Conference Report On H.R. 2647, National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the conference report on H.R. 2647, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. In particular, I would like to thank Chairman Skelton and Ranking Member McKeon for their leadership in negotiating this piece of legislation.

As others have attested, this bill will provide more than $600 billion for our troops, so that they will be ready to confront today's adversaries and prepared to prosecute tomorrow's conflicts, all while knowing that the U.S. public stands ready to support their needs at home and abroad.

Also included in the Defense Authorization are three provisions that will greatly benefit the federal employees that not only support the warfighter, but often serve alongside our men and women in uniform.

The first is known as the Federal Employee Retirement Service (FERS) Sick Leave provision. This piece will allow FERS-enrolled employees to use their accumulated, unexpended sick leave towards the computation of their annuities upon retirement. This provision puts FERS employees on par with those in the Civil Service Retirement System, CSRS, which includes employees who joined the civil service prior to 1984.

The second provision important to so many federal employees is known as the CSRS Part-Time Fix. It allows CSRS workers to phase-down to part-time status at the end of their careers without reducing their final annuities and pensions. Today, under CSRS, part-time service occurring during the final years of federal service negatively impacts the high-three annuity calculation, leading to earlier full-time service being calculated as part-time. This flaw often pushes out the most experienced and knowledgeable federal employees just at the time when this nation needs their service and expertise.

The final federal employee provision contained in this bill is known as FERS Redeposit. This provision allows returning FERS employees, who earlier left federal service, to repay a deposit to the civil service trust fund, with interest, in order to be able to combine their past and new federal service for future annuity credit purposes. Like the other two federal employee provisions, the FERS Redeposit will help the federal government better recruit and retain the skilled men and women that are critically vital to our armed services.

Though I have championed these provisions in the past, I must take some time to personally thank Chairman SKELTON, Ranking Member MCKEON, Chairman TOWNS, and Chairman LYNCH for their tremendous efforts to ensure that these provisions survived conference. Without the effort of these esteemed Congressmen, hundreds of thousands of federal employees would not be the beneficiaries of such provisions.

Lastly, I strongly support the inclusion of The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in this legislation. This provision, which has passed Congress several times over the past few years, would extend federal hate crimes law to protect individuals targeted because of their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. In addition to expanding the categories of hate crimes, it would allow the Justice Department to aid in the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes at the local level through technical assistance and supplemental funding.

Hate crimes have a chilling effect beyond a particular victim, spreading fear of future attacks among the targeted group. Congress cannot prevent hate from motivating individuals to commit violence, but we can ensure that the proper laws and resources are available to prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law. Enactment of this legislation is a long overdue step in combating all forms of hate-based violence that impact communities across the country.

Mr. Speaker, I once again thank Chairman SKELTON for his leadership.

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