Increase in Retirement Age of United States Capitol Police Officers

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. BICE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8364) to amend title 5, United States Code, to authorize the increase of the retirement age in the United States Capitol Police.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 8364

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. INCREASE IN RETIREMENT AGE OF UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE OFFICERS.

(a) Civil Service Retirement System.--Section 8335(c) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking ``becomes 60 years of age'' and inserting ``attains an age determined by the Board that shall be not less than 57 years of age and not more than 65 years of age''.

(b) Federal Employees' Retirement System.--Section 8425(c) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking ``becomes 60 years of age'' and inserting ``attains an age determined by the Board that shall be not less than 57 years of age and not more than 65 years of age''.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. BICE.

I rise today in support of Bryan Steil's legislation, H.R. 8364, which extends the retirement waiver age for officers within the United States Capitol Police.

I would like to thank Ranking Member Morelle for his collaboration on this very important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, threats against lawmakers are at all-time highs. This weekend's events once again remind us of that reality.

Although we have seen a welcome and much-needed increase in recruitment numbers, we continue to have staffing challenges within the United States Capitol Police.

Together, these challenges have created difficult circumstances for those who work tirelessly to keep visitors, staff, and lawmakers safe.

Under current law, officers are forced to retire at age 57, unless they receive a waiver from the Capitol Police Board. With a waiver, officers can continue to work until the age of 60.

H.R. 8364 will extend that waiver timeline to 65.

Right now, nearly 60 sworn officers are working on a waiver, which is the equivalent of more than two recruitment classes. Without this legislative change, they will all be forced to retire in the next few years.

Under our legislation, the Capitol Police Board will have the authority to grant waivers to sworn officers until they reach the age of 65.

Notably, this is not the first time Congress has done something like this. In 2004 and 2010, Congress temporarily raised the mandatory Federal law enforcement retirement age from 60 to 65 to address staffing shortfalls at the FBI.

Additionally, it is also important to note that our legislation gives the Capitol Police Board the discretion to decide who is still fit for the job.

The men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police do a tremendous job protecting this institution. We shouldn't be forcing officers to retire when we have staffing shortages that can be easily remedied by this one change.

Again, I thank the ranking member and his staff for working closely with us on this important matter, and I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. BICE. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source