[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 14907-14908]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               WOUNDED WARRIORS FEDERAL LEAVE ACT OF 2015

  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 313) to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide leave 
to any new Federal employee who is a veteran with a service-connected 
disability rated at 30 percent or more for purposes of undergoing 
medical treatment for such disability, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                 H.R. 313

       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 ``Wounded Warriors Federal 
     Leave Act of 2015''.

     SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL LEAVE FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES WHO ARE 
                   DISABLED VETERANS.

       (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 63 of title 5, 
     United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:

     ``Sec. 6329. Disabled veteran leave

       ``(a) During the 12-month period beginning on the first day 
     of employment, any employee who is a veteran with a service-
     connected disability rated at 30 percent or more is entitled 
     to leave, without loss or reduction in pay, for purposes of 
     undergoing medical treatment for such disability for which 
     sick leave could regularly be used.
       ``(b)(1) The leave credited to an employee under subsection 
     (a) may not exceed 104 hours.
       ``(2) Any leave credited to an employee pursuant to 
     subsection (a) that is not used during the 12-month period 
     described in such subsection may not be carried over and 
     shall be forfeited.
       ``(c) In order to verify that leave credited to an employee 
     pursuant to subsection (a) is used for treating a service-
     connected disability, such employee shall submit to the head 
     of the employing agency certification, in such form and 
     manner as the Director of the Office of Personnel Management 
     may prescribe, that such employee used such leave for 
     purposes of being furnished treatment for such disability by 
     a health care provider.
       ``(d) In this section--
       ``(1) the term `employee' has the meaning given such term 
     in section 2105, and includes an officer or employee of the 
     United States Postal Service or of the Postal Regulatory 
     Commission;
       ``(2) the term `service-connected' has the meaning given 
     such term in section 101(16) of title 38; and
       ``(3) the term `veteran' has the meaning given such term in 
     section 101(2) of such title.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 
     63 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding after 
     the item relating to section 6328 the following:

``6329. Disabled veteran leave.''.

       (c) Application.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     shall apply with respect to any employee (as that term is 
     defined in section 6329(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, 
     as added by subsection (a)) hired on or after the date that 
     is one year after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (d) Regulations.--Not later than 9 months after the date of 
     enactment of this Act--
       (1) the Director of the Office of Personnel Management 
     shall prescribe regulations with respect to the leave 
     provided by the amendment in subsection (a) for employees, 
     but not including employees of the United States Postal 
     Service or the Postal Regulatory Commission; and
       (2) the Postmaster General shall prescribe regulations for 
     such leave with respect to officers and employees of the 
     United States Postal Service and the Postal Regulatory 
     Commission.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Walberg) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 313, the Wounded 
Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015, sponsored by
my colleague, Congressman Stephen Lynch. This important piece of 
legislation supports wounded warriors newly hired in the Federal 
Government.
  The Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015 supports our disabled 
veterans transitioning to civilian careers by providing sick leave for 
medical treatments and appointments that are related to their service-
connected disability.
  Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan legislation provides immediate access to 
sick leave for any new Federal employee who is a veteran with a 
service-connected disability rated at 30 percent or more for the 
purposes of undergoing medical treatment for such disability.
  Because Federal employees begin with a zero sick leave balance and 
accrue sick leave over time, disabled veterans beginning civilian jobs 
often have insufficient sick leave to attend medical appointments 
required for treatment of their service-connected disabilities. This 
bill provides our newly hired disabled veterans with immediate access 
of up to 13 days for sick leave so that our disabled veterans do not 
have to take unpaid leave to care for their service-connected injuries.

[[Page 14908]]

  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 313 is supported by a number of veterans and 
employee organizations, including the American Legion, Veterans of 
Foreign Wars, and Federal Managers Association.
  I commend Mr. Lynch for his leadership on this issue and for working 
with Mr. Farenthold, Ranking Member Cummings, Mr. Connolly, and Ms. 
Norton to bring this bipartisan legislation before the committee. I 
also want to acknowledge Senators Tester, Moran, and Toomey for their 
work on the Senate companion bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 313, the Wounded 
Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015.
  I introduced this bipartisan legislation in January of this year, and 
I am proud that it has now gained the support of over 30 Democratic and 
Republican Members of Congress.
  I also want to thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg), for 
his remarks and his support of this bill. At the outset, I would also 
like to thank Chairman Jason Chaffetz and Ranking Member Elijah 
Cummings along with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Farenthold) and the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) of the House Oversight and 
Government Reform Committee for their leadership in bringing H.R. 313 
to the floor. I would also like to thank many of the veterans groups 
and Federal unions and workforce organizations that have joined 
together to endorse this legislation. They include the Veterans of 
Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the 31 unions and member 
organizations that make up the Federal Postal Coalition.
  Let me also commend Jennifer Hemingway of the majority staff for the 
Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Lena Chang of the 
Democratic staff for our committee for their great work on this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act will address a 
problem faced by many wounded warriors who are transitioning to 
civilian life through new careers in the Federal workforce. Currently, 
a first-year Federal employee will begin his or her career with zero 
sick leave in the event of a medical event. That is because under 
current law, full-time Federal employees only earn 4 hours of paid sick 
leave for each pay period that they work.
  Obviously, starting from the beginning, they will have zero balance 
in their sick leave bank--with a maximum of 104 hours of paid sick 
leave that is available per year. Nevertheless, new employees start 
with zero. While Federal workers are able to carry over unused annual 
sick leave from year to year, they begin their first year on the job 
with no sick leave whatsoever.
  Now, this lack of initial leave for newly hired Federal workers is 
particularly burdensome on those employees who are also wounded 
warriors. These employees need to make regular visits to the VA to seek 
medical treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain 
injury, and other service-connected disabilities, and they are quickly 
forced to burn up any sick leave that they do accrue during their first 
year at a Federal agency.

                              {time}  1530

  Several wounded warriors who have transitioned to the Federal 
workforce following their tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and 
other assignments have highlighted this difficulty during discussions 
with me and my staff.
  These workers reported that, without sufficient leave during their 
first year on the job, they were routinely faced with the difficult 
choice between having to take a day off work without pay or simply 
skipping their scheduled VA appointments altogether. Some wounded 
warriors reported that the closest VA facility to their job was located 
a 2- or 3-hour drive away.
  As additionally noted by the Federal Managers Association: ``Young 
men and women struggle with available leave as they attempt to keep 
service-related, medically-necessary appointments, which puts undue 
stress on both managers and their Federal employees as they try to meet 
their Congressionally-mandated missions and goals.''
  Mr. Speaker, we must afford our wounded warriors the flexibility to 
receive medical care as they transition to serving our Nation in a new 
capacity, through a Federal civilian job. The Wounded Warriors Federal 
Leave Act would do just that.
  This bill will provide first-year Federal employees who have a VA 
disability rating of 30 percent or greater with 104 hours of wounded 
warrior leave from the moment they begin their Federal workforce 
careers. This includes eligible new hires at our Nation's largest 
employer of veterans--the Defense Department--as well as the United 
States Postal Service.
  H.R. 313 also recognizes that these dedicated Federal workers will 
have accumulated up to 104 hours of traditional sick leave by the end 
of their first year on the job. That is why the bill also provides that 
any unused wounded warrior leave would not carry over beyond the second 
year.
  The Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act will also provide critical 
importance, given that the most recent Federal data on veterans 
employment indicates that Federal agencies are hiring a growing number 
of veterans each year. In fiscal year 2014, nearly 60,000, or 33.2 
percent, of new hires at Federal agencies were veterans. That is an 
increase of 9.2 percent over fiscal year 2009.
  With the number of our young people who have served multiple tours of 
duty--three, four, five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan--this is 
especially important. Approximately 16,000 of newly Federal employees 
were wounded warriors with a disability rating of 30 percent or 
greater.
  Again, I am thankful to Mr. Chaffetz, Mr. Walberg, Mr. Cummings, and 
Mr. Connolly. And, also, I want to thank Mr. Tester. When we sent this 
bill over to the Senate looking for a cosponsor in the Senate, Senator 
Tester was quick to step up and take on this fight in the Senate. I 
want to thank him for his work on this bill in the Senate side.
  In closing, I urge all our Members to vote in favor of H.R. 313.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I truly thank Congressman Lynch for his leadership on this issue. It 
is an issue not only whose time has come, but probably should have come 
long before this. It is a great idea that deals with the reality of 
what we face in dealing with wounded warriors and their ongoing success 
that this country--a grateful country--ought to be involved with 
encouraging.
  I urge the adoption of the bill.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 313.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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