Overtime Pay for Secret Service Agents Act of 2016
Floor Speech
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Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6302, the Overtime Pay for Secret Service Agents Act of 2016, which was approved by our committee unanimously by a voice vote. This legislation would authorize an increase in the current pay cap up to Level II of the Executive Schedule so that Secret Service agents are permitted to receive compensation for the hours of overtime they worked in 2016.
As the chairman has indicated, the Presidential campaign of 2016 has been a year of extraordinary challenges and strain on the Secret Service. The Secret Service has provided information to the committee indicating that more than 1,000 Secret Service agents--one-third of the agents on board--have worked so many hours that they maxed out their annual overtime and salary. Some agents started working overtime for free as of early June and are exceeding the pay cap by as many as $50,000 to $60,000 per agent. Current law prohibits them from receiving any additional overtime pay, and that is what this bill is intended to fix for calendar year 2016.
These spikes in overtime are a necessary factor in these election campaigns. As we know, there were 16 Republican candidates in the primary, and all received Secret Service protection, as well as several candidates on the Democratic side. There were countless stops across the country over the months of our campaigns, and I don't think there is any way to avoid the need for overtime.
I am glad that this is a bipartisan bill, but every 4 years we have to have agents working without pay. There has got to be a way that we can estimate roughly what the overtime needs will be every 4 years and incorporate something that at least eliminates the need to have Secret Service agents working for free in a very dangerous job. I think we can figure that out.
I had a proposal in committee to make this an every-4-year thing and incorporate that. It did not succeed. But
I am hoping that, in a bipartisan manner with the chairman and my Republican colleagues on the committee, we can solve this.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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