Condemning the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for executing human rights activists.

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.