of title 5, United States Code.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Davis) and the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I 
may consume.
  H.R. 6073 would require the Office of Personnel Management to allow 
Federal employees to receive electronic pay stubs. Most Federal 
employees receive their pay electronically, which is faster and less 
costly than using paper checks. This bill helps extend that cost 
savings to the rest of the payroll process.
  More than a decade ago, Congress passed a law requiring that almost 
all Federal employees be paid by electronic funds transfer, commonly 
known as direct deposit. Electronic funds transfer is more secure and 
costs less than printing and distributing paper checks. Employees also 
have access to their funds sooner, because they do not have to deposit 
or cash their checks. However, many Federal agencies still print and 
distribute paper pay stubs for their employees, limiting the gains in 
efficiency from using electronic funds transfer.
  This bill will encourage agencies to handle their entire payroll 
process electronically. The Office of Personnel Management and the 
Office of Management and Budget have no objections to this bill. It's a 
commonsense measure that will help make payroll faster and more 
efficient, and I want to commend and thank Representative Foxx for 
introducing it. I appreciate her work in helping us get this bill to 
the floor and all of her work on the committee.
  I also want to thank Chairmen Waxman and Towns and Ranking Member Tom 
Davis for their support for the bill and urge its swift adoption.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank Chairman Waxman, Ranking Member 
Davis, and Mr. Davis from Illinois for their assistance in bringing 
this bill out of committee and to the floor. I think it is our 
responsibility as Members of Congress to seek every way possible to 
save money for the taxpayers of this country, and I appreciate the fact 
that we're moving this bill along because it is an excellent way for us 
to save the taxpayers of this country some money.
  There are currently 2.7 million Federal employees. Many of these 2.7 
million Federal employees have the option of accessing their leave and 
earnings statement, pay stubs electronically rather than the paper 
version which we receive in our mailboxes. But there are still 
executive branch agencies that do not offer this option to their 
employees. H.R. 6073 would direct the Office of Personnel Management to 
take such measures as they see appropriate to ensure that all executive 
agency employees have the option of receiving their pay stub 
electronically.
  The reason that H.R. 6073 affects only the executive branch agencies 
and not the legislative branch or the judicial branch is because each 
branch of the Federal Government has different rules and means of 
payment regulations. Currently, there are 17 executive branch agencies 
that do not offer their employees the option of receiving their pay 
stubs electronically. H.R. 6073 would give these employees the option 
of having access to their pay stubs electronically. This is not a 
mandate.
  Finally, this sensible legislation will save millions of taxpayer 
dollars and immeasurable amounts of paper.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve.

                              {time}  1415

  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, again I want to thank the folks who have 
helped bring this bill to the floor.
  I am pleased, again, that we have the potential for saving taxpayers 
much money, but I hope that by the end of this week we're also going to 
vote on legislation that would bring down gas prices and save much, 
much more money on behalf of the American people. I think that we need 
to do that as responsible Members of this Congress.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
H.R. 6073, ``To provide that Federal employees receiving their pay by 
electronic funds transfer shall be given the option of receiving their 
pay stubs electronically.'' First, I would like to thank my colleague, 
Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, for introducing this important 
legislation. This bill will allow all Federal employees receiving their 
pay by electronic funds transfer to receive their pay stubs 
electronically. This will bring much needed reform to a system that has 
become less transparent due to the advent of electronic, online 
banking. I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this act.
  H.R. 6073 is important because of the need to create a streamlined, 
direct pay system that

[[Page 16836]]

is at the same time transparent with clear authentication, allowing the 
over 1 million Federal employees to be able to back up their electronic 
funds with electronic pay stubs. These pay stubs will provide a 
necessary, substantive back-up to ensure that the many employees using 
electronic funds transfer have the same access to a transparent 
financial record.
  H.R. 6073, ``To provide that Federal employees receiving their pay by 
electronic funds transfer shall be given the option of receiving their 
pay stubs electronically,'' is a fair, equitable step that will bring 
the Federal Government toward a clearer, more direct standard for all 
Federal employees using electronic funds transfer.
  Upon enactment of the act, the Office of Personnel Management, OPM, 
would be required to provide Federal employees that receive their pay 
through electronic transfer with the option of also receiving their pay 
stubs electronically. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 
implementation of this act will have no effect on the budget, and this 
act does not contain any intergovernmental or private sector mandates, 
and hence does not apply to local or State governments.
  This bill will benefit the many thousands of Federal employees 
receiving their pay by electronic funds transfer by giving them the 
option to receive their pay stubs electronically. This option will 
provide greater authentication and transparency, without costing 
taxpayers, and without affecting private businesses, and State and 
local government.
  This bipartisan bill will benefit the many Federal Government 
employees in Houston, Texas, and the Nation as a whole, while coming at 
no cost to the taxpayers of Texas' 18th. This simple reform should 
create an improved electronic pay system, benefiting countless 
Government employees.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage 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 Illinois (Mr. Davis) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 6073.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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