Permitting active duty members of the Armed Forces who are assigned to a Congressional liaison office of the Armed Forces at the House of Representatives to obtain membership in the exercise facility established for employees of the House of Representatives.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules

and pass the bill (H.R. 1752) to provide that the usual day for paying salaries in or under the House of Representatives may be established by regulations of the Committee on House Administration, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, the principal purpose of this legislation is to allow the Committee on House Administration to oversee and administer a payday schedule for all staff in the House of Representatives. It does not affect pay for Members.

The House passed a similar bill in the 110th Congress. This bill gives the Committee on House Administration the ability to set the day of pay for House employees. This flexibility will allow the committee to be more responsive to the needs of our employees, many of whom have expressed their frustration about the current system. Furthermore, this bill will give us the opportunity to be more consistent with employees in the Senate, the executive branch, and most of the private sector with regard to paydays.

The committee also adopted a technical amendment to provide that staff members of congressional liaison offices assigned to the House who are on active duty in the Armed Forces will continue to be eligible to apply for membership in the House of Representatives staff exercise facility. The House passed a resolution, H. Res. 1068, in the 110th Congress which approved this policy, and the bill before us simply would enact it into permanent law.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

The gentleman is correct. We would be delighted to work with him on that.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I rise today in support of H.R. 1752, which will vest in the Committee on House Administration the authority to evaluate and implement best practices to improve efficiency in our payroll process.

The House Inspector General has reported that it may be of benefit to the House to transition to a bimonthly pay cycle with a lag time. Preliminary financial assessments suggest that after incurring up-front transition costs, this change may reduce overpayments over time and reduce errors by more easily distributing the burden of incorporating payment changes into the system.

If the distinguished gentlelady from California would enter into a colloquy on the subject of exactly how this authority is to be exercised, I would like to stress that the legislation before the House simply grants the Committee on House Administration the authority to change the pay cycle and does not in and of itself authorize any changes. As the gentlelady is aware, any change to our current operating status with regard to payroll would have a large impact on the daily lives of House staff. It is thus important that the committee granting this authority will act cautiously and only after soliciting and evaluating the feedback of the House community.

I understand on the majority side that you would be willing to work with us to ensure that the opinions of House staff are gathered and considered prior to any potential change in the pay cycle.

I appreciate that very much.

With that, Madam Speaker, I would urge support for this bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam 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 agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1068) permitting active duty members of the Armed Forces who are assigned to a Congressional liaison office of the Department of Defense at the House of Representatives to obtain membership in the exercise facility established for employees of the House of Representatives, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on this resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 1068 responds to a specific request from the liaisons who serve in each branch of the military and assist us daily in the House of Representatives. They have just a simple favor to ask that they be allowed to use the House staff gym since they work here far away from the ordinary military fitness facilities.

In order to ensure that the military liaisons can maintain the physical fitness and readiness while they serve in the House, this resolution will allow them to use the House staff gym. The committee will adopt regulations for the use of this facility.

We anticipate that the Armed Forces personnel who use the facility would do so consistently with military policy and, to the extent possible, during off-peak hours.

Again, I would like to thank my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), for cosponsoring this resolution.

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1068, which would permit military liaisons who are assigned to official duty within the House of Representatives to join the House Staff Fitness Center. The center has been a welcome benefit to many House employees since it opened in December of 2005. Located in the southwest corner of the Rayburn building, the fitness center covers 11,000 square feet in which gym members can take advantage of health screenings and fitness assessments, take part in health wellness workshops and seminars, and receive individualized exercise programs, in addition to using the state-of-the-art exercise equipment.

While membership in the House Staff Fitness Center will prove a convenient and useful operation to those military personnel who work in the House campus, I think it's also important to recognize that these gentlemen and women are part of the military. They must remain in shape because they may be called into active duty at any time.

And so I believe this is a good bill, and I thank Chairman Brady for his work on the bill.

I yield back my time.