[Senate Report 113-249]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 113-249
_______________________________________________________________________
Calendar No. 549
GOLD STAR FATHERS ACT OF 2014
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 2323
TO AMEND CHAPTER 21 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT
FATHERS OF CERTAIN PERMANENTLY DISABLED OR DECEASED VETERANS SHALL BE
INCLUDED WITH MOTHERS OF SUCH VETERANS AS PREFERENCE ELIGIBLES FOR
TREATMENT IN THE CIVIL SERVICE
August 26, 2014.--Ordered to be printed
Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of August 5
(legislative day, August 1), 2014
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
JON TESTER, Montana RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MARK BEGICH, Alaska MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire
HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota
Gabrielle A. Batkin, Staff Director
John P. Kilvington, Deputy Staff Director
Mary Beth Schultz, Chief Counsel
Katherine C. Sybenga, Senior Counsel
Keith B. Ashdown, Minority Staff Director
Christopher J. Barkley, Minority Deputy Staff Director
Andrew C. Dockham, Minority Chief Counsel
Jennifer E. White, Minority Legislative Assistant
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 549
113th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 113-249
======================================================================
GOLD STAR FATHERS ACT OF 2014
_______
August 26, 2014.--Ordered to be printed
Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of August 5
(legislative day, August 1), 2014
_______
Mr. Carper, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2323]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 2323) to amend
chapter 21 of title 5, United States Code, to provide that
fathers of certain permanently disabled or deceased veterans
shall be included with mothers of such veterans as preference
eligibles for treatment in the civil service, having considered
the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and
recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................3
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................3
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................3
VI. Congressional Budget Office Estimate.............................4
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............4
I. Purpose and Summary
Under current statute, mothers of certain permanently
disabled or deceased veterans receive a preference in obtaining
appointment to the civil service if such mothers are widowed,
divorced, or separated, or also if they are married to a
husband who is permanently disabled. S. 2323 would extend
eligibility for the preference to include fathers along with
mothers and to include unmarried mothers or fathers along with
those who are widowed, divorced, or separated.
II. Background and Need for the Legislation
Veterans of the Armed Forces have been given preference in
gaining appointment to federal employment since the Civil War
era, and veterans' preference in its current form was enacted
in the Veterans' Preference Act of 1944.\1\ Generally, veterans
who are disabled or who served on active duty during specified
wartimes or military campaigns are entitled to have an
additional 5 or 10 points added to their civil service
examination score, giving them a preference for obtaining
appointment to federal jobs in the civil service from
competitive lists, and also receive a preference in retention
in the civil service during a reduction in force.\2\ The 1944
Act also provided a preference in obtaining civil service
appointment to wives of disabled veterans and to widows of
deceased veterans.
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\1\See U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM): Veterans
Services, VetGuide, http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/veterans-
services/vet-guide/, last visited August 15, 2014.
\2\See 5 U.S.C. Sec. 2108 and Sec. 3309 regarding veterans'
preference in civil service hiring and 5 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 3501-3502
regarding veterans' preference in a reduction in force.
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In January 1948, Congress extended the hiring preference to
widowed, divorced, or legally separated mothers of veterans who
died in active duty in wartime or who suffer from a service-
connected permanent and total disability.\3\ In reporting the
legislation, the House Committee on Post Office and Civil
Service explained--
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\3\Public Law 80-396 (1948).
It is the opinion of this committee that the debt of
gratitude owed by the United States to the widowed
mothers of ex-servicemen who lost their lives on active
duty, and to the widowed mothers of ex-servicemen who
are permanently and totally disabled, is immeasurable,
but such widowed mothers warrant the same consideration
now given to wives and unmarried widows of certain ex-
servicemen.\4\
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\4\Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, Report to accompany
H.R. 1426, Extending Veterans' Preference Benefits to Widowed Mothers
of Certain Ex-Servicemen, H.R. Rep. No. 697, 80th Congress, 1st Session
(June 25, 1947).
The House Post Office and Civil Service Committee further
explained that it supported the bill ``[a]fter considering . .
. the moral obligation this Government has to the widowed
mothers of our ex-servicemen who lost their lives in the
service of our country, or who were permanently disabled while
serving their country.''\5\ In 1950, Congress further extended
the hiring preference to cover mothers of certain deceased or
permanently disabled service member whose husbands also are
totally and permanently disabled.\6\ Mothers entitled to the
preference who pass a civil service examination gain 10
additional points added to their score.\7\
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\5\Id.
\6\Public Law 81-887 (Dec. 27, 1950). The laws making mothers of
veterans eligible for hiring preference have been codified at 5 U.S.C.
Sec. 2108(3)(F)-(G).
\7\See OPM VetGuide, note 1 above.
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The loss suffered by fathers of disabled or deceased
veterans warrants no less consideration than does the loss
suffered by mothers, and the debt of gratitude owed by the
United States to such fathers is equally immeasurable. In the
approximately six decades since Congress granted the preference
to mothers of certain veterans, our society and economy have
undergone profound transformations, and the Nation has become
far more aware of the importance of equal opportunity and non-
discrimination. In that light, no basis remains for a statute
that grants preference to mothers of veterans but not to
fathers of veterans, or that grants preference to veterans'
parents who are widowed, divorced, or separated, but not to
those who are otherwise unmarried. S. 2323 would end these
inequities by extending eligibility for the preference to
include a father as well as a mother and to include an
unmarried mother or father along with one who is widowed,
divorced, or separated.\8\
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\8\This Committee also considered and favorably reported a very
similar bill in the 111th Congress, S. 3650. See S. Rep. 111-374 (Dec.
17, 2010).
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III. Legislative History
On May 13, 2014 Senator Brown introduced S. 2323, which was
referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs Committee. The bill is cosponsored by Senator Wyden.
The Committee considered S. 2323 at a business meeting on
July 30, 2014. The legislation was ordered reported favorably
to the Senate without amendment by a unanimous voice vote.
Members present for the vote were: Carper, Levin, Pryor,
Landrieu, McCaskill, Begich, Baldwin, Coburn, Johnson, and
Ayotte.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1. Short title
This section provides a short title by which the bill may
be cited.
Section 2. Preference eligible treatment for fathers of certain
permanently disabled or deceased veterans
5 U.S.C. Sec. 2108(3)(F) and (G) now establish that the
mothers of certain deceased and totally disabled veterans may
be eligible for preference in civil service hiring if certain
conditions are met. Section 2 of S. 2323 would amend
subparagraphs (F) and (G) so that either parent of a veteran
can qualify for the preference.
Also, Sec. 2108(3)(F) and (G) now specify that mothers may
be eligible for a preference only if, among other conditions,
they are widowed, divorced, or separated. Section 2 of S. 2323
would amend subparagraphs (F) and (G) so that a parent who was
never married may also qualify for a preference.
Section 3. Effective date
This section provides that the amendment made by the bill
will take effect 90 days after the date of enactment.
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact. The Congressional
Budget Office states that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets
of state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
August 12, 2014.
Hon. Tom Carper,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2323, the Gold Star
Fathers Act of 2014.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf.
Enclosure.
S. 2323--Gold Star Fathers Act of 2014
S. 2323 would expand preferred eligibility for federal jobs
to the fathers of certain permanently disabled or deceased
veterans. CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would
not have any significant effect on the federal budget. Enacting
the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues;
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
Under current law, mothers of certain veterans are eligible
to claim preferences for civil service positions if their
children are permanently disabled or deceased. S. 2323 would
expand that preference to include such veterans' fathers. We
estimate that the legislation would have no significant
budgetary effect because, while it would expand the pool of
people eligible for federal job preferences, it would not
change the total number of federal jobs available or the
salaries paid to federal employees.
S. 2323 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew
Pickford. The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine,
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
VII. Changes in Existing Statute Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
S. 2323 as reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed
to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in
italic, and existing law in which no change is proposed is
shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
* * * * * * *
PART III--EMPLOYEES
* * * * * * *
Subpart A--General Provisions
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 21--DEFINITIONS
* * * * * * *
Sec. 2108--Veteran; disabled veteran; preference eligible
For the purpose of this title--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(3) ``preference eligible'' means, except as provided
in paragraph (4) of this section or section 2108a(c)--
(A) * * *
* * * * * * *
[(F) the mother of an individual who lost his
life under honorable conditions while serving
in the armed forces during a period named by
paragraph (1)(A) of this section, if--
[(i) her husband is totally and
permanently disabled;
[(ii) she is widowed, divorced, or
separated from the father and has not
remarried; or
[(iii) she has remarried but is
widowed, divorced, or legally separated
from her husband when preference is
claimed;
[(G) the mother of a service-connected
permanently and totally disabled veteran, if--
[(i) her husband is totally and
permanently disabled;
[(ii) she is widowed, divorced, or
separated from the father and has not
remarried; or
[(iii) she has remarried but is
widowed, divorced, or legally separated
from her husband when preference is
claimed; and]
(F) the parent of an individual who lost his
or her life under honorable conditions while
serving in the armed forces during a period
named by paragraph (1)(A) of this section, if--
(i) the spouse of that parent is
totally and permanently disabled; or
(ii) that parent, when preference is
claimed, is unmarried or, if married,
legally separated from his or her
spouse;
(G) the parent of a service-connected
permanently and totally disabled veteran, if--
(i) the spouse of that parent is
totally and permanently disabled; or
(ii) that parent, when preference is
claimed, is unmarried or, if married,
legally separated from his or her
spouse; and
* * * * * * *