Telework Improvements Act Of 2010

Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAPITO. I would like to thank the gentleman from Utah for yielding me time, and I would like to thank the sponsor of the bill.

As a cosponsor of this legislation, I rise today in support of H.R. 1722.

I represent the eastern panhandle of West Virginia that continues to welcome new residents seeking the lower cost of living and family-oriented environment that West Virginia offers. Many of these new West Virginians work in the Washington, D.C., area for the Federal Government.

Telework would further improve the quality of life for these commuters. Teleworking would allow these workers to perform their duties and responsibilities from home or at another worksite--we actually have a remote telework facility in Jefferson County--where they would be removed from their regular workplace.

Telework would be good for families because it provides employees the flexibility they need to meet daily demands. It's an environmental bill because I believe it will reduce traffic congestion and air pollution as well as gasoline consumption.

Additionally, employers benefit from the increased productivity. I think the private sector has studies out there showing that telework can be much more productive for the overall organization: improved morale, fewer sick leave days used, better worker retention, and reduced costs for office space.

As telework is more widely adopted by the private sector, it is critical that the Federal Government continue to keep pace and serve as a model for telework. Several agencies within the Federal Government have already established efficient and effective telework policies, but H.R. 1722 requires each executive agency to establish a policy under which employees would be authorized to telework to the maximum extent possible without diminishing employee performance or agency operations.

As both speakers have stated, many law enforcement, home security, and emergency preparedness agencies on all levels of government advocate formal agency telework policies because they can aid continuity of operations planning for crises--such as the February snowstorms that crippled the Washington, D.C., area--through organized dispersal of employees and computer/telecom technology.

I know that telework may not work for every job, but there are jobs today that lend themselves to telework. Nearly 20 million Americans telework today, and at least 40 percent of American jobs are compatible with telework. I believe that instead of sitting in traffic for hours during the daily commute, time is better spent sitting down to dinner as a family, helping kids with their homework, or other important events that happen during the day which teleworking would allow many of our Federal employees to do on a regular basis.

I urge passage of this legislation.

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