To amend chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, to provide that certain Federal annuity computations are adjusted by 1 percentage point relating to periods of receiving disability payments, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 978, which is at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, it is altogether fitting that we have finally accomplished this idea on the second anniversary of the violent and dastardly attacks of September 11, 2001. Several survivors of that tragic day helped inspire this legislation, which will adjust Federal employees' retirement computations to offset reductions in the retirement amounts arising from on-the-job injuries covered under the workers compensation program.

I thank my colleague, John Warner of Virginia, for cosponsoring the measure. I particularly thank Kay Cole James in the Office of Personnel Management and her staff for working with me on this measure for well over a year now. Moreover, I wish to thank my colleague, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, whose leadership today, earlier this year, and last year helped move this measure several times through the procedural hoops of the Senate. Finally, we have gotten it passed on the House side.

Mr. President, this bill addresses a problem in the retirement program for Federal employees that has been recognized for a long time but unresolved since 1986, when the current retirement system was established. Unfortunately, complications arising from the Tax Code and the Workers Rehabilitation Act of 1973 have blocked any solution.

My resolve to introduce this bill and address this problem was inspired by Ms. Louise Kurtz, a Federal employee from Virginia who was severely injured in the September 11 attack, 2 years ago today, on the Pentagon. She worked at the Pentagon as a civil service employee. She suffered burns from the impact of American Airlines Flight 77, but even with all these burns, she still was trying to rescue and help others get out. She suffered burns on over 70 percent of her body. I have seen her several times. In fact, I saw her last year, at the Project Phoenix, the reopening and dedication of the Pentagon. She had no fingers left--just little nubs, really. Her ears were mostly burned off as well. She is a person, though, who continues to endure these painful surgeries and faces other surgeries in the future. She wants to continue with her rehabilitation. She still hopes to return to work someday.

Current law, however, does not allow Mrs. Kurtz to contribute to her retirement program while she is recuperating and receiving workers compensation disability payments. As a result, after returning to work and eventually retiring, she will find herself inadequately prepared and unable to afford to retire because of the lack of contributions during her recuperation and rehabilitation.

As Mrs. Kurtz's situation reveals, Federal employees under the Federal employees retirement system who have sustained an on-the-job injury and are receiving disability compensation from the Department of Labor's Office of Workers Compensation Programs are unable to make contributions or payments into Social Security or the Thrift Savings Plan. Therefore, under the current situation, which is being changed by this law, future retirement benefits from both sources--the Thrift Savings Plan and Social Security--are reduced.

This legislation offsets the reductions in Social Security and the Thrift Savings Plan retirement benefits by increasing the Federal Employees Retirement System's direct benefit calculation by 1 percentage point for the extended periods of disability.

Mr. President, you have probably already heard my talk about this bill because we have actually passed this measure twice in the Senate. We passed it once on October 17, 2002, and then again in July of this year, 2003. As a lead sponsor of the bill, I was pleased to see that my colleague on the House side, Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis, with her persistence, finally got the House of Representatives to pass this measure yesterday. By taking this matter up and passing it in the Senate today, we are clearing it for the President's signature.

The passage of this bill ensures that the pensions of our hard- working Federal employees will be kept whole during a period of injury and recuperation, especially now that many of them are on the front lines in protecting our homeland security in this new and ongoing war against terror. By protecting the retirement security of injured Federal employees, we have provided an incentive for them to return to work and increased our ability to retain our most dedicated and experienced Federal workers. This is a reasonable and fair approach, in which the whole Senate acted in a logical and compassionate manner last fall, and, of course, we did so in July, and we have done so again today.

On the second anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania after the brave efforts of those passengers, I thank my colleagues for once again passing this compassionate legislation honoring and helping some of the survivors of these horrific events.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 978) to amend chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, to provide that certain Federal annuity computations are adjusted by 1 percentage point relating to periods of receiving disability payments, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 978.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 978 is a great step towards reasonably assisting Federal employees.

This legislation temporarily doubles the usual Federal employees' retirement system direct benefit of 1 percent of an employee's pay during a period of disability. The added percentage point offsets the reductions in Social Security and the Thrift Savings Plan that would result from an employee's discontinuation of contributions while temporarily disabled.

The Department of Labor, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Personnel Management support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, the inspiration of this bill is Mrs. Louise Kurtz, a U.S. Army civilian employee who works at the Pentagon. Mrs. Kurtz was tragically injured when terrorists crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the west side of the Pentagon. Mrs. Kurtz was at work at the Pentagon that day, and she was so severely injured that she remains in rehabilitation today for the burns that affected more than 70 percent of her body. Current law prohibits Mrs. Kurtz from contributing to her retirement program while she recovers and receives workers compensation disability payments. This reality will significantly delay the point at which she will be able to retire. H.R. 978 will allow Federal employees who are injured or otherwise unable to work for extended periods of time to retire on schedule.

Mr. Speaker, the work of Federal employees has become even more critical in the 2 years since September 11. Each and every day, Federal employees protect our homeland, deliver our mail, teach our children, respond to emergencies, and perform countless other essential tasks. H.R. 978 is an opportunity for this House to effectively protect our hard-working Federal employees by addressing an inadequate component of the FERS system. Therefore, I urge all Members to support the passage of H.R. 978.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers at this time. I urge all Members to support the passage of this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation, introduced by the gentlewoman from Virginia (Chairwoman Jo Ann Davis), will go a long way to help Federal employees injured on the job and receiving workers compensation. More specifically, this legislation will help Mrs. Louise Kurtz, a Federal employee from Virginia, who was severely injured in the September 11 attack on the Pentagon. She suffered burns over 70 percent of her body and lost all of her fingers. Mrs. Kurtz is going through rehabilitation and would like to return to work some day.

Current law, however, does not allow Mrs. Kurtz to contribute to her retirement program while she is recuperating and receiving workers compensation disability payments. As a result, after returning to work and eventually retiring, she will find herself inadequately prepared and unable to afford to retire because of the lack of contributions during her recuperation. Federal employees like Mrs. Kurtz under the Federal Employees Retirement System who have sustained an on-the-job injury and are receiving disability compensation from the Department of Labor's office of Workers Compensation Programs are unable to make contributions or payments into Social Security or the Thrift Savings Plan. Therefore, their future retirement benefits from both sources are reduced.

This legislation offsets the reductions in Social Security and Thrift Savings Plan retirement benefits by increasing the Federal Employees Retirement System direct benefit calculation by 1 percentage point for extended periods of disability. The passage of this bill ensures that the pensions of hard-working Federal employees will be kept whole through their injury and recuperation period. I strongly support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I close with some announcements. We had a good, productive week. We completed the Labor-HHS appropriations bill after 7 days of consideration. We had 68 amendments considered. We disposed of all 68 amendments. We had 25 rollcall votes. I congratulate both of the managers who did just a superb job in staying focused, handling some very difficult situations but allowing time for debate and votes. We have completed that bill. Both Senator Specter and Senator Harkin did a superb job.

Senator Allen helped clear the way for Senate action on H.R. 978 with regard to the disability compensation computation bill which can now go to the President's desk.

Earlier today the Senate spoke with a voice vote as it unanimously adopted S. Res. 224 relating to the second anniversary of September 11.

Next week I look forward to beginning a fresh week and continuing on our appropriations process. Again, we have a number of appropriations bills to address. We have made real progress; in fact, five appropriations bills. If you look at the overall amount of money, that is probably 70 percent of the overall amount of money appropriated. So we are making progress. It is tough--slower than I would like, but we are making steady progress.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.