James Comer

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I feel compelled to respond. These resolutions have been called paternalistic. However, the last time Congress passed a joint resolution of disapproval was all the way back in 1990, my senior year in high school--I am 50 years old, Mr. Speaker--over 30 years ago. Congress does not act upon D.C. legislation unless it is absolutely necessary, and that is what we are faced with today. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lawler).

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 97, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 26) disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I am pretty sure we haven't had a carjacking in my congressional district in several years. If someone thought about carjacking a vehicle in my district, it probably wouldn't end well for them. I don't think this has anything to do with this important bill in a city that has been ravaged with crime and carjackings every day. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. D'Esposito).

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise).

Mr. COMER

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

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further Members to debate. I am prepared to close whenever the gentleman is prepared. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington).

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the majority leader.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. Boebert).

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. This legislation asks every Member to answer a simple question: Do you put the needs of your constituents first, or do you put the preferences of Federal bureaucrats first? We know that expanded telework during the COVID-19 pandemic harmed agency service to our constituents across multiple vital agencies. Instead of fixing those problems and making sure they never happen again if increased telework needs to continue in certain cases, the Biden administration is just blindly doubling down on Federal telework across the board--not to improve service to our constituents, but to dangle a shiny perk in front of existing Federal workers and prospective new Federal hires. My bill ensures that a new expectation is set for our Federal Government's workforce: that you need to return to your agencies and get the job done for the American people. Federal telework should only be utilized when it has been proven to improve agency performance, lower agency costs, ensure agency network security, and better disperse the Federal workforce across the Nation. In the meantime, it requires Federal agencies to reimplement pre- pandemic policies, which were working just fine. Under this bill, we will know that, whether we have increased Federal telework or not, it will only be to ensure that Federal agencies and their employees provide the best quality of service to our constituents and our Nation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this much-needed bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Donalds).

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Fallon).

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 139, the Stopping Home Office Work's Unproductive Problems Act, or the SHOW UP Act. This legislation is urgent. The Federal workforce needs to get back to work. Federal agencies are falling short of their missions. They are not carrying out their duties. They are failing the American people. During the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the Federal workforce stayed home. They relied on telework because they could, but as the rest of America went back to work in person, many Federal workers did not. The American people have suffered as a result. They have waited for months for their tax refunds from the IRS. They have waited for months for the Social Security Administration to answer their questions and provide them benefits. Our veterans have even waited for months to get their medical records from the National Archives. The National Archives is responsible for maintaining medical records for our veterans, but our veterans could not get access to these records because the National Archives staff were at home. This is unacceptable, and it should be downright embarrassing to these agencies. The American people have struggled with high inflation, scarce goods, prolonged and disruptive lockdowns, and other hardships. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has showered Federal workers with perks and pay increases all while working from home, but Federal employees not being in the workplace hurt the Federal Government's ability to achieve its missions and deliver vital programs. House Republicans have fought hard to find out just how expanded telework has decreased agencies' ability to deliver services to our constituents. We have tried to get this information from the Biden administration, but to no avail. During the last Congress, as the House Oversight and Reform Committee ranking member, I wrote to the administration, requesting information on Federal workforce return-to-work policies. The Biden administration failed to provide adequate responses to our inquiries. Instead, it kept expanded telework policies in place long after the pandemic was over, and it used its expanded telework policies not to help our constituents but to help recruit new employees to the Federal Government. The Federal workforce already enjoys many perks not enjoyed by the private sector, including unparalleled job stability, healthy retirement benefits, and reliable pay-growth expectations. One would have thought that, as the pandemic wound down, Federal workers would have returned to their offices just as private-sector workers across the Nation did. That is not the case. According to the Office of Personnel Management's most recent report on telework, 47 percent of Federal workers teleworked routinely or situationally in fiscal year 2021. That was a 2 percent increase over fiscal year 2020, the year in which the pandemic struck. According to a Federal Times report this past October, just one in three Federal workers had returned to their office full time in 2022. Just last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that a new study by Cushman & Wakefield found only 5 percent of the prepandemic workforce returned to work in federally leased buildings in Washington, D.C., in October and November. The Federal Government's abuse of telework has gotten so bad that Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has called on President Biden to suspend the telework policies for Federal workers or turn over Federal buildings in D.C. for conversion to affordable housing. The current OPM Director has stated that Federal employees are actually getting transfers to agencies where they can telework more-- not so they can serve our constituents and the American citizenry the best. The SHOW UP Act offers a much-needed solution to the problem of Federal agencies and Federal employees putting their own comfort before our constituents' needs. It requires Federal agencies to immediately return to prepandemic levels of telework. This ensures that from the day of enactment, priority number one for the Federal workforce will be prompt and effective service to our constituents, not increasing the perks for an already privileged Federal bureaucracy. The SHOW UP Act also requires a governmentwide review of pandemic-era teleworking policies. This will help Congress see how much expanded telework either improved or harmed agency-by-agency effectiveness, costs, and network security across our vast Federal Government. The bill would prevent the Biden administration from locking in higher levels of telework until Congress receives detailed plans on how mission performance would be impacted. If the agencies' plans show increased telework would substantially improve agency performance, lower agency costs, ensure agency network security, and better disperse Federal employees across the Nation, then increased telework can then be considered as an option, but not until increased telework has been proven to better serve our constituents and the Nation. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this vital legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 75, I call up the bill (H.R. 139) to require Executive agencies to submit to Congress a study of the impacts of expanded telework and remote work by agency employees during the COVID-19 pandemic and a plan for the agency's future use of telework and remote work, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Wisconsin.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I am happy we could expedite the Settlement Agreement Information Database Act's consideration today. This Chamber has passed the SAID Act with broad support three separate times, in the 115th, 116th, and 117th Congresses. It is time the Senate acted on this important legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this necessary, bipartisan legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COMER

Mr. COMER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 159) to implement merit-based reforms to the civil service hiring system that replace degree-based hiring with skills- and competency- based hiring, and for other purposes, as amended.