To provide that Federal employees receiving their pay by electronic funds transfer shall be given the option of receiving their pay stubs electronically.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6073, ``To provide that Federal employees receiving their pay by electronic funds transfer shall be given the option of receiving their pay stubs electronically.'' First, I would like to thank my colleague, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, for introducing this important legislation. This bill will allow all Federal employees receiving their pay by electronic funds transfer to receive their pay stubs electronically. This will bring much needed reform to a system that has become less transparent due to the advent of electronic, online banking. I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this act.

H.R. 6073 is important because of the need to create a streamlined, direct pay system that is at the same time transparent with clear authentication, allowing the over 1 million Federal employees to be able to back up their electronic funds with electronic pay stubs. These pay stubs will provide a necessary, substantive back-up to ensure that the many employees using electronic funds transfer have the same access to a transparent financial record.

H.R. 6073, ``To provide that Federal employees receiving their pay by electronic funds transfer shall be given the option of receiving their pay stubs electronically,'' is a fair, equitable step that will bring the Federal Government toward a clearer, more direct standard for all Federal employees using electronic funds transfer.

Upon enactment of the act, the Office of Personnel Management, OPM, would be required to provide Federal employees that receive their pay through electronic transfer with the option of also receiving their pay stubs electronically. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementation of this act will have no effect on the budget, and this act does not contain any intergovernmental or private sector mandates, and hence does not apply to local or State governments.

This bill will benefit the many thousands of Federal employees receiving their pay by electronic funds transfer by giving them the option to receive their pay stubs electronically. This option will provide greater authentication and transparency, without costing taxpayers, and without affecting private businesses, and State and local government.

This bipartisan bill will benefit the many Federal Government employees in Houston, Texas, and the Nation as a whole, while coming at no cost to the taxpayers of Texas' 18th. This simple reform should create an improved electronic pay system, benefiting countless Government employees.

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

Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank Chairman Waxman, Ranking Member Davis, and Mr. Davis from Illinois for their assistance in bringing this bill out of committee and to the floor. I think it is our responsibility as Members of Congress to seek every way possible to save money for the taxpayers of this country, and I appreciate the fact that we're moving this bill along because it is an excellent way for us to save the taxpayers of this country some money.

There are currently 2.7 million Federal employees. Many of these 2.7 million Federal employees have the option of accessing their leave and earnings statement, pay stubs electronically rather than the paper version which we receive in our mailboxes. But there are still executive branch agencies that do not offer this option to their employees. H.R. 6073 would direct the Office of Personnel Management to take such measures as they see appropriate to ensure that all executive agency employees have the option of receiving their pay stub electronically.

The reason that H.R. 6073 affects only the executive branch agencies and not the legislative branch or the judicial branch is because each branch of the Federal Government has different rules and means of payment regulations. Currently, there are 17 executive branch agencies that do not offer their employees the option of receiving their pay stubs electronically. H.R. 6073 would give these employees the option of having access to their pay stubs electronically. This is not a mandate.

Finally, this sensible legislation will save millions of taxpayer dollars and immeasurable amounts of paper.

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

Mr. Speaker, again I want to thank the folks who have helped bring this bill to the floor.

I am pleased, again, that we have the potential for saving taxpayers much money, but I hope that by the end of this week we're also going to vote on legislation that would bring down gas prices and save much, much more money on behalf of the American people. I think that we need to do that as responsible Members of this Congress.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6073) to provide that Federal employees receiving their pay by electronic funds transfer shall be given the option of receiving their pay stubs electronically.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

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

H.R. 6073 would require the Office of Personnel Management to allow Federal employees to receive electronic pay stubs. Most Federal employees receive their pay electronically, which is faster and less costly than using paper checks. This bill helps extend that cost savings to the rest of the payroll process.

More than a decade ago, Congress passed a law requiring that almost all Federal employees be paid by electronic funds transfer, commonly known as direct deposit. Electronic funds transfer is more secure and costs less than printing and distributing paper checks. Employees also have access to their funds sooner, because they do not have to deposit or cash their checks. However, many Federal agencies still print and distribute paper pay stubs for their employees, limiting the gains in efficiency from using electronic funds transfer.

This bill will encourage agencies to handle their entire payroll process electronically. The Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget have no objections to this bill. It's a commonsense measure that will help make payroll faster and more efficient, and I want to commend and thank Representative Foxx for introducing it. I appreciate her work in helping us get this bill to the floor and all of her work on the committee.

I also want to thank Chairmen Waxman and Towns and Ranking Member Tom Davis for their support for the bill and urge its swift adoption.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 1073, H.R. 6073.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related thereto be printed in the Record.