Elijah Cummings

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, as I close, I urge all Members to vote in favor of the legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Issa for sponsoring this bill with me. This bill, if enacted, would be a landmark reform of our most important open government law, the Freedom of Information Act. This legislation would make significant improvements to the current law, which has not been consistently implemented. During the Clinton administration, Attorney General Janet Reno adopted a policy under which the Department of Justice would defend an agency's use of a FOIA exemption only when the agency could reasonably foresee that disclosure would harm an interest protected by that exemption. In the Bush administration, Attorney General John Ashcroft reversed this standard and directed the Justice Department to defend agency decisions to withhold records, as long as they had a legal basis for doing so. President Obama, to his credit, on his first day in office, directed agencies to implement FOIA with a presumption of openness. Attorney General Holder overturned the Ashcroft standard and reinstated the foreseeable harm standard. The legislation before us today would codify, in law, this presumption in favor of disclosure, no matter who is President. Under this bill, an agency would not be allowed to withhold information in response to a FOIA request, unless disclosure is prohibited by law or would cause specific identifiable harm to an interest protected by one of FOIA's exemptions. This bill also would create an advisory committee to make recommendations to improve government transparency. The President recently endorsed this idea in the Open Government National Action Plan issued by the administration in December of 2013. This legislation also would create a pilot project to encourage participation in a centralized FOIA portal. A centralized portal, such as FOIAonline, that is run by EPA, allows requesters to use one Webcast to file requests to multiple agencies. The bill also would strengthen the Office of Government Information Services by enhancing its role in providing guidance to agencies and ensuring that agencies notify requesters of their right to use its mediation services. The bill would strengthen the independence of this office by allowing it to send testimony and reports directly to Congress without approval from the Office of Management and Budget. I urge every Member of this body to support this open government legislation by voting for it. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, FITARA, would make a number of improvements to the management and the acquisition of IT systems in the Federal Government. I think if we were to summarize what this bill does we would have to use the words ``effective'' and ``efficient.'' We would have to use them over and over again, and we would also say that we are going to do better. It would enhance the authority of the Federal Chief Information Officers, require agencies to optimize the functioning of Federal data centers, eliminate duplicative IT acquisition practices, and strengthen the Federal IT acquisition workforce. These reforms are needed to ensure that the Federal Government makes effective and efficient investments in information technology. I want to commend Representative Issa, the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, for the bipartisan approach to this legislation. We had two full committee hearings on the concepts of this bill. The draft of the bill was made available for comment prior to the committee's considering it, and we really do appreciate that. I also want to recognize Representative Gerald Connolly, the ranking member of the Government Operations Subcommittee, for his critical work on drafting this legislation on technology issues generally. He has made himself an expert in this area, and we are the beneficiaries of that expertise. A significant portion of the legislation before us is based on Ranking Member Connolly's own bill to consolidate Federal data centers. Last year, the GAO issued its most recent high-risk report, which lists several IT projects as being among the Federal Government's highest-risk investments. For instance, a contract to streamline the Army's inventory of weapons systems is more than 12 years behind schedule and is almost $4 billion over budget. Effective oversight is one of the best weapons against this kind of wasteful spending. Congress has a duty to conduct oversight as well as the obligation to give agencies the tools they need to conduct their own oversight and improve their processes. Agencies need more well-trained acquisition management professionals to effectively oversee complex systems acquisitions and to ensure that the government is a smart and diligent consumer. If you do not have the people who have the expertise who are doing the acquisitions, you often run into major problems. As has often been said, there is nothing like not knowing what you don't know. The Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act addresses this need by requiring OMB to submit a 5-year plan to develop, strengthen, and solidify IT acquisition cadres. I understand that the administration has some concerns with this legislation we are considering today, so it is my hope that we can address those concerns as the bill moves forward in the legislative process. Again, I want to thank Chairman Issa for all of his hard work and Mr. Connolly for all of his. I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of H.R. 2860, the OPM IG Act, which is a successful product of the bipartisan efforts of Federal Workforce Subcommittee Chairman Farenthold and Ranking Member Lynch, and I applaud them for their efforts. I thank my distinguished colleagues for their work and commitment in sponsoring legislation to provide the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management with critically needed funding to perform audits, investigations, and oversight of OPM's revolving fund activities. Through the revolving fund, OPM provides approximately $2 billion in services to agencies on a fee-for-service basis. These services include background investigations, leadership training, and human resource management. H.R. 2860 would fix the loophole in the current law which prevents this $2 billion revolving fund from paying for the costs of the OPM Inspector General to properly oversee the fund's activities. This legislation would allow the OPM Inspector General to use a very small portion of the revolving fund budget, up to a maximum of one- third of 1 percent of the fund, to pay for audit, investigative, and oversight work. The recent Navy Yard shooting and the Edward Snowden leaks of classified information have highlighted the importance of comprehensive oversight of the Federal Government's background investigation and security clearance process. During last June's Federal Workforce Subcommittee hearing on OPM's revolving fund, the OPM Inspector General expressed substantial concerns about the falsification of background investigations. The OPM Inspector General plays a crucial part in ensuring that the background investigation process used by the government to determine whether individuals should be trusted with our Nation's classified and sensitive information is properly conducted. This legislation would give the OPM Inspector General the funds and resources needed to conduct the necessary oversight activities to help safeguard our government against national security risks. The Senate has already passed a substantially similar bill, and I ask all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting H.R. 2860. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield myself such time as I may consume as I close. Mr. Speaker, I take this moment to thank Mr. Farenthold, to thank Mr. Lynch and certainly our chairman, Chairman Issa, for this bipartisan effort. It just makes sense. There are certain things that happen that we see in government that need correcting, and this is one of those things. The fact that we have now put a spotlight on it and, through a bipartisan effort, have put together legislation that should pass this House unanimously, it just shows what can be done. So it is a great piece of legislation. It is a very practical piece of legislation, and it is one that is needed. With that, I would urge all of our colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. CUMMINGS. We have no additional speakers, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch), the cosponsor of the bill and a member of the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. First of all, I want to begin by thanking Chairman Issa for supporting this legislation and for making this a bipartisan effort. The Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments is aimed at giving the American people access to the records Presidents create while they are in office. Under the Presidential Records Act, a President has discretion to restrict access to his records for up to 12 years after he leaves office. After that time, a President can continue to restrict access to his records by arguing that the records are protected by executive privilege. The Presidential Records Act does not currently include guidelines for the consideration of Presidential privilege claims. This bill would amend the law by adding procedures to ensure the timely release of Presidential records. Under the bill, current and former Presidents would have up to 90 days to object to release of records or those records would be released. The Presidential and Federal Records Act also would require that any assertion of privilege by a former President be affirmed by the incumbent President or through a court order. The bill we are considering today also makes clear that the right to assert the privilege is personal to current and former Presidents, and that they not be bequeathed to assistants, relatives, or decedents. Putting this language into statute will ensure that future Presidents are held to the standard first set by President Reagan. The chairman of the Oversight Committee, Representative Darrell Issa, added an amendment during the committee markup of the bill to address the use of personal email by Federal employees. There is nothing currently in the Presidential Records Act or the Federal Records Act that prohibits employees from using personal email accounts to conduct official business. These acts simply require preservation of these records. This bill will continue to allow employees to use their personal email account when necessary, but it would require employees to copy their official email account or forward their email to their official account. This is a good government bill. Similar versions of this bill overwhelmingly passed the House in two previous Congresses. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1233 so the Senate can take it up quickly and so that it might be sent on to the President for his signature. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume as I close. Again, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding. I want to thank our chairman and the members of our committee for making this happen. Again, there are situations where we find the law needs clarification. This is one of those clarifying opportunities, and we have taken advantage of it in a bipartisan way. Again, I would urge all of our Members to vote in favor of this legislation. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey for yielding. I would like to make two very, very simple points. First, the Affordable Care Act is working. Hello. It is working. It went into full effect, if you didn't know, on January 1, and now millions of people--millions--are getting health insurance that they didn't have before. Imagine what this means to families. Not only are they receiving critical medical care, but they have the security of knowing they will not go bankrupt if they get into an accident or they get sick. That is major. The law also put in place key protections for consumers. Insurance companies are now prohibited from discriminating against people with cancer, diabetes, or other preexisting conditions. Some young people in my district said, Well, Congressman, I am not worried about preexisting conditions. I told them, You just keep on living. Insurance companies may not charge higher prices for women, and millions of people are now receiving free preventative care. There are also huge financial benefits. Health insurance companies are sending rebate checks to millions of people. Since the law was passed, we have seen the lowest growth in health care costs in 50 years; and if we repealed the law today, it would increase our deficit by more than $1.5 trillion. Despite all these positive results, Republicans are still obsessed with killing the law. Since they cannot do it legislatively, they have shifted to a different tactic--scaring people away from the Web site. So my second point is this. There have been no successful security breaches of www.healthcare.gov. Let me say that again. There have been no successful security breaches of www.healthcare.gov. Nobody's personal information has been maliciously hacked. All week, Republicans have been trying to make their case for this bill by quoting from a memo drafted by the chief information security officer at CMS about concerns before the Web site was launched, but they omit one critical fact: this official never sent the memo. It was a draft. And she never gave it to anyone, including her own supervisor. How do we know this? Because she was interviewed by the Oversight Committee by both Republican and Democratic staff weeks ago.

Mr. CUMMINGS. And she told us this herself. Her draft memo did not take into account mitigation strategies put in place in the days that followed. Importantly, she also told the committee that she is satisfied with the security testing being conducted. When asked to describe the security measures now in place, she called them, ``best practices above and beyond what is usually recommended.'' These are important facts for the American people to know, but the Republicans disregard them and omit them because they want to undermine their claims. Many of us would support efforts to strengthen requirements for the entire Federal Government and private sector to notify consumers of breaches, but today's bill does not do that. Today's bill is the latest attempt to attack the Affordable Care Act and deprive millions of Americans of the health care they deserve.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding; and I want to thank Chairman Miller, Congressman Flores, Ranking Member Michaud, Congressman Takano, and members of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee for working together in a truly bipartisan way to include provisions in this legislation to extend home foreclosure provisions to our servicemembers, veterans with disabilities, and surviving spouses. For the last 2 years, I have aggressively investigated illegal foreclosures, inflated fees, and other abuses by banks against our servicemembers, veterans, and their families. In my opinion, no one is more deserving of our help than our servicemembers who have sacrificed so much, who have given their blood, sweat, tears, and sometimes their lives. Yet under current law, certain servicemembers, veterans with disabilities, and surviving spouses are not receiving the critical protections they need and truly deserve. As a result, banks are foreclosing on homes at the very moment when our heroes and their families deserve our support. As a country, we can and must do better. That is why I introduced H.R. 1842, the Military Family Home Protection Act, which the House Veterans' Affairs Committee included in the bill before us today, and I am most grateful. These commonsense provisions will better protect military families and veterans with disabilities by closing loopholes and providing needed reforms to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. These provisions are supported by the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, Military Officers Association of America, Gold Star Wives of America, and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, all of whom have written strong letters of support. This legislation has overwhelming bipartisan support, and I thank every single member of the committee for their continued support. With Veterans Day approaching, I believe one of the best ways to honor our veterans and those that serve is to help keep a roof over their heads after they have sacrificed so much for our freedom and for our way of life. I ask every Member to support this effort.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding. Madam Speaker, as ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I rise in strong support of paying our Federal workers, but I oppose the parliamentary gimmicks being used by the majority to consider H.J. Res. 89, which is why I voted ``no'' on the rule. This resolution would ensure that the more than 1.2 million dedicated Federal employees who have been required by their agencies to work during the government shutdown will receive their paychecks on time. So far, these committed men and women have been at their duty stations without pay for 8 days since Republican extremists took our government hostage as part of their crusade to take health care from tens of millions of our fellow citizens. It is only fair and right that we pay them in a timely manner for the services they have rendered. These employees have mortgages, student loans, and children in college. They have to provide for their families, and they need their paychecks. Three days ago, the House unanimously passed H.R. 3223, the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act, which would give back pay to 800,000 Federal employees furloughed as a result of this government shutdown. I understand, however, that a Republican Senator is blocking the consideration of that bill in the Senate. Our Federal workers have endured relentless assaults over the past 3 years and have sacrificed much already. They have suffered through a 3- year pay freeze, reductions in their retirement benefits, and sequester-imposed furloughs. It is time to stop the assault on our Federal workers. I urge the Senate to pass H.R. 3223 by unanimous consent immediately. I support our Federal workers, and I support H.J. Res. 89, but I oppose the measure to which it will be attached upon passage, and note that by simply bringing to the floor a clean measure to fund the entire government, this bill would not be necessary.

Mr. CUMMINGS

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly), the ranking member of our Government Ops Subcommittee.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen), the ranking member of the Budget Committee.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished sponsor of the bill from Virginia (Mr. Moran).

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time we have remaining on both sides?

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, it is critical that the House pass H.R. 3223 to ensure that our dedicated Federal employees are made whole and receive backpay once this shutdown comes to an end. Federal employees have been the subject of relentless attacks on their pay and benefits over the last 3 years. This bill is the least we should do. Our hardworking public servants should not become collateral damage in the political games and ideological wars that the Republicans are waging. I would hope that we would have a unanimous vote, because there are so many people that are living from paycheck to paycheck, and they need our vote. I would suggest that we open up the entire government so that all of our employees can get back to work, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch), a member of the committee.

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of H.R. 3223, the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act. This legislation would provide backpay to 800,000 hardworking and dedicated Federal employees furloughed as a result of the government shutdown we are now enduring. Today is day five of the shutdown created by the Tea Party extremists who are harming our country by holding our government hostage. They're placing our economy and our national security in jeopardy by waging an ideological war to overturn the law of the land and put insurance companies back in charge of health care decisions for tens of millions of our fellow Americans. Our dedicated public servants ought to be at their duty stations serving the American people right now. They want to be working. They should be working. Instead, they are locked out because the House Republican leadership refuses to allow a vote on a clean bill to fund the government, a bill that would pass today. Seventeen years ago, Federal workers were given backpay after Newt Gingrich's record 21-day shutdown in 1995 and 1996. It was the fair thing to do then, and it is the fair thing to do now. Our Federal employees have been under relentless and unfair attack in recent years and have sacrificed much already. They have contributed nearly $100 billion to deficit reduction through the 3-year pay freeze. New employees have seen their retirement benefits slashed. On top of that, Mr. Speaker, many have suffered through sequester-imposed furloughs. And now many families have seen their lives needlessly disrupted by this shutdown. The least we can do for our fellow citizens who work for this great country is to give them the reassurance of knowing that they will receive backpay. The irresponsible, piecemeal approach to government funding being pursued by our House Republicans omits huge parts of the government in attempts to pick and choose those who will be paid and those who won't. That is not an efficient or effective way to run the government, and the American people are sick of it, and they must be heard. I give great credit to my colleagues, Mr. Moran and to Mr. Wolf, a bipartisan group of great Virginians. I applaud them. H.R. 3223 would ensure that all Federal workers will be paid once this manufactured crisis is over and the government is reopened. This is not their fault, and they should not suffer as a result. It's long past time for Republicans to reopen the government. Instead of disrupting the lives of our fellow citizens and wasting time and taxpayer money, House Republicans should reopen the government today-- not yesterday, right now--by simply bringing to the floor a measure that funds the entire government without taking away the health care of our fellow citizens. For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to join all of us in supporting H.R. 3223, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield 15 seconds to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield).

Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa), chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.