Mike Rogers

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, this amendment recognizes that the coronavirus is a serious public health threat and that the TSA has a responsibility to educate its personnel as to how they should protect themselves. I can't imagine why anybody would oppose it. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment, although I am not opposed to it.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, as the gentlewoman from Virginia has just stated, the administration has already taken some proactive steps to deal with this threat; however, we need to remain vigilant when it comes to dealing with counterintelligence threats and concerns in the Federal workforce. I think this amendment does that. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the bill, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I can't overstate this: The real irony of this amendment is the underlying bill eliminates the hiring preferences for veterans. We all want to give preference to veterans for their service to our country. The best thing we can do to make that happen is to leave current law in place. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, as we have discussed, this bill makes it more difficult for TSA to protect the traveling public from terrorism. The gentleman's amendment does nothing to fix that. In fact, the gentleman's amendment does nothing at all, but it certainly is reassuring to hear that some in the majority still support our counterterrorism laws. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This amendment is a sensible requirement to examine the pay equity for screeners in all parts of the United States. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez- Colon) for her amendment and for her leadership on this issue. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, as the designee of the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon), I rise to offer an amendment.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chair, we have consistently seen reporting and data highlighting the unique health and well-being challenges of Federal air marshals. This amendment is a commendable effort to examine the issue, and I urge my colleagues to support it. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment, although I am not opposed to it. The Acting Chair (Mr. Brown of Maryland). Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment, even though I am not opposed to it.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, this amendment calls for a study on how TSA can recruit more veterans. I find that ironic, given that the underlying bill actually eliminates the existing hiring preferences for veterans, but the study is a good idea. Maybe it will come back and tell Congress that they ought to restore the hiring preferences for veterans that we currently have. That would be a good way to recruit veterans. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the Anniston girls basketball team for winning the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Class 4A basketball championship. The Bulldogs defeated Deschler 61 to 51 in the championship game on February 28th at Legacy Arena. Madam Speaker, please join me in congratulating the students and faculty of Anniston High School, the coaches, the players and all the Bulldogs fans on this exciting achievement. Go Bulldogs.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. I want to make Mr. Thompson aware that I have no further speakers and I am prepared to close. Mr. Chairman, I want to close by thanking the men and women of TSA. The debate we are having today does not impact the sincere appreciation we have for the tremendous job they do each and every day. While we may disagree on the best way forward, I think we all share the same goal of improving screener pay and morale. We understand how important it is to the workforce and to our security. Unfortunately, this bill would do little more than undermine the goal that we seek to achieve. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to oppose the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, my colleague from New Jersey is a great member of the Homeland Security Committee, and his heart is obviously in the right place. Everything he said I agree with about our TSA workforce. I travel through airports every week just like all the Members of this House. The fact is, it pains me to know we are not treating them better. These are the people who came to work in the last government shutdown without pay throughout that shutdown to make sure that we remained safe as we flew back and forth. We ought to be treating them better, and this bill doesn't do it. If we want to treat these people the way they should be treated, we should use current law and properly fund it and give them pay and benefits better than anything this bill would ever accommodate. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, the fact is, if we do treat the TSA officers the same as other employees by putting them in title 5, they will actually lose benefits. I talked about that in my opening statement. Right now, they already get the same benefits like paid family leave, but they are going to lose the ability to have bonuses, get certain overtime pay, and trade shifts. Those are things that are valuable. But the biggest problem I have is that we, as a Congress, have not funded the pay system they have now which would allow greater pay than title 5. I just think we need to stop shirking our duty and recognize it is our responsibility to pay these employees fairly. We have not been doing that, and this bill will accommodate that. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would say to my friend from Nevada that the irony with this bill is they are moving TSA under a 70-year-old personnel management system widely panned by good government organizations as unable to meet the needs of the 21st century workforce. So which system really is outdated? Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, in response to my friend and colleague from Mississippi, who, in his last statements, emphasized that the employees at TSA would have the right to elect their union representation, I would refer him to page 9, line 24 of his bill, ``Exclusive Representative--The labor organization certified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority on June 29, 2011, or successor labor organization shall be treated as the exclusive representative of full- and part-time nonsupervisory TSA personnel carrying out screening functions under section 44901`` et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. This bill does pick winners and losers and, in this case, AFGE is the winner. I am just saying, I don't think that is right. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.