Federal Prisons Accountability Act of 2012

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Hatch Act Modernization Act of 2012. I am pleased that Senators Lieberman, Levin, and Lee have joined as cosponors.

The Hatch Act restricts political activity of Federal employees, District of Columbia employees, and certain other state and local employees. Originally enacted in 1939, the Hatch Act has not been amended since 1993.

The Hatch Act plays two very important roles. First, it ensures that the government works for American citizens regardless of the political party controlling the White House or Congress. Second, the Hatch Act protects Federal employees in the workplace. Specifically, the Hatch Act restricts Federal employees' partisan political action in order to protect them for being coerced to participate in political activities in the workplace. This is essential to the merit-based system that currently exists.

In 2007, I chaired a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee of Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, which examined whether enhancements or clarifications to the Hatch Act were necessary. Since that time, I have considered what changes to the law would be appropriate, while being mindful that the Hatch Act represents a careful balance intended to shield employees from pressure to use federal time and money for partisan gain, while also protecting employees' personal freedoms of choice and expression.

The legislation I am introducing today makes common sense changes to the Hatch Act. First, it would grant State and local employees the freedom to run for partisan elective office. Under current law, state and local employees are permitted to run for nonpartisan elective office, but are prohibited from running for partisan elective office. This can lead to confusing and inconsistent rules in different locations, depending on whether a particular elective office is categorized as partisan or non-partisan. This change will also save the government money, as the Office of Special Counsel would not be required to spend valuable time and resources investigating the hundreds of complaints it receives each year on this issue.

The legislation would also modify the Hatch Act's draconian penalty provisions. The Hatch Act currently provides for a presumed penalty of termination for any violation of the law, regardless of its severity. Under the law, it is possible that a federal employee could lose his or her job for inadvertently sending an email at work containing improper political content or hanging a picture on his or her wall during a campaign season. My bill would amend these provisions of the Hatch Act to allow the Merit Systems Protection Board, which adjudicates Hatch Act complaints in the federal government, to impose a range of penalties, from termination to a reprimand, depending on the nature of the offense involved.

Finally, the legislation would ensure that employees of the District of Columbia are subject to the same restrictions on political activity that currently apply to all other state and local employees. Under present law, District of Columbia employees are subject to the Hatch Act provisions that apply to federal employees, rather than those that apply to employees of States and localities.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today, at the onset of Women's History Month, along with my colleagues Senators Gillibrand, Landrieu, Bennet, Shaheen, Mikulski, and Murkowski to introduce the Fairness in Women-Owned Small Business Contracting Act. The purpose of the bill is to remove inequities that exist in the women-owned small business contracting program, when compared to other socio-economic programs.

As former Chair and now Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I have long championed women entrepreneurship and have urged both past and present Administrations to implement the woman-owned small business, WOSB, Federal contracting program, which was enacted into law 10 years ago. On March 4, 2010, the Small Business Administration, SBA, finally proposed a workable rule to implement the women's procurement program. I am pleased to report that today there is a functional WOSB contracting program, however, the program lacks the critical elements that the SBA's 8(a), historically underutilized business zones, and the service-disabled veteran-owned government contracting programs include.

To remedy this, our bipartisan bill will help provide tools women need to compete fairly in the Federal contracting arena by allowing for receipt of non-competitive contracts, when circumstances allow. Moreover, the legislation would eliminate a restriction on the dollar amount of a contract that a WOSB can compete for, thus putting them on a level playing field with the other socio-economic contracting programs.

Women-owned small businesses have yet to receive their fair share of the Federal marketplace. In fact, our government has never achieved its goal of five percent of contracts going to WOSBs, achieving only 4.04 percent in fiscal year 2010. Our bill would greatly assist Federal agencies in achieving the small business goaling requirement for WOSBs.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.