May 28, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 100 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Pages H2329-H2330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




MODIFYING PAY LIMITATION FOR CERTAIN HIGH-LEVEL EMPLOYEES AND OFFICERS 
                   OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (S. 3084) to amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the 
limitation on pay for certain high-level employees and officers of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 3084

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. MODIFICATION OF PAY LIMITATION FOR CERTAIN HIGH-
                   LEVEL EMPLOYEES AND OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT 
                   OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

       (a) Modification.--Section 7404(d) of title 38, United 
     States Code, is amended by inserting ``and except for 
     individuals appointed under sections 7401(4) and 7306 of this 
     title,'' after ``section 7457 of this title,''.
       (b) Waivers.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may 
     waive the limitation described in section 7404(d) of such 
     title, as in effect on the day before the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, on the amount of basic pay payable to 
     individuals appointed under section 7401(4) or 7306 of such 
     title for basic pay payable during the period--
       (A) beginning on November 1, 2010; and
       (B) ending on the day before the date of the enactment of 
     this Act.
       (2) Form.--The Secretary shall prescribe the form for 
     requesting a waiver under paragraph (1).
       (3) Treatment of waiver.--A decision not to grant a waiver 
     under paragraph (1) shall not be treated as an adverse action 
     and is not subject to further appeal, third-party review, or 
     judicial review.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Takano) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. David P. 
Roe) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
to insert extraneous material on S. 3084, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 3084, as amended, a bill to 
modify the limitation on pay for certain high-level employees and 
officers of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  This legislation retroactively authorizes VA to waive a limitation 
for basic pay for SES-equivalent employees employed at VA dating back 
to November 1, 2010. These are senior-level clinicians who oversee 
critical VA medical operations at the VA Central Office and in Veterans 
Integrated Service Networks.
  Due to a conflicting interpretation of the law, these senior-level 
employees were overpaid by VA for almost 10 years. VA did not notify 
Congress that it had been interpreting the pay cap in its statute as 
not applying to these employees until this year.
  Mr. Speaker, the Office of Management and Budget and Office of 
Personnel Management have said this is an issue that affects 
approximately 40 senior VA employees, some of whom play critical 
support roles in VA's response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
  Now, without this legislative fix, these employees, through no fault 
of their own, will be liable for a salary overpayment, plus any 
benefits tied to the salary, to include employee and agency retirement 
fund contributions.
  While VA could request a waiver of this debt on behalf of the 
employees under the law, a waiver will not completely address the 
negative financial effects these employees will experience. Their 
retirement and Thrift Savings Plan matching debt cannot be corrected.
  Mr. Speaker, VA has been making up the difference between the 
$156,000 cap and the rate of pay that has been received by the affected 
employees with bonuses, which do not count toward employee and agency 
retirement fund contributions and other Federal benefits.
  Since VA has faced significant challenges hiring qualified healthcare 
leaders in the past, removing any remaining barriers to ensuring VA can 
recruit and retain senior clinicians is crucial.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support S. 3084, as amended, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 3084, as amended. This 
bill is sponsored by Chairman Jerry Moran and Ranking Member Jon Tester 
of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and I am grateful for 
them for introducing it.

[[Page H2330]]

  S. 3084, as amended, would correct an error in existing law that 
impedes employees serving in Senior Executive Service-equivalent 
positions in the Department of Veterans Health Administration from 
receiving their full salaries. Congress passed legislation in 2010 to 
ensure that the individuals in those positions would be appropriately 
compensated for their work.
  However, VA discovered a technical error in that legislation just 
last year that, unless corrected, would result in those hardworking men 
and women instead having their salaries significantly reduced. It would 
also result in VA having to issue and collect debts for current and 
former employees who served in these high-level positions over the last 
decade. That is certainly not what Congress intended.
  The VA employees who are impacted by this issue are serving in 
mission-critical positions across the VA healthcare system. Many of 
them have been working around the clock, leading VA's response to the 
COVID-19 pandemic. They are responsible for ensuring that veterans and 
VA employees are safe and well cared for and that VA is able to fulfill 
the Department's fourth mission obligation to support the national 
response to this crisis.
  They and their colleagues have performed incredibly lifesaving work 
during the pandemic. I commend them for their efforts, which I know 
will continue to be critical in the weeks and months ahead. Making them 
whole by passing this bill today is the least we can do for them in 
return.
  I am glad to be back at work in our Nation's Capitol, as our 
constituents always intended for us to be, and to support this bill 
today as a small token of appreciation to the VA leaders who are 
steering the Department through the crisis on behalf of our Nation's 
veterans and families.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am 
prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the 
balance of my time. I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to 
close.
  I would like to start, since Monday was Memorial Day, to associate 
myself with the remarks of Mr. LaMalfa from California about Sam 
Johnson, one of our colleagues.
  Sam Johnson is one of the reasons I am so proud to have served in 
this body. Sam was one of the most incredible human beings I have ever 
met. He spent over 40 months in solitary confinement, chained to a 
concrete floor. This man came back to this country as a Wounded 
Warrior, but he did not let that stop him. He went ahead and had a very 
fulfilling life and really affected many of us in ways Sam will never 
know.
  I can remember seeing Sam on this floor. Sam was so beat up in his 
captivity that he would take his voting card and have to step up, raise 
up on his toes to put his card--I would get tears in my eyes watching 
him--put his card in that voting machine over there to cast his vote.

  We owe Sam and many veterans like him who have given the ultimate 
sacrifice to this great country a debt that we can never pay back.
  I served at the same time that Sam did. I was in the 2nd Infantry 
Division in Korea but I did not serve in Vietnam, and I can't thank 
those men and women enough.
  To my colleagues, my brothers and sisters, welcome home.
  Mr. Speaker, before I yield back, I would like to take a moment to 
thank Chairman Takano and the leadership on both sides of the aisle for 
bringing these three important bills to the floor today. Our actions 
show that, like many other Americans, we can continue to do our jobs 
and our part to reopen the country and our economy in a safe and 
productive way.
  While I am pleased that we are debating these bills today, I am 
disappointed that H.R. 3504, the Ryan Kules and Paul Benne Specially 
Adaptive Housing Improvement Act of 2019, was not included on today's 
agenda. H.R. 3504 is a bipartisan bill introduced by Representatives 
Gus Bilirakis and   Mike Levin that would make important improvements 
to the specially adaptive housing program that helps severely injured 
veterans adapt their homes.
  The bill would also require important changes to the administration 
of VA work-study benefits and make improvements to the GI Bill.
  The bill has already passed the House and has now come back over from 
the Senate. It represents a four corners bicameral agreement, and the 
bill is strongly supported by our veterans service organizations.
  I hope in the coming days we can pass the bill and send it to 
President Trump's desk as soon as possible. During this difficult time, 
we should be doing all we can to help support severely disabled 
veterans and student veterans.
  I thank the chairman. During this time that we have been at home with 
our constituents and with our families and really confined, we tried to 
continue to work, and I want to commend the chairman on being able to 
do this.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  I associate myself with the remarks about the memory of our recently 
departed former Member. Of course, all of our Vietnam veterans who paid 
the ultimate sacrifice but also those who came back from that service 
in that war, we all owe a debt of gratitude toward them.
  I recall my own uncle, who, unfortunately, committed suicide. I 
remember coming back from school and learning that he had committed 
suicide. We have so many of our Vietnam-era veterans who are extremely 
vulnerable because they have underlying conditions. I know that many of 
our veterans have been playing leadership roles among their neighbors 
to lead their neighbors in responding to COVID-19, the novel 
coronavirus.
  I thank all of those veterans across our country for leading that 
effort. Coming off of the Memorial Day weekend, it is certainly always 
a poignant holiday that we observe in recognition of those who made the 
ultimate sacrifice.
  With regard to S. 3084, I urge my colleagues to pass it. It is the 
right thing to do. We need to do right by the senior leaders of the VA. 
We need to make sure that we continue to attract the very best to serve 
our veterans in the service of the Veterans Department.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, S. 3084, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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