Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Skelton and Chairman Towns for the hard work they put into this bill. I am here today to say this is a good bill on the front end. I am sad to say this is a bad bill on the back end.

What this bill does, which was worked out on a very bipartisan basis with all speaking here today, is in fact it does recognize that modern retirement plans should have as many options as possible, and certainly adding the Roth IRA option for some Federal workers is extremely good.

Additionally, the advantages for the military and military commanders to be able to look at their individual needs of their services and allow for different opting in and out patterns of course makes sense, and I appreciate Chairman Towns' willingness to work on that fix during the markup.

The majority in our committee and the minority in our committee found this to be a very bipartisan issue to

work on, and I appreciate the fact that this is good for the troops and on paper saves money. However, I have to say, the back end of this bill, sponsored by Members of the majority not speaking yet here today, is nothing but a piggy bank for other projects, for special interest projects.

The fact that this is a tobacco bill begs the question of: If we were to free up 2 or 3 or more billion dollars from a military budget in outlying years, why would this be a reason, when we have trillions of dollars of deficits, to spend money? I think the majority knows it is not.

In fact, the idea that you on paper save money by members of the government opting out of pre-tax contributions in favor of the Roth IRA post-tax contribution and thus creating additional tax revenue, at a time when we have a deficit at the highest in our history, says not one penny ever saved will in fact go to deficit reduction under this majority.

So, will I vote for this bill? Of course, I will. It does a lot of good things for our Federal workers. The fact, though, that the provision for family smoking prevention is not funded through the ordinary course of revenue but rather through this scheme that, depending upon how many workers choose Roth IRAs, may or may not produce the money that is about to be spent, I find wrong and I find misguided.

As the chairman said, there were a number of things we did for the military. There is more that we should do. Only the U.S. military is eligible for TSP but receives no match.

It is very clear that, in a modern military, one in which only about one in four serve until retirement on active duty, the TSP is all the military takes with them when they leave. That famous 20-year retirement does not vest in 5 years the way it does with the majority and the minority, all of us as Members of Congress; in fact, it takes 18\1/2\ years to lock in a military retirement and 20 years to appreciate it. Clearly, the military does not enjoy what we in Congress enjoy, which is TSP, with a match, and a 5-year vesting schedule so that we can take our retirement plan with us whenever we leave, in as few years as 5.

I do once again thank all the Members on both sides of the aisle that worked hard on the front ends of this bill. I believe it has merit and should be positively received and voted for.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, I have to say it is not the front end of this bill that anyone should object to. The part we are seeing here today is excellent. But as Chairman Lynch said, and said quite rightfully, it is calculated that this piece of legislation will save net approximately $2.2 billion for better or worse on the backs of our retirees.

It is a short-term savings, Mr. Speaker. It is not, in fact, a long- term savings. Any time you do collect money now but don't collect it later, it is going to eventually catch up. So for the short period of time in which this $2.2 billion is generated, it certainly would have been appropriate for all of us to be able to use this money in the committee for the Federal workforce. And the part that upsets me is that we are neither returning it to the taxpayers in the form of less deficit, nor are we using it for structural changes for the Federal workforce, whether uniform military or civilian. That is the only problem.

Again, what this bill does, it does well. What this bill eventually does is, in fact, fund a pet project of the former chairman, Mr. Waxman, for tobacco programs, something that has certainly been funded very well, funded on the backs of plenty of other programs. Candidly, I don't believe that this is the best use of the money at a time we are running trillions in deficits.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I continue to urge my colleagues to vote for this bill because of all the good things it does. I also urge my colleagues to continue to look at what we owe our Federal workforce, and particularly as previous speakers have said, our uniform men and women. Men and women in uniform enter the service voluntarily. Four years, 6 years, 8 years later, they often leave. As a matter of fact, with the up-or-out program, many of them are not promoted and must leave. Therefore, they leave the military service with less than 20 years. Therefore, they have nothing. They have their GI Bill, but they have no retirement.

Only, only in the Federal uniform services do we treat people that way. The President served 1 day, and he was eligible for his lifetime benefit. I don't begrudge the President hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for the rest of his life or any of the previous Presidents. But it is amazing to me that the President vests as soon as he is sworn in. Members of Congress fully vest after just 5 years; and yet, we are looking at our men and women in uniform being shot at, being injured, often being forced into early retirement or early leaving of the service with 10 or 20 or 30 percent disability, just enough they can't really do the job they came in to do, but not enough to get, if you will, a handsome retirement. They then enter the workforce later in life, and they enter with instead of a head start, with an impairment.

This $2.2 billion was only about one-tenth of what it would have taken to provide matching TSP funds for our men and women in uniform. Certainly, it is even a fraction of what it would take to give them a defined benefit plan, even close to what we here in Congress get. But certainly, as we pass this piece of legislation today as a downpayment for reform, we need to begin looking at what it is going to take to provide our men and women in uniform equal justice with the rest of the Federal workforce.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Workforce, Mr. Chaffetz of Utah.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

I'll do a very short close, if you want to reserve your time to close.

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

Once again, in closing, this is a good bill. As the previous speakers have said, we were able to fix a number of ills, including what was mentioned by the gentlelady from the District of Columbia.

What I'm sad about is that we didn't begin to make a down payment on some other important areas; certainly, most among them, our uniform services. We took the benefit of putting military personnel on to a Roth IRA without looking into whether we could do something for them.

Mr. Speaker, there's no question in this body that our men and women in uniform that are not able to retire in 20 years will leave the military only with whatever they happen to put into their Thrift Savings Plan. They're basically finding themselves encouraged to save on what is one of the smallest salaries that anyone could imagine for a particular private, corporal or sergeant. And yet, we will not even make the 3 percent match we make for ourselves here in Congress.

So I certainly would hope that, in the foreseeable future, this Congress, on a bipartisan basis, as we're doing here today, can see fit to make a bipartisan down payment for our men and women in uniform to allow their Thrift Savings Plan to have at least some match, which today it doesn't have, and leaves them often with no retirement when they leave the military.

With that, I want to thank the chairman for the markup on this bill, which was done in a very cordial fashion, pre-agreed and worked out so that it could be done efficiently and we could get the best possible bill to the floor.

I yield back.

I thank the gentleman for his kind words.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of both Chairman Towns, the gentleman from Brooklyn, and also Mr. Skelton from Missouri in their endorsement of H.R. 1804, their sponsorship as well. This is the Federal Retirement Reform Act that includes enhancements to the Thrift Savings Plan as well as to other Federal retirement programs. And I do so because I am in agreement with both of those gentlemen that the TSP's offerings to Federal employees must finally be allowed to catch up to private sector 401(k) plans.

Given the Thrift Savings Plan's integral role in providing retirement income security for Federal employees, it is time for Congress to adopt and extend the auto enrollment plan to TSP participants. This legislation would allow the Thrift Savings Plan to offer a Roth option. And both sides have talked about the impact of that.

I think it is important to point out that by having Federal employees using this Roth option, it is calculated that we will bring in approximately $2.2 billion in new taxes, new tax revenues from Federal contributions from Federal employees over the next 10 years.

This bill, unlike a lot of other bills on this floor, basically pays for itself.

Mr. Speaker, in my role as chairman of the Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee, I believe that the Federal Government must ensure that its benefits allow it to retain and recruit the best and the brightest. Toward that end, I authored H.R. 1263, legislation that would make improvements to the TSP, as well as to the Federal retirement programs. I have been pleased to work with both Chairman Towns and former Chairman Waxman on the issue, as well as my friend and colleague, Jim Moran from Virginia.

This bill facilitates amending the Federal Employees Retirement System to provide employees with retirement credit for unused sick leave. Federal executives, managers and employees have called for crediting unused sick leave in the same way that the Civil Service Retirement System treats unused sick leave.

Additionally, this legislation fixes a CSRS annuity calculation problem for those employees who wish to phase down to part-time work at the end of their Federal careers. That is an important option given the aging demographics of our Federal workforce.

At a time of an overall aging workforce in America, and a particularly aging Federal workforce, the government as an employer must take the lead in addressing these workplace realities.

I conclude my remarks by stating that I give my full support to these civil service provisions. On behalf of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, NARFE, I would also like to make it clear that this new obligation--this is very important--this new obligation does not result in an ``unfunded obligation'' for the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund as current law provides that new payments are fully funded. And I am submitting an additional clarification to that effect as part of the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to expand on a provision contained in H.R. 1804, the ``Federal Retirement Reform Act of 2009,'' which makes improvements to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) and to the federal retirement programs. By amending the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) to credit unused sick leave for retirement purposes, the measure will modestly increase certain federal employees' retirement benefits. Thus, this bill will result in additional benefits, though small, from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Trust Fund (CSRDF). However, on behalf of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), I want to make it clear that this new obligation does not result in an ``unfunded obligation'' of the CSRDF as current law expressly provides that new payments from the CSRDF are fully funded. Since the creation of FERS in the 1980's, Section 8348f of Title 5 of the United States Code has ensured the integrity of the CSRDF by automatically setting-aside funds to cover the cost of any new benefits. Additionally, H.R. 1804 results in sufficient savings to cover the cost of this modest benefit increase under FERS.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1804) to amend title 5, United States Code, to make certain modifications in the Thrift Savings Plan, the Civil Service Retirement System, and the Federal Employees' Retirement System, 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.

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

Today, I am pleased to bring to the floor H.R. 1804, the Federal Retirement Reform Act of 2009. The bill modernizes the Thrift Savings Plan, the retirement savings plan for Federal employees. The legislation includes several other important retirement reforms for Federal employees and members of the Armed Forces.

This bill enjoyed strong bipartisan support in the last Congress when it passed the House as H.R. 1108. Two weeks ago, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee again considered and reported favorably the current language of this bill. I am pleased that the bill makes further progress in ending the military family tax which unfairly penalizes the survivors of those who died in service or as a result of their service- connected injuries.

As Chairman Skelton will explain, this bill increases the monthly amounts paid to surviving spouses who are denied the full amount of their annuity under the Survivor Benefit Plan. Our enhancement to the TSP program also will benefit military members and their families.

The Federal Employee Thrift Savings Plan is one of the best retirement savings programs in the Nation. The plan runs with very low cost and is a model for both the private sector and other governments. The bill we are considering today will strengthen and modernize the

I recognize the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) for 3 minutes, the person who has worked really hard on this and has done a fantastic job. And of course, when it comes to the military and military personnel, he is always there doing the right thing.

Mr. Speaker, I recognize one of the hardest working Members in this body, the chairman of the Federal Workforce Subcommittee, Stephen Lynch, for 3 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee on Armed Services, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Solomon Ortiz.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis), the chairwoman of the Military Personnel Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to Congressman Connolly from the great State of Virginia.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to Congresswoman Carol Shea- Porter from New Hampshire.

I recognize the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran) for 1 minute.

I would like to recognize the gentleman from Virginia, Glenn Nye, for 1 minute.

At this time I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the Congresswoman from Washington, D.C., Ms. Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Does the gentleman have any further speakers?

I'd like to reserve the time to close.

How much time remains?

Let me begin by first thanking the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) for his input. Let me thank the staff for all their input. I'd like to thank Congressman Skelton. And of course I'd like to thank Congressman Lynch for all the work they've done to make this bill better.

I'd like to reiterate my strong support for H.R. 1804. It will provide much-needed enhancements to the Thrift Savings Plan and to the Federal Government's retirement system.

I urge all of my colleagues to join in supporting the passage of this measure and, of course, because I think it will do so much for the servicemen and, of course, the widows of servicemen. And I think that we owe them that.

And this legislation is not perfect, but it's a giant step in the right direction. So I'm hoping that my colleagues will support this legislation. And let's move it very quickly through the House, and let's get it to the President's desk for him to be able to sign it.

Thank you so much for the support that we've gotten from everyone.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the distinguished chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Federal Retirement Reform Act of 2009. This legislation eliminates inconsistencies in the Federal retirement system and provides greater retirement security for Federal employees. It helps ensure we will not face a brain drain that could cripple Federal agencies. Within the next decade 47 percent of supervisory staff in the Federal workforce will be eligible for retirement. We must take action to ensure that Federal agencies continue to have the institutional knowledge and expertise that allows government to function smoothly and effectively.

The Federal Retirement Reform Act of 2009 makes several legislative reforms. This legislation enables members of the civil service and the Federal Employees Retirement Service to redeposit their cashed-out annuities if they decide to re-enter civil service. The committee adopted my amendment to H.R. 1256 by adding this language which is contained in the bipartisan FERS Redeposit Act.

I am pleased that we now have the opportunity to enact this legislation that will attract talented employees back to the Federal Government. We should be consistent with all of our Federal workers. Employees in the Civil Service Retirement System can already redeposit their annuities. Allowing FERS employees to do the same is only fair. This bill also ensures that FERS employees receive annuity credit for unused sick leave, just as CSRS employees do. Again, it is an issue of equity to provide those employees with the same benefits. This reform will improve the efficiency of the Federal Government by reducing absenteeism.

In addition, the bill will enable employees in the Civil Service Retirement System to work part-time at the end of their careers without losing retirement benefits. This provision will help retain talented workers and assist in training future supervisors and executive-level staff.

I applaud the distinguished chairman, Mr. Towns, for shepherding this important legislation through committee and look forward to its passage to help ensure a vibrant Federal workforce for years to come.

I would say to my good friend in response, when the budget comes to the floor this afternoon, I would be glad to talk about that subject. Right now we are talking about Federal employees and

trying to make sure that they have what they need.

Well, as a member of the Budget Committee, I'm very aware of the fact that actually tax cuts for middle class families in this budget exceed $2 trillion. And again, that will be made clear when we have the opportunity to debate the budget on the floor of the House. I thought the gentleman wanted me to answer his question.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Title II of H.R. 1804, the Federal Retirement Reform Act. Congressman Towns is to be commended for taking up the cause that Congressman Ortiz and I, along with many others, have championed with H.R. 775, The Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act. While this bill doesn't repeal the widows' tax imposed by the offset of Survivor Benefit Plans by Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, it helps military survivors during a difficult time for all of us.

When Congress established the Military Survivors' Benefit Plan, or SBP, in 1972, they did so in order to give members of the military a sense of security about their spouses in the event of their death. The plan is voluntary, can be purchased by retirees or will be provided to survivors of active duty servicemembers who are killed in the line of duty. Through the SBP that was bought, spouses and children can receive up to 55% of the servicemembers' retired pay. While SBP is an annuity, survivors of military retirees and veterans may also receive Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) if their spouse died a service connected death. Under current law, widows are forfeiting, dollar-for- dollar, the SBP annuity their spouse paid for by the amount of the DIC benefit.

It's simply wrong, and unfair to our military surviving spouses who were tasked with supporting their spouses during the most difficult of war times and peace times, to take away that which was intentionally paid for because of a benefit intended to serve another purpose. We don't do this with private life-insurance, we don't do it with the federal survivor benefit, and we shouldn't do it to the families of those who paid the greatest cost for freedom.

This bill, while it doesn't repeal the offset of SBP annuities by the DIC benefit, will be a needed help for widows, widowers and their children. However, I hope that it will not be considered the last step towards equity. By increasing payments by $35 beginning in 2010, surviving spouses will receive a monthly payment of $95 and will continue to receive increased payments until fiscal year 2016 with a $245 increase resulting in a monthly payment of $345. It's the least we can do; we need to repeal the offset.

Finally, I want to thank the veterans service organizations, particularly the Gold Star Wives of America, and Representative Solomon Ortiz, for their hard work towards equity for surviving spouses. While I've sponsored a bill to repeal the SBP/DIC offset since my first term in Congress, even such small steps as the one we took today wouldn't be possible without their help.