[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12938-12952]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TELEWORK IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 2010

  Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1509, I call 
up the bill (H.R. 1722) to improve teleworking in executive agencies by 
developing a telework program that allows employees to telework at 
least 20 percent of the hours worked in every 2 administrative 
workweeks, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate 
consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1509, the 
amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in the bill, modified 
by the amendment printed in House Report 111-535, is adopted and the 
bill, as amended, is considered read.
  The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:

                               H.R. 1722

       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 ``Telework Improvements Act of 
     2010''.

     SEC. 2. TELEWORK.

       (a) In General.--Part III of title 5, United States Code, 
     is amended by inserting after chapter 63 the following:

                         ``CHAPTER 65--TELEWORK

``Sec.
``6501. Definitions.
``6502. Governmentwide telework requirement.
``6503. Implementation.
``6504. Telework Managing Officer.
``6505. Evaluating telework in agencies.

     ``Sec. 6501. Definitions

       ``For purposes of this chapter--
       ``(1) the term `agency' means an Executive agency (as 
     defined by section 105), except as otherwise provided in this 
     chapter;
       ``(2) the term `telework' or `teleworking' refers to a work 
     flexibility arrangement under which an employee performs the 
     duties and responsibilities of such employee's position, and 
     other authorized activities, from an approved worksite other 
     than the location from which the employee would otherwise 
     work;
       ``(3) the term `continuity of operations', as used with 
     respect to an agency, refers to measures designed to ensure 
     that functions essential to the mission of the agency can 
     continue to be performed during a wide range of emergencies, 
     including localized acts of nature, accidents, public health 
     emergencies, and technological or attack-related emergencies; 
     and
       ``(4) the term `Telework Managing Officer' means, with 
     respect to an agency, the Telework Managing Officer of the 
     agency designated under section 6504.

     ``Sec. 6502. Governmentwide telework requirement

       ``(a) Telework Requirement.--
       ``(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date 
     of the enactment of this chapter, the head of each agency 
     shall establish a policy under which employees shall be 
     authorized to telework, subject to paragraph (2) and 
     subsection (b).
       ``(2) Agency policies.--The head of each agency shall 
     ensure--
       ``(A) that the telework policy established under this 
     section--
       ``(i) conforms to the regulations promulgated by the 
     Director of the Office of Personnel Management under section 
     6503, and
       ``(ii) authorizes employees to telework to the maximum 
     extent possible without diminishing agency operations and 
     performance; and
       ``(B) that information on whether a position is eligible 
     for telework is included in descriptions of available 
     positions and recruiting materials.''.
       ``(b) Provisions Relating to Certain Circumstances.--
     Nothing in subsection (a) shall be considered--
       ``(1) to require the head of an agency to authorize 
     teleworking in the case of an employee whose duties and 
     responsibilities--
       ``(A) require daily direct handling of classified 
     information; or
       ``(B) are such that their performance requires on-site 
     activity which cannot be carried out from a site removed from 
     the employee's regular place of employment; or
       ``(2) to prevent the temporary denial of permission for an 
     employee to telework if, in the judgment of the agency head, 
     the employee is needed to respond to an emergency.
       ``(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this chapter 
     shall--
       ``(1) be considered to require any employee to telework;
       ``(2) prevent an agency from permitting an employee to 
     telework as part of a continuity of operations plan; or
       ``(3) authorize telework by an employee who has been 
     officially disciplined for violations of subpart G of the 
     Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive 
     Branch for viewing, downloading, or exchanging pornography, 
     including child pornography.''.

     ``Sec. 6503. Implementation

       ``(a) Responsibilities of Agencies.--The head of each 
     agency shall ensure that--
       ``(1) appropriate training is provided to supervisors and 
     managers, and to all employees who are authorized to 
     telework, as directed by the Telework Managing Officer of 
     such agency;
       ``(2) the training covers the information security 
     guidelines issued by the Director of the Office of Management 
     and Budget under this section;
       ``(3) no distinction is made between teleworkers and 
     nonteleworkers for purposes of--
       ``(A) periodic appraisals of job performance of employees,
       ``(B) training, rewarding, reassigning, promoting, reducing 
     in grade, retaining, or removing employees,
       ``(C) work requirements, or
       ``(D) other acts involving managerial discretion;
       ``(4) in determining what constitutes diminished 
     performance in the case of an employee who teleworks, the 
     agency shall consult the performance management guidelines of 
     the Office of Personnel Management; and
       ``(5) in the case of an agency which is named in paragraph 
     (1) or (2) of section 901(b) of title 31, the agency 
     incorporates telework in its continuity of operations plans 
     and uses telework in response to emergencies.
       ``(b) Responsibilities of OPM.--The Director of the Office 
     of Personnel Management shall--
       ``(1) not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this chapter, in consultation with the 
     Administrator of General Services, promulgate regulations 
     necessary to carry out this chapter, except that such 
     regulations shall not

[[Page 12939]]

     apply with respect to the Government Accountability Office;
       ``(2) provide advice, assistance, and any necessary 
     training to agencies with respect to the requirements of this 
     chapter, including with respect to--
       ``(A) questions of eligibility to telework, such as the 
     effect of employee performance on eligibility, and
       ``(B) making telework part of the agency's goals, including 
     those of individual supervisors and managers; and
       ``(3) in consultation with the Administrator of General 
     Services, maintain a central, publicly available telework 
     website that includes--
       ``(A) any regulations relating to telework and any other 
     information the Director considers appropriate,
       ``(B) an e-mail address which may be used to submit 
     comments to the Director on agency telework programs or 
     agreements, and
       ``(C) a copy of all reports issued under section 6505(a).
       ``(c) Security Guidelines.--The Director of the Office of 
     Management and Budget, in coordination with the National 
     Institute of Standards and Technology, shall issue guidelines 
     not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this chapter to ensure the adequacy of information and 
     security protections for information and information systems 
     used while teleworking. Such guidelines shall, at a minimum, 
     include requirements necessary--
       ``(1) to control access to agency information and 
     information systems;
       ``(2) to protect agency information (including personally 
     identifiable information) and information systems;
       ``(3) to limit the introduction of vulnerabilities;
       ``(4) to protect information systems not under the control 
     of the agency that are used for teleworking;
       ``(5) to safeguard wireless and other telecommunications 
     capabilities that are used for teleworking; and
       ``(6) to prevent inappropriate use of official time or 
     resources that violates subpart G of the Standards of Ethical 
     Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch by viewing, 
     downloading, or exchanging pornography, including child 
     pornography.''.

     ``Sec. 6504. Telework Managing Officer

       ``(a) Designation and Compensation.--Each agency shall 
     designate an officer, to be known as the `Telework Managing 
     Officer'. The Telework Managing Officer of an agency shall be 
     designated--
       ``(1) by the Chief Human Capital Officer of such agency; or
       ``(2) if the agency does not have a Chief Human Capital 
     Officer, by the head of such agency.
       ``(b) Status Within Agency.--The Telework Managing Officer 
     of an agency shall be a senior official of the agency who has 
     direct access to the head of the agency.
       ``(c) Limitations.--An individual may not hold the position 
     of Telework Managing Officer as a noncareer appointee (as 
     defined in section 3132(a)(7)), and such position may not be 
     considered or determined to be of a confidential, policy-
     determining, policy-making, or policy advocating character.
       ``(d) Duties and Responsibilities.--Each Telework Managing 
     Officer of an agency shall--
       ``(1) provide advice on teleworking to the head of such 
     agency and to the Chief Human Capital Officer of such agency 
     (if any);
       ``(2) serve as a resource on teleworking for supervisors, 
     managers, and employees of such agency;
       ``(3) serve as the primary point of contact on telework 
     matters for agency employees and (with respect to such 
     agency) for Congress and other agencies;
       ``(4) work with senior management of the agency to develop 
     and implement a plan to incorporate telework into the 
     agency's regular business strategies and its continuity of 
     operations strategies, taking into consideration factors such 
     as--
       ``(A) cost-effectiveness,
       ``(B) equipment,
       ``(C) training, and
       ``(D) data collection;
       ``(5) ensure that the agency's telework policy is 
     communicated effectively to employees;
       ``(6) ensure that electronic or written notification is 
     provided to each employee of specific telework programs and 
     the agency's telework policy, including authorization 
     criteria and application procedures;
       ``(7) develop and administer a tracking system for 
     compliance with Governmentwide telework reporting 
     requirements;
       ``(8) provide to the Director of the Office of Personnel 
     Management and the Comptroller General such information as 
     such individuals may require to prepare the reports required 
     under section 6505, including the techniques used to verify 
     and validate data on telework, except that this paragraph 
     shall not apply with respect to the Government Accountability 
     Office;
       ``(9) establish a system for receiving feedback from agency 
     employees on the telework policy of the agency;
       ``(10) develop and implement a program to identify and 
     remove barriers to telework and to maximize telework 
     opportunities in the agency;
       ``(11) track and retain information on all denials of 
     permission to telework for employees who are authorized to 
     telework, and report such information on an annual basis to--
       ``(A) the Chief Human Capital Officer of such agency (or, 
     if the agency does not have a Chief Human Capital Officer, 
     the head of such agency), and
       ``(B) the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, 
     for purposes of preparing the reports required under section 
     6505(a), except that this subparagraph shall not apply with 
     respect to the Government Accountability Office;
       ``(12) ensure that employees are notified of grievance 
     procedures available to them (if any) with respect to any 
     disputes that relate to telework; and
       ``(13) perform such other duties and responsibilities 
     relating to telework as the head of the agency may require.
       ``(e) Rule of Construction Regarding Status of Telework 
     Managing Officer.--Nothing in this section shall be construed 
     to prohibit an individual who holds another office or 
     position in an agency from serving as the Telework Managing 
     Officer for the agency under this chapter.

     ``Sec. 6505. Evaluating telework in agencies

       ``(a) Annual Report by OPM.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Director of the Office of Personnel 
     Management shall submit to the Comptroller General and the 
     appropriate committees of Congress a report evaluating the 
     extent to which each agency is in compliance with this 
     chapter with respect to the period covered by the report, and 
     shall include in the report an evaluation of each of the 
     following:
       ``(A) The degree of participation by employees of the 
     agency in teleworking during the period. In the case of an 
     agency which is an Executive department, the evaluation will 
     include the degree of participation by employees of each 
     component within the department, including--
       ``(i) the total number of employees in the agency;
       ``(ii) the number and percentage of such employees who are 
     eligible to telework; and
       ``(iii) the number and percentage of such employees who do 
     telework, broken down by the number and percentage who 
     telework 3 or more days per week, one or two days per week, 
     and less frequently than one day per week.
       ``(B) The method the agency uses to gather data on telework 
     and the techniques used to verify and validate such data.
       ``(C) Whether the total number of employees who telework is 
     at least 10% higher or lower than the number who teleworked 
     during the previous reporting period and the reasons 
     identified for any such change.
       ``(D) The agency's goal for increasing the number of 
     employees who telework in the next reporting period.
       ``(E) The extent to which the agency met the goal described 
     in subparagraph (D) for its previous report, and, if the 
     agency failed to meet the goal, the actions the agency plans 
     to take to meet the goal for the next reporting period.
       ``(F) The best practices in agency telework programs.
       ``(G) In the case of an agency which is named in paragraph 
     (1) or (2) of section 901(b) of title 31, the extent to which 
     the agency incorporated telework in its continuity of 
     operations plans and used telework in response to 
     emergencies.
       ``(2) Minimum requirement for compliance.--For purposes of 
     the reports required under this subsection, the Director 
     shall determine that an agency is in compliance with the 
     requirements of this chapter if the Director finds that the 
     agency--
       ``(A) reported the requested data accurately and in a 
     timely manner; and
       ``(B) either met or exceeded the agency's established 
     telework goals, or provided explanations as to why the goals 
     were not met as well as the steps the agency is taking to 
     meet the goals.
       ``(3) Reporting period; timing.--The Director shall submit 
     a report under this subsection with respect to the first 1-
     year period for which the regulations promulgated by the 
     Director under section 6503(b) are in effect and each of the 
     4 succeeding 1-year periods, and shall submit the report with 
     respect to a period not later than 6 months after the last 
     day of the period to which the report relates.
       ``(4) Exclusion of government accountability office.--The 
     Director shall not submit a report under this subsection with 
     respect to the Government Accountability Office.
       ``(b) Reports by Comptroller General.--
       ``(1) Evaluations of reports by director of OPM.--Not later 
     than 6 months after the Director submits a report under 
     subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall review the 
     report and submit a report to the appropriate committees of 
     Congress. The report shall evaluate the compliance of the 
     Office of Personnel Management and agencies with this chapter 
     and address the overall progress of agencies in carrying out 
     this chapter, and shall include such other information and 
     recommendations as the Comptroller General considers 
     appropriate.
       ``(2) Reports on government accountability office.--The 
     Comptroller General shall submit a report with respect to the 
     Government Accountability Office in the same manner and in 
     accordance with the same requirements applicable to a report 
     submitted by the Director with respect to any other agency 
     under subsection (a).
       ``(c) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this 
     section, the term `appropriate committees of Congress' 
     means--
       ``(1) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of 
     the House of Representatives; and
       ``(2) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
     Affairs of the Senate.''.
       (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--(1) The analysis 
     for part III of title 5,

[[Page 12940]]

     United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
     relating to chapter 63 the following:

``65. Telework..............................................6501''.....

       (2) Section 622 of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, 
     and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations 
     Act, 2005, as contained in the Consolidated Appropriations 
     Act, 2005 (5 U.S.C. 6120 note) is amended by striking 
     ``designate a `Telework Coordinator' to be'' and inserting 
     ``designate a Telework Managing Officer or designate the 
     Chief Human Capital Officer or other career employee to be''.

     SEC. 3. POLICY GUIDANCE.

       Not later than the expiration of the 120-day period which 
     begins on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 
     of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue policy 
     guidance requiring each Executive agency (as such term is 
     defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code), when 
     purchasing computer systems, to purchase computer systems 
     that enable and support telework, unless the head of the 
     agency determines that there is a mission-specific reason not 
     to do so.

     SEC. 4. AUTHORITY FOR TELEWORK TRAVEL EXPENSE TEST PROGRAMS.

       (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 
     United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:

     ``Sec. 5711. Authority for telework travel expense test 
       programs

       ``(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
     subchapter, under a test program which the Administrator of 
     General Services determines to be in the interest of the 
     Government and approves, an employing agency may pay through 
     the proper disbursing official any necessary travel expenses 
     in lieu of any payment otherwise authorized or required under 
     this subchapter for employees participating in a telework 
     program. Under an approved test program, an agency may 
     provide an employee with the option to waive any payment 
     authorized or required under this subchapter. An agency shall 
     include in any request to the Administrator for approval of 
     such a test program an analysis of the expected costs and 
     benefits and a set of criteria for evaluating the 
     effectiveness of the program.
       ``(2) Any test program operated under this section shall be 
     designed to enhance cost savings or other efficiencies that 
     accrue to the Government.
       ``(3) Under any test program operated under this section, 
     if an agency employee voluntarily relocates from the pre-
     existing duty station of that employee, the Administrator may 
     authorize the employing agency to establish a reasonable 
     maximum number of occasional visits to the pre-existing duty 
     station before that employee is eligible for payment of any 
     accrued travel expenses by that agency.
       ``(4) Nothing in this section is intended to limit the 
     authority of any agency to conduct test programs.
       ``(b) The Administrator shall transmit a description of any 
     test program approved by the Administrator under this 
     section, and the rationale for approval, to the appropriate 
     committees of the Congress at least 30 days before the 
     effective date of the program.
       ``(c)(1) An agency authorized to conduct a test program 
     under this section shall provide to the Administrator, the 
     Telework Managing Officer of that agency, and the appropriate 
     committees of Congress a report on the results of the program 
     not later than 3 months after completion of the program.
       ``(2) The results in a report described under paragraph (1) 
     may include--
       ``(A) the number of visits an employee makes to the pre-
     existing duty station of that employee;
       ``(B) the travel expenses paid by the agency;
       ``(C) the travel expenses paid by the employee; or
       ``(D) any other information the agency determines useful to 
     aid the Administrator, Telework Managing Officer, and 
     Congress in understanding the test program and the impact of 
     the program.
       ``(d) No more than 10 test programs under this section may 
     be conducted simultaneously.
       ``(e) The authority to conduct test programs under this 
     section shall expire 7 years after the date of the enactment 
     of the Telework Improvements Act of 2010.
       ``(f) In this section, the term `appropriate committees of 
     Congress' means the Committee on Oversight and Government 
     Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
     Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for 
     subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, is 
     amended by adding at the end the following:

``Sec. 5711 Authority for telework travel expense test programs.''.

     SEC. 5. TELEWORK RESEARCH.

       (a) Research by OPM on Telework.--The Director of the 
     Office of Personnel Management shall--
       (1) conduct studies on the utilization of telework by 
     public and private sector entities that identify best 
     practices and recommendations for the Federal government;
       (2) review the outcomes associated with an increase in 
     telework, including the effects of telework on energy 
     consumption, the environment, job creation and availability, 
     urban transportation patterns, and the ability to anticipate 
     the dispersal of work during periods of emergency; and
       (3) make any studies or reviews performed under this 
     subsection available to the public.
       (b) Use of Contract To Carry Out Research.--The Director of 
     the Office of Personnel Management may carry out subsection 
     (a) pursuant to a contract entered into by the Director using 
     competitive procedures.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) 
and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) each will control 30 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.
  Mr. LYNCH. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.
  Madam Speaker, as chairman of the House subcommittee with 
jurisdiction over the Federal workforce, postal service, and the 
District of Columbia, I'm pleased to offer H.R. 1722 for consideration. 
This legislation seeks to improve and expand access to telework for 
Federal employees in the executive branch.
  The bipartisan measure before us today was introduced by Congressman 
John Sarbanes of Maryland, along with myself and Representatives Frank 
Wolf, Gerry Connolly of Virginia, Jim Moran of Virginia, Dutch 
Ruppersberger of Maryland, and Danny Davis of Illinois back in March 
2009. The bill was then amended and ordered reported favorably by our 
subcommittee on March 24, and again shortly thereafter by the Oversight 
and Government Reform Committee on April 14, 2010.

                              {time}  1350

  Madam Speaker, despite the evolving nature of the way the Federal 
Government conducts its affairs, telework, which allows an employee to 
regularly perform work from a remote location other than their usual 
workplace, continues to be underutilized by Federal agencies. 
Experience has consistently demonstrated that the private and public 
sector employers who utilize telework experience increased productivity 
and retention rates. More specifically, the U.S. Patent and Trademark 
Office and the Defense Information Systems Agency have successfully 
used telework programs, which shows potentially how telework can 
transform and enhance agencies' customer service offerings for our 
citizens and do so with greater efficiency and lower costs.
  H.R. 1722 provides for improvements to increase the number of Federal 
employees that participate in telework programs by requiring agencies 
to develop comprehensive telework policies within 1 year that allow 
authorized employees to telework and by directing the Office of 
Personnel Management to develop regulations on overall telework 
policies and to annually evaluate agency telework programs.
  H.R. 1722 also seeks to elevate the importance of incorporating 
telework into the continuity of operations planning for our Federal 
agencies. For example, Office of Personnel Management Director John 
Berry estimated that the use of telework reduced the estimated cost of 
lost productivity during the recent snowstorms this past winter in the 
District of Columbia by approximately $30 million per day.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of 
moving telework forward by passing H.R. 1722, the Telework Improvement 
Act. This legislation has long enjoyed bipartisan support in the 
Oversight Committee and in the House over several Congresses and will 
help ensure the government operates more efficiently and effectively as 
a modern-day employer.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise with serious concerns with H.R. 1722, the 
Telework Improvement Act. This began as a bipartisan bill, and if our 
one opportunity, a motion to recommit, is passed, it will have an 
opportunity to end as a bipartisan bill. There is no question in my 
mind that telework is the future. It, in fact, is the present. 
Virtually every Member of Congress has remote access. Virtually every 
Member of Congress and many of their staff carry BlackBerrys and use 
other tools so that we can work here and around the world. It would be 
just about impossible for a Member of Congress and their key staff to 
bounce

[[Page 12941]]

back and forth between their far-away districts, here on the Hill, and 
various meetings if we didn't have the ability to be portable in our 
information access. So we are not here to talk about telework as though 
it is a bad thing, because it can be an extremely effective tool.
  We do have concerns. One of our specific concerns in the underlying 
legislation is, at a time in which we're borrowing nearly 40 percent of 
the operating cash of our government--put in another way, once you get 
past entitlements, everything we spend is borrowed--it would seem 
ridiculous that something that can save money, that is argued to save 
money, in fact, is not required to be at least neutral in its 
expenditure. This bill is expected to cost millions of dollars per year 
and, like most government estimates, is likely to cost far more than 
that if it's expanded to its logical conclusion.
  So, Madam Speaker, it is my hope that as we begin offering what we 
were not allowed to offer under the rule, which would be any amendments 
that would curtail the millions of dollars in costs over 5 years or to 
deal with the reality that if you're going to claim that you can save 
the construction of office buildings, you should be required to show 
that you are saving it. If you claim that you are going to be more 
efficient by not having a commute time, you should at least be required 
to show it. Additionally, we are very concerned that recent discoveries 
have shown that there are vulnerabilities which have not been properly 
cared for in this bill. The bill authorizes it but does not require it.
  I am, however, pleased that in a number of areas, the majority has 
made improvements and has taken many suggestions. The committee did 
work, as you would expect us to, in favor of the efficiency and 
effectiveness of the Federal workforce in getting this bill as far as 
we could go. It is my sincere hope that one and only one opportunity to 
further amend would be accepted and that this will be a broadly 
bipartisan bill at the end.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. I thank the gentleman for his remarks.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LYNCH. For the record, Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and 
extend their remarks with respect to H.R. 1722.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LYNCH. I would now like to yield 5 minutes to the lead sponsor of 
this measure, Mr. Sarbanes of Maryland.
  Mr. SARBANES. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I want to thank 
him for his work in shepherding this through the process of bringing it 
to the House floor.
  Madam Speaker, I am delighted that we are going to be voting today on 
the Telework Improvements Act of 2010, a bill that I introduced some 
time ago with bipartisan cosponsorship. And I want to acknowledge 
Congresswoman Norton, who is here, Congressman Davis, Congressman 
Connolly, Jim Moran of Virginia, and other cosponsors.
  I do also want to salute the fact that we had bipartisan support for 
this from the outset--Congressman Wittman, Shelley Moore Capito and, of 
course, Frank Wolf, who has really been a leader on this issue from the 
get-go. He was working on telework before I even came to Congress and 
understood what a valuable contribution telework could make to our 
Federal workforce and its productivity.
  What this bill will do is expand the Federal telework policy, which 
was begun in a nascent way. There was just a survey done that indicated 
about 10 percent of the Federal workforce is now teleworking at least 1 
day a week, but it can take that up to the next level by establishing a 
policy across our Federal agencies that promote telework and make it 
clear to employees how they can go about taking advantage of that 
opportunity. It would instruct the Office of Personnel Management to 
develop telework regulations, a uniform governmentwide telework policy 
for Federal employees. And that's important because, if you look at the 
different agencies, some of them have been very successful in pushing 
telework forward. Others have not been as attentive to it.
  What this is going to do is it's going to establish an expectation to 
cut across our Federal workforce and encourage this opportunity. 
Critical to that is to designate a telework managing officer within 
each agency who takes responsibility, who has accountability for making 
sure that the telework policy is being distributed broadly within that 
agency, is helping to evaluate it, make sure that it's working 
properly.
  There will be greater access provided, as a result of this bill, to 
telework training and education to more employees and supervisors. And 
the Office of Personnel Management is also going to make sure, in 
cooperation with the Government Accountability Office, that there's a 
periodic evaluation conducted so that we can see how this telework 
policy is advancing forward.
  So these are some of the key elements of the bill that is on the 
floor today. I'm appreciative that Congressman Issa recognizes the 
inherent value of pursuing telework. And as I said, we did have 
bipartisan support at every step along the way.
  Why is it important to do teleworking? I would say this is a win 
times five when you look at. First of all, it's going to help the 
Federal workforce recruit better out in the market. The private sector 
is doing this, and they're recruiting people, using this as an 
opportunity for more flexible work arrangements. The Federal workforce 
should be doing the same thing.
  It will help to improve productivity and morale among the workforce. 
Those agencies that have taken full advantage of teleworking have shown 
that productivity has been enhanced within their agency.

                              {time}  1400

  And, frankly, it leads to more of a culture of looking at performance 
and delivery of important functions in the workplace, so that you're 
seeing that productivity rise, not just among those who are 
teleworking, but across an entire agency where teleworking is being 
implemented in a meaningful way.
  At one point in the evolution of this legislation, we actually were 
going to attach it to an energy bill because it will have the effect of 
reducing the carbon footprint of the Federal Government. People won't 
need to be in their cars as much going back and forth to work if they 
can take advantage of teleworking opportunities to some extent. So 
that's a third win here.
  A fourth win, very important, is the continuity of operations. We've 
seen situations where the Federal Government may be forced to shut 
down. If you've got telework in place, you can continue to run the 
operations of these agencies, even in that situation. And the best 
example of this we had this past winter was when we had a snowstorm 
that shut down the Federal Government, except 30 percent of the work 
force was able to engage in their operations.
  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Wolf), one of the cosponsors of the bill.
  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the bill. But 
let me just say, Mr. Issa said that the Republicans wanted to be part 
of this. And I think we've got to start doing things in this 
institution in a bipartisan way. Quite frankly, I skimmed the motion to 
recommit, and it looks like it's pretty good. So the more we can kind 
of work together, the better, the better it will be for all of us. And 
so I appreciate the gentleman giving me this time.
  I've been involved in this issue for a number of years. IBM--in fact, 
many times I hear Members on both sides say we should be more like the 
private sector. IBM has 115,000 employees every day teleworking. And if 
you want the government to be like the private sector, allow the 
Federal employees to do the same. And it saves them roughly $450 
million a year.
  There's nothing magic about strapping yourselves into a metal box and

[[Page 12942]]

driving 25 and 35 miles a day to a place and sitting before a laptop 
when you can do it at home.
  Simon and Garfunkel, in the song called ``The Boxer,'' says: ``Man 
hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.'' This Congress on 
both sides many times only hears what it wants to hear and more often 
than not disregards the rest.
  Let me tell you, 9/11, if you were here on 9/11, nothing worked. If 
you couldn't have teleworked, or if we had more telework, we could have 
had a continuity of government. The government shut down. It shut down. 
Would you rather have somebody not working at home and getting paid or 
working?
  Secondly, the earthquake in California, the so-called World Series 
earthquake. Do you remember that? Norm Mineta was Secretary of 
Transportation. That's when telework really took off, because had they 
had to go into work, the people of California wouldn't have had 
highways. They wouldn't have been able to get search and rescue people 
there.
  Continuity of government. Hurricanes. Has anyone ever heard of 
Katrina?
  You want to shut down the government in the South, Louisiana and 
Texas, and say go home and we'll pay you? Or do you want them to 
telework at home, where they can do, where they can get and connect to 
a Veterans Administration, someone's who's having a difficult problem, 
maybe some who has prostate cancer: How can I connect? How can I get my 
treatment?
  Telework. Telework makes all the difference in a tornado. As 
tornadoes hit and destroy, telework gives you that ability to do it.
  Continuity of government, saving money. So man hears what he wants to 
hear. But what you're disregarding, this is important. This is a good 
``yes'' vote for continuity of government. This a good ``yes'' vote so 
you can serve your constituents. This is a good ``yes'' vote if you 
really want to save money. The vote to save money today, the vote that 
will save money will be the vote for this bill.
  I want to thank, again, Mr. Issa. And I would urge you, Mr. Chairman, 
if you can take--I think the motion to recommit has a lot of good 
things. But I think it's more important that we come together and find 
some things that we can come together and work in a bipartisan way.
  But for continuity of government and to save money, I ask for a 
``yea'' vote on this bill.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Towns), the full committee chairman, energetic and wise 
chairman of the Oversight Committee.
  Mr. TOWNS. Let me thank you, Mr. Lynch, for the hard work that you 
have done on this bill.
  And let me begin by saying to the other side, I hope we're talking 
about the same legislation here, because in the committee, the only--as 
I remember very vividly--the only amendment that was offered was 
accepted. We accepted the amendment. And of course, the committee voice 
voted the legislation out.
  Now I hear about this motion to recommit. And I understand working 
together. I do believe in that, and I think you accomplish a whole lot 
more when you do that.
  But the point is, we have not even seen the motion to recommit. So, 
therefore, you're talking about working together and sharing 
information but, at the same time, you're withholding information. 
That, to me, I find very, very strange.
  This is a committee that would welcome ideas and suggestions. But the 
point is that we can't go through a whole process and then, at the end 
of the process, you complain about the fact that I did not have an 
opportunity.
  I want you to know that we recognize the importance of amendments, 
and if they strengthened the legislation we would have accepted it.
  So I want to thank all the folks that worked on this. And it seems 
hard, I understand now, to imagine with the sweltering summer heat that 
has arrived, but during February's record-breaking snowstorm, the 
Federal Government in the D.C. area shut down for nearly an entire work 
week. We now have almost forgotten that. The government's lost 
productivity was significantly reduced because so many employees were 
not able to get to work. After the storm, OPM Director John Berry 
reported that the government saved approximately $30 million--and I 
repeat that--saved almost $30 million a day in the productivity costs 
because of the growing number of teleworking employees. H.R. 1722 will 
help the government do even better. And I think that we should not lose 
sight of that.
  The legislation builds on the government's current telework 
capability and will strengthen it by requiring the head of each agency 
to establish a telework policy. The legislation also holds agencies 
accountable for successful implementation of their telework policy.
  I should note that similar bipartisan legislation sponsored by 
Senator Daniel Akaka and, of course, George Voinovich, passed the 
United States Senate by unanimous consent as well.
  I am pleased to offer my support for this bipartisan, good-government 
bill that will save the taxpayers money while reducing energy 
consumption, air pollution, and traffic congestion. It will promote 
more flexibility for Federal employees and allow the government to 
attract top talent from every State and every district in the country.
  This is win-win-win legislation. I urge all Members to support the 
bill.
  And of course I say to my colleagues, let's move forward. Let's not 
look back. Let's move forward. We know what we need to do.
  And of course, again, let me say that any amendment that was offered 
was accepted.

                              {time}  1410

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Wittman).
  Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Ranking Member Issa 
for his great work on this bill. I appreciate your words and 
Congressman Wolf's words concerning the things that we need to do. 
Telework is a nonpartisan issue. It just make sense. It's how do we 
create efficiencies? And these days we want to be able to do more with 
less in what is definitely a resource-challenged environment.
  Despite the fact there are numerous benefits of teleworking, such as 
reduced traffic congestion and reduced energy consumption, cost 
savings, competitive hiring and retention, and emergency preparedness, 
as we saw during the snowstorm, many Federal agencies continue to 
underutilize telework. And this bill is going to help ensure that 
Federal employees who are eligible to telework are able to do so 
without diminishing agency operations and performance.
  Under this legislation, Federal employees handling classified 
information, though, would not be eligible to telework. And folks, 
that's a group of people that we are missing out on. There's a great 
opportunity there to bring those folks that work in secure networks to 
the table to participate in telework. And I offered an amendment that 
was rejected by the Rules Committee that would have required the Office 
of Personnel Management to report on the status of any programs for 
teleworking by Federal employees whose primary duties require access to 
secure networks, and to identify at least two sites for a possible 
teleworking pilot program. And I look forward in the future to working 
with my colleagues to further explore the potential for secure 
teleworking.
  We all know in this region there are a number of agencies that have 
their employees working on secure networks. We ought to make sure we 
are looking at bringing those folks in. We saw during the snowstorm $30 
million of efficiency we picked up during that period of time. So this 
truly is a nonpartisan issue of looking at increased efficiencies. We 
ought to be looking across the board at all the ways that we can lift 
telework up, make it available for every different aspect of Federal 
work operations to make sure we are doing all we can to increase 
efficiencies, folks. And this is entirely possible.
  We have had conversations with folks within the agencies. They are 
ready,

[[Page 12943]]

willing, and able to pursue this. We need to give them the mechanism to 
get this done. The desire is there. The need is there. Whenever we 
match those two together, we have the ability to get this done. So 
again, this is a nonpartisan issue. I urge all of my colleagues to vote 
in favor of this, and let this be the first step to making sure we have 
telework as an opportunity for the entire Federal workforce.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Virginia 
for his thoughtful comments.
  At this time I yield 1 minute to our distinguished majority leader, 
Mr. Hoyer.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I want to thank Mr. Lynch and certainly my colleague from Maryland, 
Congressman Sarbanes, for his leadership and for his efforts on this 
bill. I also want to thank those members of the subcommittee and Mr. 
Issa for facilitating this bill coming to the floor.
  I have been working on this issue along with Frank Wolf for a very 
long time, indeed over two decades. Congressman Wolf and I, Congressman 
Wolf from Virginia, a Republican, and myself served on the Treasury and 
Postal Committee, which is now called the Financial Services 
Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. That committee many, many 
years ago, and interesting enough John Berry, who is now the director 
of the Office of Personnel Management, was on my staff at that point in 
time. And we worked on this issue of telework, which makes so much 
sense for so many reasons. It saves gas. That's an important issue. It 
helps the environment in doing so. Reduces road congestion, lowers 
commuting costs for all drivers, helps employees balance work and 
family, and saves employers money.
  Now, let me speak about the family aspect of this. Think to yourself 
the average commuter certainly in the Washington metropolitan area 
spends some 35 minutes on the road. If you are in my district, you 
spend 45 minutes to an hour on the road. Mr. Connolly is shaking his 
head. Many of his constituents do the same. The gentleman from Virginia 
is in the same aspect. Think of that time that is not necessarily very 
productive, but could be family time. And a less stressed-out worker 
could be performing their services, when now we deal with so much work 
being done from a technology aspect where you don't need to be at a 
given site. That is what this legislation seeks to enhance.
  And again, I congratulate Mr. Sarbanes from my State for his 
leadership and for the bipartisan leadership. It would bring 
flexibility to 21st-century Federal workers by creating guidelines for 
increased teleworking, or telecommuting as some call it.
  With today's technology, many employees perform at least some of 
their work, and indeed some all of their work, functions at their homes 
or at an alternate worksite closer to their homes, eliminating or 
reducing the need to commute. That's what the gentleman from Virginia 
was talking about in terms of a secure site, which could be--we had one 
in Prince Frederick. We have one at the community college in Waldorf, 
Maryland. I don't know whether they are secure sites. I think they are 
not. But a secure site for a group of employees who need such a secure 
site closer to their home effects all of the same kinds of efficiencies 
that I have talked about.
  That's why this bill is such an important encouragement to the 
Federal Government, one of the world's largest employers, to effect 
this efficiency. It is also I think a lesson that we have learned from 
the private sector, many of whom telecommute or telework. Many 
insurance agencies, when you call your insurance agent for information, 
you have no idea where they are sitting, and don't care. All you want 
to know is that they respond to the question you have and can access 
the information you need, which of course they can do on their 
computer. So this is a very effective, efficient, family friendly, 
environmentally friendly action for us to take.
  I commend Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Lynch and the committee for their 
leadership on this, and I commend Mr. Issa as well for his leadership.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  The chairman and the majority leader both make good points, and I 
would like to address them for just a moment. The chairman, who I have 
had a good working relationship with, made the point that this passed 
out of committee without anything left unresolved. And to a certain 
extent I would agree with him. Except of course we didn't have a score 
on this. We never do. We didn't know what this bill was going to cost. 
And when we discovered that this was going to cost millions of dollars 
every year, we made it clear before the last round of a request for a 
vote that we would have to find an offset or we would have to modify 
the bill to ensure that it would not cause the taxpayers to look at 
this as simply a perk for government.
  Because ultimately we can talk about morale, but the Federal 
workforce makes on the average $60,000 more than their private-sector 
counterparts. So morale should already be good in an organization the 
size of the government that has added a quarter of a million new 
workers since we went into a recession.
  There is no question that telework can justify this if it's done 
properly. Our amendment is going to seek, our one motion to recommit--
we weren't allowed any amendments--to try to at least trim around the 
edges to have our Members be able to go home and say of course we 
supported telework, but we made sure there were some safeguards of the 
American people's money.
  The amendments that we tried to offer to what was known in advance to 
be a closed rule, a please do not suggest, create a process problem 
that I hope, Mr. Speaker, that you will be sensitive, along with the 
American people, to. Our committee has 40 or so members. That's roughly 
one-tenth of the Congress. So 9 out of 10 Members of the House never 
get an opportunity to be there. As a matter of fact, including the 
Delegates, it works out just exactly as 10 percent. So 400 people 
didn't have input when we were working this through committee.
  Some may have noticed the bill, but as the majority leader said, he 
has been working on this for 20 years. Who would have thought it would 
come to the floor now? So can we as a body deny the process of 400 
people, 400 voters, if you will, or representatives of voters, 
including yourself, Mr. Speaker? How can we deny you the ability to 
look at something when it's going to become a bill on the floor and 
offer constructive amendments?
  The process of the Rules Committee is supposed to deal with 
germaneness. It's supposed to deal with whether or not your amendment 
is properly written, whether it seeks to amend a portion of the bill 
allowed to be amended. That's not the way it is here in the House right 
now. We had amendments perfectly allowable, and they simply were ruled 
out because you could. So we will use our one opportunity, our motion 
to recommit. We trust that we have written it properly, and that it 
will be found to be in order. And we trust that both sides will see 
that it is modest, it's moderate, it's intended simply to deal with 
cost and other concerns in the bill.
  There is no killer in this bill. There's nothing the American people 
would not be happy with in this bill the way it is. And there is 
nothing they will be unhappy with if the motion to recommit passes. We 
structured it that way. We would like to have something that started 
off as bipartisan end as bipartisan.
  Mr. Speaker, I truly believe we are going to have that opportunity. I 
would hope that everyone in this body will view it that way, look at it 
carefully, come to the same conclusion, and we will leave here today on 
a bipartisan basis.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I just want to ask for a clarification, did 
the gentleman say that the Federal employees make an average of $60,000 
more than their counterparts?
  Mr. ISSA. If the gentleman would yield, that's correct.
  I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman. It's pay and benefits.

[[Page 12944]]



                              {time}  1420

  Mr. LYNCH. Sixty thousand dollars more.
  Mr. ISSA. At $175,000, one Congressman to another, yes. The typical 
American making $35,000 or $40,000 understands we make a lot more.
  Mr. LYNCH. The typical Federal employee makes $60,000 more?
  Mr. ISSA. In pay and benefits.
  Mr. LYNCH. If the gentleman would produce some type of--that fact's 
not in evidence at all. I'm sure that we have kids that are working for 
$30,000, $40,000 a year. How are they making $60,000 more than their 
counterparts?
  Mr. ISSA. Even though it's not germane to today, I'll be glad to make 
that available to the gentleman.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 5 minutes to the 
gentlelady, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, from the District of 
Columbia.
  Ms. NORTON. I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding, 
but I particularly thank him for his leadership on many issues in our 
subcommittee, not the least of which is this issue which he has 
shepherded to the floor so rapidly. And I certainly want to thank Mr. 
Sarbanes, add my kudos to those he's already heard from the leadership, 
what he has shown when he was a member of our subcommittee.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill does nothing more than give us a presumption 
in favor of teleworking, and I believe that's the most important thing 
the bill does. You have heard we have been doing something called 
teleworking for decades, but that was whatever agency chose to move 
forward, whatever employees chose to participate.
  I can't imagine what the ranking member is talking about when he says 
millions of dollars this is going to cost the Federal Government. Mr. 
Wolf, from his side, essentially rebutted that by getting up and 
talking about how much money it saved and citing examples.
  Let me cite an example of something that is almost intuitive. I had 
occasion to speak to a practitioner, small practitioner, and he was 
glowing about how his practice has, in fact, developed and expanded. He 
didn't have to have an office anymore. He has a tiny hole on Tenth 
Street, and he's got about 15 lawyers working out of their homes.
  In a real sense, the Federal Government is behind. There is no case 
to be made that when you allow people to work at home, you somehow are 
costing the government more money. Perhaps it costs a few dollars in 
administrative costs, transaction costs to set up the system, but 
anybody from the private sector hearing a Federal official get up and 
say, ``Oh, we're going to teleworking and boy is that going to cost us 
an arm and a leg'' will scratch his head and say, ``What is he talking 
about? Don't they know this is one of the first and most important 
things the private sector has done, invested money in doing, precisely 
to save money?'' They look at the bottom line. That's the conclusion 
they reached long before today.
  When I speak of the presumption in favor of telework, notice that an 
agency has a 20 percent goal every 2 weeks of doing telework. We 
wouldn't have set that goal if they were already doing it. And the fact 
that you have to do it gives us a some uniformity across the 
government, and with the appropriate exceptions allows many, many 
workers, many, many employees to buy into what has now become 
essentially a workforce practice everywhere with a workforce as large 
as ours.
  The bill, it's very careful. Managers are going to have to be 
trained. Many are old-school managers. They do not know perhaps as well 
do I feel instinctively as at home with employees under their 
supervision who telework. They're going to have to learn how it's done. 
And importantly, teleworking, as opposed to coming in, does not affect 
your job performance evaluation. So people are not going to have to 
think, if I'm in the boss's face for 8 or 9 hours a day, I've got to do 
better than this mother who is at home and producing as much work as I 
do.
  Continuity of operations has been talked about here.
  Post 9/11, the closest thing we have even had to continuity of 
operations is the kind of teleworking that goes on anyway in the 
Federal Government. Everybody in the Federal Government at certain 
levels does teleworking. They take their work home. Employees have been 
voting with their feet. Managers have been allowing them to vote with 
their feet and take the work home.
  The flexibility, we cannot say enough about the flexibility. We're in 
an era where fathers and mothers feel responsibility for their children 
and where, because they are adept at technology, they are able to get 
as much done and more done. They're doing it at home rather than 
spending what in this region could easily be an hour or so back and 
forth each way.
  Everybody teleworked in the snowstorm. There weren't a lot of people 
just sitting at home. We are doing it anyway. We are just not doing it 
systematically. We are doing it episodically. Doing it that way, we 
are, in fact, wasting money. Let's, in fact, save money by making sure 
that as many as are capable are doing what they can given the new 
technology.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I note the gentlelady acts as though already 
everybody teleworks. It's very clear that the people who were able to 
telework, that, quote, saved us $30 million during that snowstorm, were 
the people who have redundant activities, for the most part, people who 
had a duplicate computer, duplicate capacity. That costs money. That is 
an item that we simply want to make sure is cost justified.
  You know, many people on the other side of the aisle, including the 
next speaker, have talked about the private sector. Well, I, for one, 
came from the private sector, and I very much understand that we do a 
cost benefit.
  The previous speaker talked about insurance salesmen. You don't care 
where they are. That's right. An insurance salesman is usually a 
commission person. It's somebody who's very accountable for their pay 
because it's earned and justified against revenue. More importantly, 
even their package of perks is figured into that.
  So, in the private sector, if somebody costs, if you will, $190,000 
dollars--or as the average Federal worker costs, nonuniformed, $119,000 
per worker versus $59,000 in the private sector--in the private sector 
they know what their sales or revenues or profits are relative to that 
cost. In the public sector, we don't.
  All we're seeking to do, all we're talking about here today is we 
want telework to be used and rolled out extensively where it can be at 
least revenue or cost-neutral relative to alternatives of bringing 
people in. That's all we're asking for. We believe it's reasonable.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I do want to note that we do have one study 
here that I think is probably the most extensive one done on comparing 
private sector jobs to Federal jobs, and that is by the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, and they compared occupation to occupation. They took an 
engineer in private sector versus an engineer working for the Federal 
Government, and they have reported that Federal employees are paid 22 
percent less than their private sector counterparts.
  At this point, I yield 5 minutes to an energetic and diligent member 
of our subcommittee, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly).
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend and 
colleague from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) for his outstanding leadership 
on this and so many other issues on the Oversight and Government Reform 
Committee. I also thank the ranking member, Mr. Issa, for his 
friendship and his leadership on our committee as well.

                              {time}  1430

  I particularly want to thank my colleague from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) 
who's been a long-time leader in telework, and my colleague and friend 
from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes) for his leadership on this legislation. 
Without that leadership, we wouldn't be here today and relief wouldn't 
be on the way to our Federal workforce and hard-pressed commuters in 
the national capital region.

[[Page 12945]]

  Mr. Speaker, before I came to Congress, I represented a major 
jurisdiction in the national capital region, Fairfax County, for 14 
years, the last five being its chairman; and I, like Mr. Issa, came 
from the private sector. I spent the last 20 years of my career before 
coming here working for a number of information technology companies, 
and I saw firsthand the value of telework in the private sector.
  One of the major employers in my district, for example, is AT&T. I 
went and visited a major facility they have in my district. Thirty-
three percent of their workforce teleworks regularly, 33 percent; and 
their estimated cost savings in terms of reduced absenteeism is $2,000 
per employee. So, if we took that kind of statistic and superimposed it 
on the Federal workforce, we would obviously save a lot more than 
whatever the implementation costs of this bill might be.
  I believe, like my colleagues who have spoken before, this is 
critical. This is critical for Federal operations. Every Federal agency 
now needs to have a continuity of operations plan in place; and in the 
national capital region, tragically, that is underscored.
  Frank Wolf, my colleague from Virginia, talked about 9/11. He was 
here in Congress while I was a supervisor in Fairfax County. My office 
was in the fire station, Fire Station 30 in Merrifield, and my men and 
women in that fire station were backup to the Arlington Fire Department 
at the Pentagon the day it was attacked, the second worst terrorist 
attack in American history. And I saw what they went through, and I 
know what happened to this region that day. A continuity of operations 
plan, if we needed a reminder, a tragic reminder, of how critical that 
is to our national security, 
9/11 was it.
  Subsequently, we've had lots of natural events here in the national 
capital region that have further reminded us of how important it is 
that the largest single employer in our region, the Federal Government, 
have a vigorous telework program in place because, without that, there 
is no continuity of operations plan of any meaning.
  So for national security reasons and in service to the taxpayers we 
serve through the Federal agencies, we must have a vigorous telework 
program in place.
  In the national capital region, if we could reach 20 percent of our 
daily commuters of 2.5 million people teleworking at least 1 day a 
week, we could take 4 to 6 percent of the cars off the road every day, 
improving air quality, improving congestion, and improving 
productivity. The Federal Government being the largest employer has a 
special responsibility. I mentioned AT&T has 33 percent teleworking in 
its workforce. The average in the Federal Government ranges from 6 to 
10 percent, far below what the private sector is, in fact, doing. We 
can and must do better. The Federal workforce lends itself to telework 
in some ways that are unique to the Federal workforce, and we know the 
benefits.
  We've heard some arguments here that only 10 percent of the Congress 
sits in the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and, therefore, 
we need more time to make sure that we can examine this legislation and 
its costs. I will argue there are no net costs to this bill. I would 
argue that this bill has been scored before in many incarnations, in 
legislation that was before the previous Congress and voted on, in 
legislation in the other body. So it's not like we didn't know, and we 
know that the productivity gains and savings are considerable but more 
than wipe out any potential implementation costs. Whatever costs there 
are can and will be absorbed by the implementing Federal agencies, and 
we know that. That ought not to be an excuse for inaction.
  This is something that can bring us together on a bipartisan basis. I 
do find it a little ironic, however, to hear about the need to come 
together and maybe we can use the motion to recommit to do that when 
our side of the aisle has not seen the motion to recommit, and 
obviously we can't buy something in the hopes that it's going to do 
something positive, and I would urge my colleagues to share the motion 
to recommit so that perhaps we can come to common ground on that.
  But at the end of the day, this legislation is critical to the future 
workforce of the Federal Government and, frankly, for the national 
security of the national capital region.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself just 1 minute.
  Mr. Speaker, my good friend from Virginia was accurate in almost 
everything he said, but the one part that I'd like to correct is we 
don't need more time. We had sufficient time, once the scoring was in, 
to figure out what needed to be changed among the various hundred or so 
Republicans who were not on the committee, and we offered them. And the 
gentleman from Virginia is not on the Rules Committee so he's not part 
of that hidden hand that simply doesn't allow any dissent or any 
amendments or any corrections once a decision has been made by the 
majority. So, you know, I appreciate the fact he has been good to work 
with and that he is not somebody who would have limited that, and we 
would be happy to share all of our amendments if we had a chance of 
having them ruled in.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), who has been a long-time advocate 
on this issue.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1722, 
the Telework Improvements Act. This legislation is similar to a bill I 
introduced last Congress that passed the House with bipartisan support 
by voice vote. Unfortunately, the Senate never acted on that bill so I 
am pleased that we once again have the opportunity to move telework 
legislation forward with the leadership of Representative Sarbanes.
  We currently know that telework continues to be underutilized by 
Federal agencies and improvements are needed to allow more Federal 
employees to participate in telework programs.
  Telework provides numerous benefits including increased flexibilities 
for both employers and employees, continuity of operations during 
emergency events--as noted by the massive snow storms that shut down 
the government during February, yet saved the government an estimated 
$30 million each day and decreased energy use and air pollution by 
minimizing the amount of congestion on the roads.
  Study after study has shown these benefits to be paramount to making 
the Federal Government more efficient, productive, and prepared. 
However, a top information security officer at the State Department 
recently stated: ``the real national security issue is if we had 
something that disrupted the ability of the Federal workforce to get to 
the office, could we continue to provide the services of government? I 
think you'd find that many departments and agencies would have 
problems.'' This speaks to the need and importance of the passage of 
this bill.
  In addition, according to a survey of Patent and Trademark Office 
employees, 80 percent of employees who telework report that the 
flexibility of working at home has allowed them to decrease the amount 
of sick leave used by at least 8 hours per year.
  Since the 109th Congress, my office has aggressively participated in 
the Telework program and created a more worker friendly environment for 
our working families.
  The attributes of teleworking alone allows greater flexibility for 
these parents while increasing a better work attitude and work product. 
I encourage all Members of Congress to get more involved in the 
Telework program in the future as we move to make a more efficient and 
productive government.
  I am pleased to join Representative Sarbanes in supporting H.R. 1722.
  Plus, we've heard the tremendous cost savings that exist, as well as 
the anti-pollution measures that take place, but I feel very fortunate 
in my office to have had individuals who have effectively used 
telework, I guess to the nth degree; and it has proven to be not only 
cost savings, but it also has provided them the opportunity to spend 
time with young children, with their families to the extent they needed 
to do. This gives us an opportunity to recruit the best and the 
brightest and have them be productive. It is a great measure. I am 
pleased to support it.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

[[Page 12946]]

  As I begin, my staff is bringing over to the chairman a copy of 
something I am going to include in the Record from the Bureau of 
Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce. The chairman may recognize 
the Department of Commerce is part of the administration and part of 
government.
  Their assessment in 2008--and it has only become greater--is that we 
have as Federal workers against average--this is not against average of 
job per job but just against the working stiff, whatever they do in the 
outside world versus the working stiff in government, $29,169.63 of 
additional wages. What makes the huge difference the American people 
don't always see is that in the private sector, a typical benefit 
package is about $9,881. Well, a civilian Federal Government employee 
has a benefit package on the average worth about $40,784 or $30,900 
more.
  So, Mr. Speaker, we do have the Department of Commerce currently, 
during the Obama administration, telling us very clearly--not that 
engineer versus engineer. I appreciate the way you can match up various 
jobs, but the Federal workforce is a highly skilled and highly paid 
workforce, and we should understand that if we are going to have 
telework go greater and greater--and I approve of it doing it--we have 
two reasons to do it.
  One is continuity of government, and sometimes continuity of 
government can cost more. It can be for redundant computers, redundant 
centers and so on, no question at all. But often it is, and as it is 
justified in this bill by many of the people speaking on it on both 
sides of the aisle, it is also about avoiding traffic, avoiding 
building new buildings, avoiding heating and air conditioning, avoiding 
costs. All the minority would like to make sure is that this expansion 
meets one of those requirements or the other. If it is necessity and it 
costs more, fine. Of course you can have redundant facilities; but if 
it is intended to be cost savings, let's make sure it's cost savings.
  I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1440

  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the sheet, but I do 
want to note this does not compare job-to-job, nor does it indicate 
that there is anything close to a $60,000 delta between the private and 
the public employee.
  I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Sires), who 
also has been an energetic worker on this issue.
  Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1722, 
the Telework Improvements Act of 2010. This bill will modernize the 
Federal Government and establish our Federal agencies as a model for 
telework.
  During the month of February, when snowstorms shut down D.C. and 
other parts of the east coast, telework was used to keep our government 
operating at an optimum level. However, according to the Office of 
Personnel Management, only 56 percent of government agencies have 
formally introduced telework in their continuity of operations plans.
  Teleworking benefits are economic, social, and environmental. The 
Congressional Budget Office scored this legislation as deficit neutral, 
and telework produces savings from reduced office space as well as 
increased productivity during emergencies in inclement weather.
  H.R. 1722 would allow employees more flexibility and create a higher 
quality of life. Also this legislation would reduce traffic congestion. 
Traffic congestion costs our Nation billions of dollars in wasted fuel, 
time, and productivity.
  Congestion is very prevalent in my district in New Jersey, which is 
just across the river from New York. However, it also is a problem that 
is growing in rural areas throughout this country. Transportation 
contributes nearly 28 percent of the greenhouse gasses emitted in the 
United States, and teleworking can act as a tool to lower this number.
  I urge my colleagues to support the passage of H.R. 1722.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Himes).
  Mr. HIMES. A sincere thank you to the gentleman from Massachusetts 
for his leadership on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I too rise in strong support of H.R. 1722, the Telework 
Improvements Act. We have heard articulated today a set of very 
powerful arguments around security, around productivity and around cost 
savings for the passage of this measure.
  I would like to note that I represent, like my friend from New 
Jersey, a district whose economic vitality is compromised by the 
commuting situation. Many of my constituents spend otherwise what could 
be productive hours looking at the taillights of other cars on 95 and 
on the Merritt Parkway as it runs through Connecticut.
  One additional reason why the Federal Government should lead and why 
we should pass this act today is that the Federal Government should 
lead on telecommuting, on increasing not just its productivity, but 
increasing the productivity of the private sector in places like 
Connecticut, which I represent.
  I am a strong backer of the Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act, H.R. 2600, 
and a variety of other measures that will help with telecommuting. I 
appreciate the leadership, and I urge my colleagues to support and pass 
this bill.
  Mr. ISSA. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, although we have 12 minutes left on our side in debate, 
I don't intend to use it. I also don't intend to continue to have the 
American people hear haggling on the House floor about how much one 
side gets paid or another. For that reason, I will today post at 
republicans.oversight.house.gov the Department of Commerce report in 
sufficient detail for people to realize that $60,072.97 is roughly the 
additional amount in pay and benefits that Federal employees receive 
than the average private sector.
  But the interesting thing about the Federal workforce versus the 
gentleman who was talking about commuting from Bridgeport and other 
parts in his State, is they are not laid off. They are not suffering. 
As a matter of fact, they have been net-hired. The growth that has 
occurred over the last 2 years has been in government. The pay 
increases have been in government. The benefit increases have been in 
government.
  Now, we are not talking about telework as a benefit, although some 
speakers have talked about family time because you can telework and so 
on. We are talking about telework for one of two reasons that are 
justified, and Republicans will today, I hope, vote for the motion to 
recommit and then vote for final passage, because it either is part of 
the job of government, the sustainability, the continuity of 
government, and we want to make sure we use telework in order to 
advance that, or remote access, if you will, or it saves the taxpayers 
dollars.
  If someone doesn't drive for an hour and they work an hour more 
remotely, that is a good thing. But if we are simply improving quality 
of life, having redundant computers at a cost of several thousand 
dollars plus several more thousand dollars in maintenance and overhead 
and renewal and software support, Mr. Speaker, we are not doing what 
the American people expect us to do.
  The American people expect us to start being safeguarders of their 
precious money, which isn't even current but the money we are going to 
have to take from them in the future to pay back what we are borrowing 
today.
  If we don't start counting the pennies, the nickles and the dollars 
and make sure they are well spent, then it is very clear we will never 
get to any kind of an affordable government, a balanced budget, and 
there will be an inevitably that the United States will look too much 
like Greece and not enough like the country that we were so proud of 
this past Fourth of July.
  We have a great tradition, a tradition of small government and large 
private sector. Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure that our government 
works more efficiently so we can have a smaller government that meets 
the basic requirements, not that we simply expand

[[Page 12947]]

government with one after another programs.
  With that, I fully expect that we will make this bill better, that we 
will continue to work on telework being to the advantage of the 
American taxpayer and not simply an additional item to be spent.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I again would like to express my 
strong support for the passage of H.R. 1722, the Telework Improvements 
Act of 2010. I would like to thank Mr. Sarbanes, our lead sponsor on 
this measure which is before us today, which promotes good and common 
sense governance policy which will ensure a more efficient, responsive 
Federal government, especially in times of national security and 
weather-related emergencies.
  Moreover, H.R. 1722 will allow executive branch agencies to act more 
like other 21st century employers, particularly private sector 
employers, which for years have utilized and reaped the benefits of 
telework in terms of increased job productivity as well as employee 
moral.
  I want to paraphrase the words of my Republican colleague, Mr. Wolf 
of Virginia, who said that the vote for saving money and the vote for 
cutting costs here is a ``yes'' vote on this measure.
  With that, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 1722.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I am proud today to have the opportunity 
to support H.R. 1722, the Telework Improvements Act of 2009. I would 
like to thank Representative Sarbanes, Representative Lynch, Chairman 
Towns and Representative Wolf for their leadership on this legislation 
and for working to improve the lives of government employees across the 
country. Giving people the flexibility to work from home, when 
possible, makes the federal government a more productive and 
environmentally responsible employer by saving money, decreasing 
greenhouse gas emissions, decreasing congestion and improving 
productivity.
  Currently only 10 percent of eligible federal employees telework on a 
regular basis, even though many federal jobs would be well suited to 
teleworking. 95 percent of federal government employees expressed 
interest in teleworking, but the majority of these workers said there 
was not adequate support from their agency to do so. This bill will 
give federal workers the flexibility to telework when appropriate. 
There are many private companies, such as Intel in my home state of 
Oregon, where up to one third of employees telework regularly, and 
these companies have seen increased employee satisfaction, employee 
retention, and an average savings of $4,500 a year per employee in 
transportation costs and time savings.
  Unfortunately, teleworking is a case where the federal government has 
missed the opportunity to lead by example, and now we need to catch up. 
Federal government employees should be able to take advantage of the 
same technology for workplace flexibility, time savings, and 
environmental benefits that private sector employees do.
  This winter, the federal government was essentially shut down for a 
week because of snowstorms. Even with the minimal support in place for 
teleworking, estimates suggest that the federal government saved $30 
million a day, because of teleworking.
  Finally, we cannot discuss the importance of telework without looking 
at the environmental impact. The Telework Exchange estimates that if 20 
percent of Americans were to telework, we could eliminate 67 million 
tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually and reduce Persian Gulf oil 
imports by 40 percent. More to the point for this legislation, if all 
eligible federal employees were to telework for two days per week, it 
would save 2.7 metric tons of pollution each year.
  This bill is an important first step, and I would also like to 
encourage my colleagues to look at the telework provisions in 
legislation I have introduced. H.R. 3271, Green Routes to Work, is a 
collection of green commuting tax incentives. The legislation promotes 
a variety of commuting methods, including transit, bicycling and 
walking, but it also provides a tax credit for qualified teleworking 
expenses. I hope that my colleagues will look at Green Routes to Work 
as another tool to incentivize teleworking.
  Encouraging teleworking will help the federal government be a better 
partner as we look for ways to improve families' quality of life and 
make all communities safer, healthier and more economically secure. 
Putting money back in individuals' pockets, saving the federal 
government money, reducing carbon emissions and reducing time spent in 
traffic are important aspects of a livable community, and I am proud to 
support this legislation.
  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1722, the 
Telework Improvements Act of 2009. I supported this legislation when it 
came to the House floor earlier this year, and I intend to vote in 
favor of it again today.
  Technology plays an integral role in how our entire country works 
today. It has made workplace communication more efficient. It has 
eliminated borders across the globe to allow every aspect of the U.S. 
economy to flourish. It permits our first responders to stay connected 
during times of emergency and natural disasters. So many in the 
workforce already take advantage of the benefits of technology and the 
federal government should be able to as well.
  The Telework Improvements Act will define telework for all federal 
agencies and establish a policy that authorizes employees to telework. 
This legislation will reduce the numbers of cars on the road, attract 
more talent to the federal workforce, and save taxpayer dollars over 
the long-term.
  As a Member of the Intelligence Committee, I'm also pleased this 
legislation places a priority on ensuring the security of government 
information. We know all too well the dangers of data breaches, 
viruses, and cyberattacks to sensitive government information. H.R. 
1722 requires the Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with 
the National Institute on Standards and Technology to issue guidelines 
for information and security protections for telework.
  I applaud the work of Representative Sarbanes on this legislation and 
I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 1722, the Telework 
Improvements Act of 2009.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, as a representative of a district with a 
large number of federal employees, I rise in strong support of H.R. 
1722, the Telework Improvements Act. I want to thank Chairmen Towns and 
Lynch and Representative Sarbanes for their leadership in crafting this 
important bi-partisan bill.
  If passed, this measure will put the federal government on equal 
footing with many private sector employers and state governments which 
allow their employees to perform many of their duties and 
responsibilities from home or at another work site.
  The Telework Improvements Act requires each executive agency to 
establish a policy that enables federal employees to telework in a way 
that does not diminish employee performance or agency operations, and 
that ensures that no distinction is made between teleworkers and non-
teleworkers for performance appraisal and training purposes.
  Having the option to telework will enhance the quality of life for 
many federal employees and save money for the taxpayers. For example, 
there is an effort underway to attract more young people to federal 
government service to offset the growing number of older employees who 
are retiring. Offering prospective employees the option to telework 
increases the possibility that those employees with families will join 
the federal workforce.
  Telework also is smart fiscally. According to the Office of Personnel 
Management, during the blizzard that hit Washington, DC last winter, 
the government lost $71 million worth of productivity for each day it 
remained closed. This number might have been far larger had some 
federal workers not had the opportunity to work from home.
  The Telework Improvements Act makes environmental, administrative and 
fiscal common sense. Increasing telework opportunities for employees of 
the country's largest employer means fewer cars on the roads as workers 
commute less; it means lower carbon emissions; it means better quality 
of life for workers and their families; and, it means reduced costs for 
taxpayers and higher government efficiency because of lower 
absenteeism.
  I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting the bill and I 
urge its immediate passage.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Telework 
Improvements Act of 2010, and thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I have been pleased to work with the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. 
Sarbanes, in sponsoring this legislation and thank him for his tireless 
efforts. I also appreciate the persistent work of the gentleman from 
New York, Mr. Towns, on this matter.
  There are several points I would like to make, especially to my side 
of the aisle.
  H.R. 1722 does not authorize any new appropriations of taxpayer 
funds. The Congressional Budget Office in April scored this legislation 
as deficit-neutral.
  CBO estimated that the implementation costs of $30 million over 5 
years, assuming

[[Page 12948]]

the appropriations of necessary funds, will come from developing 
regulations to implement telework programs, reporting and training 
costs. As my colleagues know, however, such costs are routinely 
absorbed by current administrative budgets in each agency.
  Let me repeat--this legislation is deficit- neutral and does not 
authorize any new appropriations.
  I have been actively engaged in the telework issue for over 20 years 
and know for a fact that telework saves money.
  The limited administrative costs will be more than offset when a 
robust telework program is fully integrated into the federal 
government's Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP).
  During February's snow storm, when the government was shut down for 
four days, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) estimated that 
roughly 30 percent of eligible federal workers in the metropolitan D.C. 
area teleworked.
  Rather than absorbing the almost $30 million in salaries for those 
employees for each day that it was closed, the federal government 
reaped the rewards of telework because those employees were productive 
and continued the work of the federal government when they couldn't 
reach their regular workplaces.
  The government must be able to function during an emergency or 
natural disaster. Currently, only 56 percent of government agencies 
have formally included telework in their COOP plans. H.R. 1722 would 
change that policy.
  What if there is another terrorist attack? Telework was vital to 
ensuring that our government continued to function after 9/11.
  Or what if the ``big one'' earthquake hits California? Some 700,000 
of the one million workers displaced by the 1989 Loma Prieta 
earthquake--the World Series earthquake--teleworked from their homes or 
nearby locations, including federal workers.
  What happens when snowmageddon hits the nation's capital again? Those 
federal employees who were eligible to telework recognized that the 
government must continue to function and that people in other parts of 
our nation were counting on them to do their jobs.
  Snowstorms or hurricanes or tornados should not prevent the most 
powerful nation on earth from functioning. We must fully embrace new 
technologies to keep the government working and telework is the ideal 
way to keep employees on the job.
  Telework also provides other obvious benefits, from reducing traffic 
congestion, air pollution, gasoline consumption and our dependency on 
foreign oil to allowing individuals and working parents the flexibility 
to meet everyday demands outside of work.
  Employers with a strong telework option report fewer days used by 
employees for sick leave, better worker retention, higher productivity, 
and increased morale. They also report overhead savings in office 
space.
  The private sector has long recognized the benefits of telework. 
Roughly 115,000 IBM employees telecommute each day with 40 percent 
operating without dedicated office space. In return, IBM saves $450 
million a year in infrastructure costs.
  One government agency, the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), has had 
a long track record on telework mirroring the success that IBM has had 
in the private sector. Some 83 percent of eligible PTO employees 
telework. These arrangements have enabled the agency to save $11 
million otherwise needed for new office space.
  No other federal agency has the policies in place to enable more than 
50 percent of eligible employees to telework at least one day a week.
  Work is something you do, not someplace you go. There is no magic 
about strapping ourselves into a car, driving sometimes up to an hour 
and a half to our workplaces, and sitting in front of our computers all 
day. Information accessed at workplaces can just as easily be accessed 
from computers in our living rooms.
  Telework is a win-win for employers and employees and the federal 
government should be the model for telework in the 21st Century 
workplace.
  H.R. 1722 is good government legislation and I urge my colleagues to 
support its passage.
  Mr. LYNCH. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Jackson of Illinois). Pursuant to House 
Resolution 1509, the previous question is ordered on the bill, as 
amended.
  The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.


                           Motion to Recommit

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the bill?
  Mr. ISSA. I am, in its present form.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to 
recommit.
  The Clerk read as follows:
       Mr. Issa moves to recommit the bill H.R. 1722 to the 
     Committee on Oversight and Government Reform with 
     instructions to report the same back to the House forthwith 
     with the following amendment:
       Page 5, strike line 11 and all that follows through page 6, 
     line 9, and insert the following:
       ``(b) Limitations.--
       ``(1) Certain employees not authorized to telework.--An 
     employee may not telework under a policy established under 
     this chapter if any of the following apply to the employee:
       ``(A) The employee has a seriously delinquent tax debt (as 
     determined under paragraph (2)).
       ``(B) The employee has been officially disciplined for 
     violations of subpart G of the Standards of Ethical Conduct 
     for Employees of the Executive Branch for viewing, 
     downloading, or exchanging pornography, including child 
     pornography, on a Federal Government computer or while 
     performing official Federal Government duties.
       ``(C) The employee received a payment under the Low-Income 
     Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.) 
     but was ineligible to receive the payment under the criteria 
     described in section 2605(b)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
     8624(b)(2)).
       ``(D) The employee has been officially disciplined for 
     being absent without permission for more than 5 days in any 
     calendar year.
       ``(2) Determination of seriously delinquent tax debt.--
       ``(A) In general.--For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), a 
     `seriously delinquent tax debt' means an outstanding debt 
     under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for which a notice of 
     lien has been filed in public records pursuant to section 
     6323 of such Code, except that such term does not include--
       ``(i) a debt that is being paid in a timely manner pursuant 
     to an agreement under section 6159 or section 7122 of such 
     Code;
       ``(ii) a debt with respect to which a levy has been issued 
     under section 6331 of such Code upon accrued salary or wages 
     (or, in the case of an applicant for employment, a debt with 
     respect to which the applicant agrees to be subject to a levy 
     issued under such section upon accrued salary or wages); and
       ``(iii) a debt with respect to which a collection due 
     process hearing under section 6330 of such Code, or relief 
     under subsection (a), (b), or (f) of section 6015 of such 
     Code, is requested or pending.
       ``(B) Regulations.--The Office of Personnel Management 
     shall, for purposes of carrying out this paragraph, prescribe 
     any regulations which the Office considers necessary, except 
     that such regulations shall provide that an individual shall 
     be given a reasonable amount of time to demonstrate that the 
     individual's debt is described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) 
     of subparagraph (A).
       ``(3) Certification of savings.--An agency may not permit 
     employees to telework under a policy established under this 
     chapter unless the head of the agency certifies to the 
     Director of the Office of Personnel Management that the 
     implementation of the policy will result in savings to the 
     agency.
       ``(4) Provisions relating to certain circumstances.--
     Nothing in subsection (a) shall be considered--
       ``(A) to require the head of an agency to authorize 
     teleworking in the case of an employee whose duties and 
     responsibilities--
       ``(i) require daily direct handling of classified 
     information; or
       ``(ii) are such that their performance requires on-site 
     activity which cannot be carried out from a site removed from 
     the employee's regular place of employment; or
       ``(B) to prevent the temporary denial of permission for an 
     employee to telework if, in the judgment of the agency head, 
     the employee is needed to respond to an emergency.
       ``(c) Prohibiting Collective Bargaining Activities While 
     Teleworking.--Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 71, 
     any time during which an employee teleworks may not be 
     treated as `official time' for purposes of the authority to 
     carry out any activity under section 7131 of this title.
       ``(d) Requirement That Presidential and Vice-Presidential 
     Records Created on Non-official Electronic Mail or Social 
     Media Accounts While Teleworking Be Copied to Official 
     Electronic Mail Accounts.--In the case of any employee who, 
     while teleworking pursuant to a policy established under this 
     chapter, creates or receives a Presidential record or Vice-
     Presidential record within the meaning of chapter 22 of title 
     44, United States Code, through a non-official electronic 
     mail account, a social media account, or any other method 
     (electronic or otherwise), the employee shall electronically 
     copy the record into the employee's official electronic mail 
     account.
       ``(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this chapter 
     shall--
       ``(1) be considered to require any employee to telework; or

[[Page 12949]]

       ``(2) prevent an agency from permitting an employee to 
     telework as part of a continuity of operations plan.''.

  Mr. ISSA (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
to dispense with the reading.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  Mr. LYNCH. I object.
  I reserve a point of order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Objection is heard.
  The Clerk will continue to read.
  The Clerk continued to read.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts' point of 
order is reserved.
  Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from California is recognized for 
5 minutes in support of his motion.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, this is a straightforward motion. It is a 
motion that, if passed, will cause the Republicans to vote for this, if 
not unanimously, virtually unanimously. If we take out the $30 million 
in cost by insisting that there be reasonable offsets, then we will in 
fact have fixed one of the problems that was unnecessary in the bill. 
Additionally, as was so well read by our Clerk just a moment ago, it is 
very, very clear that there are some small areas but meaningful areas. 
We do not want the American people to believe that telecommuters are 
downloading pornography full time the way $200,000-plus executives at 
SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, were doing.
  Now, I wanted to include in the motion to recommit that if you're 
found downloading while telecommuting, you'd be fired, but it turns 
out, Mr. Speaker, the rules of the House prevent me from offering that. 
I am not allowed under the rules to insist on behalf of the American 
people that somebody be terminated if they've downloaded endless 
pornography while telecommuting. So instead we have simply said in the 
motion to recommit that if they're found downloading pornography, they 
can no longer telecommute.
  Likewise, on a number of other areas we feel that the American people 
should know that there is accountability. Accountability as to the 
Presidential Records Act. Mr. Speaker, as you know, the Presidential 
Records Act is extremely important. That if somebody is working 
offsite, we want to ensure that they do not use a Gmail account or in 
some other way go off system and have that lost for the rest of 
eternity. It is too important and it is too uniform a law to not make 
sure it is included in this Act. Additionally, the question of official 
business.
  Now, often motions to recommit include poison pills. This is not one. 
We wanted to make sure that if there's a union contract in which 
there's union negotiation or other time allotted--official time--that 
it not be done clandestinely around telecommuting. The fact is that if 
a union leader who is also a Federal employee has a right to have so 
much time spent doing that, this would not stop them, but it would make 
it very clear that you can't simply be working out of your house and 
use that as collective bargaining time or other work that would not be 
manageable.
  It's very clear that we were limited in this. This does not fix 
everything, Mr. Speaker. This does not fix everything I'd like to fix, 
but it simply makes the bill revenue neutral and in a couple of 
important areas assures the American people that their taxpayer dollars 
are not being misused while someone is telecommuting.
  With that, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Issa for 
offering this motion to recommit.
  Since the stimulus passed last February, the private sector has shed 
over 3.2 million jobs and unemployment now stands at a staggering 9.5 
percent. Now is not the time to give another perk to Federal employees 
while the rest of America is struggling to make ends meet.
  By requiring Federal agencies to duplicate an existing law and spend 
20 percent of their official time out of the office and on a mobile 
worksite, we're costing the taxpayers another $32 million while 
promoting an inefficient Federal workforce.

                              {time}  1500

  I'm proud that this motion to recommit corrects some of these 
problems. Thankfully, if adopted, this motion will require that each 
agency must certify to the Office of Personnel Management that the 
agency's telework program will save money, rather than increase 
spending. Furthermore, teleworking privileges will not be granted to 
employees that have been disciplined for poor work performance and 
behavior, such as viewing pornography on work computers, having a 
record of being absent without permission, or who are delinquent in 
paying their taxes.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I am very proud that this motion will prohibit 
Federal employees from engaging in union or collective bargaining 
activities while teleworking. OPM reported that in fiscal year 2008 
alone, nearly 3 million official time hours were used in collective 
bargaining or arbitration of grievances against an employer, equating 
to over $120 million tax dollars spent on union activities. It's 
irresponsible, Mr. Speaker, to use these dollars for nonrelated 
official duties while on official time.
  So, Mr. Speaker, this motion to recommit is necessary to save 
precious tax dollars and ensure the integrity of the Federal workforce. 
I commend Mr. Issa for bringing this forward. I urge my colleagues to 
support this motion.
  Mr. ISSA. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise to claim time in opposition to the 
motion.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman continue to reserve his 
point of order?
  Mr. LYNCH. No.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, there are a number of points here that I 
would like to make at the outset, and I appreciate the spirit in which 
the gentleman has offered these amendments.
  Many of the concerns that the gentleman has raised in his motion to 
recommit have been addressed in the bill. I would like to begin by 
saying that right now, with respect to tax delinquency and enforcing 
the tax laws against Federal employees, we have greater protections 
right now in place against those Federal employees than exist against 
any other employee in America today. We have the ability to remove them 
from their jobs. We have the ability to garnish their wages. We have 
the ability to demand of them compliance with the tax law that is much 
more difficult to implement against the average private sector 
employee. So I do not think that the measures here and the ``seriously 
delinquent'' category that does not exist under the IRS Tax Code well 
serves the underlying purpose of this bill.
  I do want to say that prohibiting collective bargaining activity 
while teleworking is also a question of possible violation with other 
statutes that I believe may be infringed upon by this motion. So I 
would be very, very concerned about--obviously we were given this 
motion about a minute ago--well, a couple of minutes ago, so I'm not so 
sure how that would affect Taft-Hartley collective bargaining rights. 
But it would appear that they would do a carve-out here for those 
workers who are teleworking and yet unable to exercise the rights that 
otherwise might exist in those employees. So I am very, very concerned 
about that.
  I understand the restrictions. Further, the amended version of H.R. 
1722 already incorporates language to restrict allowing employees to 
telework based on previous disciplinary issues that might have been 
presented.
  With respect to the concern raised by my friend and colleague with 
respect to accessing pornographic sites, I should note that history has 
shown us that those who rail against weaknesses of the human spirit are 
usually the very people who succumb to those very weaknesses. But we 
would certainly agree that that is inappropriate behavior and it should 
be punished. I tend to

[[Page 12950]]

think that that is a point of agreement, but I think it's just a matter 
of how to implement that prohibition.
  There is also a difficulty at the heart of this, which is that the 
gentleman's motion to reconsider requires us to demonstrate a savings 
now at this level. Here's the problem: We are not in an Appropriations 
Committee. We have not appropriated any money for this. We don't have 
the ability to do that. This is authorization. So how are we supposed 
to know where the break point on savings might be when we don't know, 
in this forum, how much money might be spent?
  Those are structural flaws, I think, in the bill that prevent us from 
accepting the amendment at this time. However, I understand that some 
Members may see one or two of these issues as decisive on their behalf, 
and I would understand and respect the Members' rights to vote as they 
might on this measure. But because of the issues that I have raised--
one, because it creates a level of impossibility for us to demonstrate 
savings when we don't know how much money is going to be used in 
implementing this measure. That will be decided by the appropriators. 
And, as well, we realize that to set this up, in order to establish the 
teleworking protocols, there will be an expenditure to begin with, but 
the savings will result at a later time. So I urge my colleagues to 
vote against this.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to recommit.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule 
XX, this 15-minute vote on the motion to recommit will be followed by 
5-minute votes on passage of H.R. 1722, if ordered; and the motion to 
suspend the rules on S. 1508.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 303, 
nays 119, not voting 10, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 440]

                               YEAS--303

     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Adler (NJ)
     Akin
     Alexander
     Altmire
     Arcuri
     Austria
     Baca
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett
     Barton (TX)
     Bean
     Berkley
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boccieri
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd
     Brady (TX)
     Bright
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Cantor
     Cao
     Capito
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Castle
     Chaffetz
     Chandler
     Childers
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cole
     Conaway
     Connolly (VA)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Crenshaw
     Critz
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Djou
     Doggett
     Donnelly (IN)
     Dreier
     Driehaus
     Duncan
     Edwards (TX)
     Ehlers
     Ellsworth
     Emerson
     Etheridge
     Fallin
     Flake
     Fleming
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goodlatte
     Gordon (TN)
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (MO)
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Griffith
     Guthrie
     Hall (NY)
     Hall (TX)
     Halvorson
     Hare
     Harman
     Harper
     Heinrich
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth Sandlin
     Hill
     Himes
     Hinchey
     Hodes
     Holden
     Hunter
     Inglis
     Israel
     Issa
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson Lee (TX)
     Jenkins
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan (OH)
     Kaptur
     Kildee
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kissell
     Klein (FL)
     Kline (MN)
     Kosmas
     Kratovil
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee (NY)
     Lewis (CA)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lujan
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Maffei
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey (CO)
     Marshall
     Matheson
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMahon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Melancon
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Minnick
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy (NY)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Nye
     Ortiz
     Pastor (AZ)
     Paul
     Paulsen
     Pence
     Perlmutter
     Perriello
     Peters
     Peterson
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe (TX)
     Pomeroy
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Putnam
     Quigley
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Rodriguez
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rooney
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothman (NJ)
     Royce
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Scalise
     Schauer
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schock
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Sestak
     Shadegg
     Shea-Porter
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Skelton
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stearns
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Taylor
     Teague
     Terry
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Titus
     Turner
     Upton
     Visclosky
     Walden
     Walz
     Wamp
     Weiner
     Welch
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (OH)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Wu
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                               NAYS--119

     Andrews
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Becerra
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Castor (FL)
     Chu
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Crowley
     Cummings
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doyle
     Edwards (MD)
     Ellison
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Fudge
     Garamendi
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hirono
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kanjorski
     Kennedy
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kilroy
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lynch
     Maloney
     Markey (MA)
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Moore (WI)
     Nadler (NY)
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Payne
     Pingree (ME)
     Polis (CO)
     Price (NC)
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sherman
     Sires
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Stark
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Woolsey

                             NOT VOTING--10

     Deutch
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Higgins
     Hinojosa
     Hoekstra
     Kagen
     Olson
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Tiahrt

                              {time}  1537

  Messrs. BISHOP of Georgia, FILNER, ELLISON, NEAL of Massachusetts, 
FATTAH, GEORGE MILLER of California, KUCINICH, GUTIERREZ, FARR, 
OBERSTAR, STARK, CLYBURN, MEEK of Florida, PAYNE, SERRANO, LARSON of 
Connecticut, Mrs. DAVIS of California, and Mr. LANGEVIN changed their 
vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Messrs. ORTIZ, HALL of New York, JACKSON of Illinois, BLUNT, 
ACKERMAN, WILSON of Ohio, ROTHMAN of New Jersey, HEINRICH, ETHERIDGE, 
COOPER, CONNOLLY of Virginia, WEINER, MOORE of Kansas, BACA, SCHIFF, 
Ms. HARMAN, Messrs. GONZALEZ, PASTOR of Arizona, CARDOZA, PERLMUTTER, 
BISHOP of New York, KIND, and BARTON of Texas changed their vote from 
``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the motion to recommit was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the instructions of the House in 
the motion to recommit, I report the bill, H.R. 1722, back to the House 
with an amendment.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the amendment.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Amendment offered by Mr. Lynch:
       Page 5, strike line 11 and all that follows through page 6, 
     line 9, and insert the following:
       ``(b) Limitations.--
       ``(1) Certain employees not authorized to telework.--An 
     employee may not telework under a policy established under

[[Page 12951]]

     this chapter if any of the following apply to the employee:
       ``(A) The employee has a seriously delinquent tax debt (as 
     determined under paragraph (2)).
       ``(B) The employee has been officially disciplined for 
     violations of subpart G of the Standards of Ethical Conduct 
     for Employees of the Executive Branch for viewing, 
     downloading, or exchanging pornography, including child 
     pornography, on a Federal Government computer or while 
     performing official Federal Government duties.
       ``(C) The employee received a payment under the Low-Income 
     Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.) 
     but was ineligible to receive the payment under the criteria 
     described in section 2605(b)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
     8624(b)(2)).
       ``(D) The employee has been officially disciplined for 
     being absent without permission for more than 5 days in any 
     calendar year.
       ``(2) Determination of seriously delinquent tax debt.--
       ``(A) In general.--For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), a 
     `seriously delinquent tax debt' means an outstanding debt 
     under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for which a notice of 
     lien has been filed in public records pursuant to section 
     6323 of such Code, except that such term does not include--
       ``(i) a debt that is being paid in a timely manner pursuant 
     to an agreement under section 6159 or section 7122 of such 
     Code;
       ``(ii) a debt with respect to which a levy has been issued 
     under section 6331 of such Code upon accrued salary or wages 
     (or, in the case of an applicant for employment, a debt with 
     respect to which the applicant agrees to be subject to a levy 
     issued under such section upon accrued salary or wages); and
       ``(iii) a debt with respect to which a collection due 
     process hearing under section 6330 of such Code, or relief 
     under subsection (a), (b), or (f) of section 6015 of such 
     Code, is requested or pending.
       ``(B) Regulations.--The Office of Personnel Management 
     shall, for purposes of carrying out this paragraph, prescribe 
     any regulations which the Office considers necessary, except 
     that such regulations shall provide that an individual shall 
     be given a reasonable amount of time to demonstrate that the 
     individual's debt is described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) 
     of subparagraph (A).
       ``(3) Certification of savings.--An agency may not permit 
     employees to telework under a policy established under this 
     chapter unless the head of the agency certifies to the 
     Director of the Office of Personnel Management that the 
     implementation of the policy will result in savings to the 
     agency.
       ``(4) Provisions relating to certain circumstances.--
     Nothing in subsection (a) shall be considered--
       ``(A) to require the head of an agency to authorize 
     teleworking in the case of an employee whose duties and 
     responsibilities--
       ``(i) require daily direct handling of classified 
     information; or
       ``(ii) are such that their performance requires on-site 
     activity which cannot be carried out from a site removed from 
     the employee's regular place of employment; or
       ``(B) to prevent the temporary denial of permission for an 
     employee to telework if, in the judgment of the agency head, 
     the employee is needed to respond to an emergency.
       ``(c) Prohibiting Collective Bargaining Activities While 
     Teleworking.--Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 71, 
     any time during which an employee teleworks may not be 
     treated as `official time' for purposes of the authority to 
     carry out any activity under section 7131 of this title.
       ``(d) Requirement That Presidential and Vice-Presidential 
     Records Created on Non-official Electronic Mail or Social 
     Media Accounts While Teleworking Be Copied to Official 
     Electronic Mail Accounts.--In the case of any employee who, 
     while teleworking pursuant to a policy established under this 
     chapter, creates or receives a Presidential record or Vice-
     Presidential record within the meaning of chapter 22 of title 
     44, United States Code, through a non-official electronic 
     mail account, a social media account, or any other method 
     (electronic or otherwise), the employee shall electronically 
     copy the record into the employee's official electronic mail 
     account.
       ``(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this chapter 
     shall--
       ``(1) be considered to require any employee to telework; or
       ``(2) prevent an agency from permitting an employee to 
     telework as part of a continuity of operations plan.''.

  Mr. LYNCH (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
to dispense with the reading.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the amendment.
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third 
reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 290, 
nays 131, not voting 11, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 441]

                               YEAS--290

     Ackerman
     Adler (NJ)
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bartlett
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boccieri
     Bono Mack
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Bright
     Brown, Corrine
     Buchanan
     Butterfield
     Cao
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Cassidy
     Castle
     Castor (FL)
     Chaffetz
     Chandler
     Childers
     Chu
     Clarke
     Clay
     Clyburn
     Coffman (CO)
     Cohen
     Connolly (VA)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Critz
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Djou
     Doggett
     Donnelly (IN)
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Driehaus
     Edwards (MD)
     Edwards (TX)
     Ehlers
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Frank (MA)
     Fudge
     Garamendi
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gonzalez
     Goodlatte
     Gordon (TN)
     Granger
     Graves (MO)
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hall (TX)
     Halvorson
     Hare
     Harman
     Heinrich
     Herseth Sandlin
     Hill
     Himes
     Hinchey
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Issa
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kilroy
     Kind
     Kirk
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kissell
     Klein (FL)
     Kline (MN)
     Kosmas
     Kratovil
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lujan
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Maloney
     Markey (CO)
     Markey (MA)
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCotter
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McMahon
     McNerney
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Minnick
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy (NY)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Nadler (NY)
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Nye
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Paulsen
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Perriello
     Peters
     Peterson
     Petri
     Pingree (ME)
     Platts
     Polis (CO)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reichert
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Rothman (NJ)
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schauer
     Schiff
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Taylor
     Teague
     Terry
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walden
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch
     Wilson (OH)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Yarmuth

                               NAYS--131

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Austria
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Barton (TX)
     Berry
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Cantor
     Carter
     Coble
     Cole
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Duncan
     Emerson
     Fallin
     Flake
     Fleming
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Graves (GA)
     Griffith
     Guthrie
     Harper
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hunter
     Inglis
     Jenkins
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jordan (OH)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latta
     Lee (NY)

[[Page 12952]]


     Lewis (CA)
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy, Tim
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Paul
     Pence
     Pitts
     Poe (TX)
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Rehberg
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rooney
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Scalise
     Schmidt
     Schock
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (TX)
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Wamp
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (SC)
     Wu
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--11

     Cleaver
     Deutch
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Higgins
     Hinojosa
     Hoekstra
     Kagen
     Olson
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Tiahrt


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). Members have 1 minute 
remaining in this vote.

                              {time}  1545

  Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the bill was passed.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to require 
the head of each executive agency to establish and implement a policy 
under which employees shall be authorized to telework, and for other 
purposes.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________