Mary Scanlon

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an article, ``Quit Interfering and Save the Postal Service,'' by the former chair of the Board of Governors of the Postal Service, David Fineman. [Aug. 5, 2020] Quit Interfering and Save the Postal Service (By S. David Fineman) The U.S. Postal Service is in trouble and needs help just like the airlines, large and small corporations, and consumers. There are ways to save it if Congress takes action very soon. Where to start with its problems? The USPS is losing billions because of the pandemic. Its leadership has said running out of money is a question of when, not if. Its board of governors temporarily lost its quorum this year and is now made up only of Trump administration appointees. The president of the United States called the Postal Service a ``joke.'' And now state election officials are warning that reduced mail service could interfere with mail-in ballots in November. I served as a governor of the United States Postal Service from 1995 through 2005. I was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and served as chairman during the administration of President George W. Bush. By law, the USPS should have nine members on its board, five of one party and four of another. During my tenure, there was never any interference by the president in the business of the USPS, like there is currently. What is happening now is unprecedented, and we wonder why. Let us hope it is not to disturb the election process and mail-in ballots. During my first year on the board, it became clear the rate-making process, which decides how much one pays to mail a letter or a package, made no sense. Not until 2004 was there movement on any legislation in Congress. Eventually the chairman of the committee overseeing the Postal Service, Dan Burton (R-Ind.), and the ranking member, Henry Waxman (D- Calif.), agreed on the outline of a bill. The blll, with a few changes, passed the House of Representatives, the Senate, and then was signed into law by Bush in 2006. One section of that legislation called for the USPS to prefund its pension obligations for 75 years. I remember meeting with the then-postmaster general, and after a thorough briefing, we both concluded the USPS would never have the necessary funds to and maybe naivety, I believed congress would amend the law in due time to eliminate that burden. So here we are in 2020, in the middle of a pandemic. Congress and the administration cannot agree on how to fix the USPS. Everyone in the so-called postal community, ihcluding its unions, agree the prefunding requirement is not needed. Let us get legislation to eliminate the prefundlng requirement passed. What else can be done? First, let us stop the parochial mindset of Congress. The USPS has needed to right-size for some time, and not just close post offices. Because of population shifts, it can consolidate large processing plants, so they can process mail from various states and municipalities. Last week, Treasury released $10 billion already allocated to the USPS, with conditions that are at best questionable. It was required to share with Treasury details of contracts it negotiated with Amazon and others. Congress should allocate without any conditions, just like it has bailed out multinational corporations as a result of the pandemic. If we believe what we hear from the administration and the postmaster general they seem to have two solutions: First, raise the price of packages, although the rate-making process has confirmed the prices set were fair, and within the confines of the law. Second, cut the pay of the unionized workforce, which has already suffered thousands of coronavirus illnesses and, at last count, at least 60 deaths. If the price of packages is raised, who pays? The consumer and small businesses, not just on packages sent by USPS, but by every private delivery service. That is the reality of how business works, and to deny it is not dealing with reality. As USPS raises its prices, you can be assured that the private delivery services will raise their prices. Considering the present composition of Congress, the provisions of the law regarding how union contracts are negotiated ls not about to change. With the pandemic, the USPS is needed more than ever before. Small businesses and the average American rely on delivery of mail six days a week. They need to get their checks, their letters, and packages, on time. The USPS needs help! There is a way to fix it! The administration must stop holding the USPS hostage to its own private agenda. Rural America and the inner city population would suffer more than anyone else. The solutions are clear. Let us just get it done.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the Liberian community and to bring attention to an issue that Liberian refugees are experiencing in my district and across the country. In December 2019, as part of the NDAA, we passed the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship to 10,000 Liberians who have resided in this country legally for years, with a 1-year window to accomplish this. However, between administrative delays in publishing the rules to obtain this relief, and pandemic closures, 8 months have passed without a single application being processed. The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing with USCIS this week to find out why, and we did not receive answers. We are a nation of immigrants, immigrants who enrich our communities and represent exactly what makes our country great. I am proud to represent one of the largest Liberian-American communities in our country and just this weekend was honored to celebrate Liberian Independence Day with them.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my amendment to promote access to justice policies within the Department of Justice. As a former pro bona counsel, I know how important legal representation is for the most vulnerable members of society. My amendment, which would reduce and increase funds in this division by the same amount, aims to bring attention to the fact that the Department of Justice should spend appropriated funds to improve access to justice in the criminal and civil systems for all Americans. Carrying out this goal requires coordination throughout the Department in its litigation, policy activity, and grant making. This task was historically accomplished by the Department's Office of Access to Justice, an office that was eliminated by the Trump administration and I hope is re-established soon. In the meantime, the Department should reinvigorate its statement of interest and amicus brief practice reflecting focusing on the Sixth Amendment right to counsel to ensure it is guaranteed at the state and local level in the criminal context. In the civil context, the Department should accelerate its work to raise federal agencies' awareness of how civil legal aid helps advance a wide range of federal objectives including improved access to health care and housing, education and employment, family stability and public safety. Specifically, the Department should continue its leadership of the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable an interagency effort that I am so pleased to learn this Administration has embraced. A report from the Philadelphia Bar Association showed that the estimated return on investment for providing counsel to low income tenants in the city was about $12.47. That means for every dollar that the City of Philadelphia spent on providing legal representation to these individuals, it received $12.47 in return. Ensuring access to justice is not only the morally just thing to do, it is also a financially sound decision. Responding to the legal needs of victims of crime, people seeking employment, and servicemembers are bipartisan concerns that my amendment directly supports. My amendment would help continue these bipartisan practices and promote the Department of Justice's mission of ensuring justice for all.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Perlmutter for yielding me the time. I am proud to rise in support of this rule and the underlying legislation. I believe that each of the underlying bills that we consider in this rule will benefit not only people across the country but, in particular, residents of Pennsylvania's Fifth Congressional District in a meaningful and tangible way. The NDAA provides a 3 percent pay increase for our servicemembers and their families, expands paid family leave, and makes long-overdue changes in how the Department of Defense addresses the needs of servicewomen. The NDAA also makes necessary investments in our ability to handle future deadly infectious diseases and key investments in military infrastructure to support our troops overseas, but for the residents of my district, the benefits go even further. More than 4,600 people in my region are proudly employed in building the Chinook helicopter, our country's premier heavy-lift aircraft, as well as the Osprey, one of the Navy's most innovative and invaluable assets. Our neighbors who build these incredible aircraft are immensely proud of both their record of producing these aircraft on time and on budget and their craftsmanship, which correctly supports our national security around the world. I am proud to continue our region's bipartisan tradition of Federal support for this critical program. This bill is also important to the brave Federal firefighters in our region who protect some of our country's most valuable assets. Two of the first people who visited my office after I was sworn in were firefighters Joe Love and Brian Collison. They told me that they love their jobs, but the schedule imposed on firefighters in our region was unworkable, leading to low morale, high rates of divorce, high requests to transfer to other stations, and difficulty filling vacancies. I have worked with my friend and colleague Congressman Don Norcross to secure language in this bill that will allow our local Federal firefighters to adopt the alternative work schedule already being used by the vast majority of their peers across the country. Today's rule also provides for the Great American Outdoors Act, which the House will send to the President's desk this week. This bill benefits every region of the country by permanently funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund and investing heavily in the maintenance backlog at our national parks, both of which are important to our regional economy. I regularly visit many of the special places in Pennsylvania's Fifth District that will directly benefit from this legislation, including the Heinz Wildlife Refuge and Bartram's Garden. Funding for the LWCF does not come from taxpayer dollars. It relies on offshore drilling royalties. For every million dollars invested, the program supports 16 to 30 jobs. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all the Members who worked so hard on crafting these critical bills.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of the free press in America. I can't believe that I have to say this, but our free press is under attack--physical attack. As Americans have taken to the streets to demand change in the wake of George Floyd's murder, we have seen our First Amendment trampled as hundreds of journalists have been arrested and assaulted by law enforcement officers. In the past few weeks, members of the press have been detained, gassed, shot at. One reporter lost an eye when she was targeted with rubber bullets, and the most infamous example was the attack upon peaceful protestors and journalists gathered outside the White House. Mr. Speaker, a free press is one of the most fundamental and cherished values in our country, predating our Constitution. It stems from 1735 when John Peter Zenger was arrested and charged with sedition for criticizing a corrupt British governor of New York. A free press is one of the most basic ways we hold our government accountable. On the eve of our Nation's birthday, I invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in sponsoring H. Res. 999, which condemns attacks upon the press and the detention of journalists and reaffirms the value of a free press to our democracy.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Morelle for yielding to me, and I second his remarks regarding Russian bounty. I am proud to rise in support here today of H.R. 2. H.R. 2 will make meaningful, long-overdue investments in our roads, bridges, airports, ports, and transportation systems. It will invest billions in zero-emission, and modernize road systems to reduce gridlock, something we can all cheer about in my district. This is game-changing, economy-altering legislation. So when I hear my colleagues talk about the price tag on a bill like this, I have to wonder where exactly they think this money is going. This bill invests directly in American families, in workers, and in the communities in which we live. Stakeholders in my district have been crying out for a comprehensive infrastructure bill for years. I represent Pennsylvania's Fifth District, which is the gateway to the Philadelphia region. My district is home to the Philadelphia port and shipyard, home to one of the busiest airports in the country, home to the Eastern Seaboard's passenger and freight rail lines, plus commuter rails, streetcars, subways, and a network of interstate bridges and roads, all of which are in serious need of upkeep. But this bill is not just about the concrete that will be poured to fix potholes or the steel used to renovate a bridge. It is an investment in the American people at a time when it is needed most. H.R. 2 will provide good-paying, stable jobs that can support American workers and their families. At a time when we are facing double-digit unemployment in the United States, a massive investment in our people is exactly what we need. This bill will put people back to work, prevent further erosion of our environment, and give children and families the support they desperately need. In doing so, this bill lays down the important principle that when we invest in our infrastructure and our economy, we must do so in a way that builds for the 21st century and beyond rather than trying to re- create an unsustainable or inequitable past. H.R. 2 also includes one of my priorities, the Reopen and Rebuild America's Schools Act, which will invest $130 billion into rundown, obsolete, and often dangerous school facilities that pose risks for students, teachers, and staffs. Many of the communities I represent are in dire need of these funds, and I would be willing to bet that many of your communities are as well. This isn't an urban vs. rural issue. Public schools nationwide have been underfunded for decades, and our children have paid the price. In the last 18 months and before being sworn in, in my prior career, I had visited far too many schools that lack basic facilities, like working water fountains, space for physical education, or a library. I have visited schools that have crumbling plaster and lead paint on the walls and asbestos in the insulation, schools that have exposed radiators and pipes in classrooms that can give a child second-degree burns. This legislation is critical, and I am proud to support it.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with you the inspiring story of a Philadelphia doctor who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in this extraordinary time to combat the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black and Brown communities in my district and across the country. As evidence mounted that Black Americans were suffering both from greater exposure to COVID-19 and from less access to testing, Dr. Ala Stanford, a board certified surgeon, was done waiting. She took the community into her own hands, as so many Black women have done when our institutions have failed them, and she recruited a group of Black healthcare workers to form the Black Doctors Consortium. Staffed by Black doctors, med students, and nurses on their days off, the Black Doctors Consortium has spent the past few months using their own resources to test thousands of patients in church parking lots, union halls, and rec centers, going into our communities to deliver testing services where they are most needed. The group recently received a $1 million grant to expand and plans to start testing 250 to 350 people a day. Looking ahead, the Black Doctors Consortium plans to use their successful community-based approach to distribute COVID vaccines once they become available. Dr. Stanford represents the very best of who we are and the leadership we so desperately need in times of crisis. I thank Dr. Stanford and her entire group for their courage and commitment to addressing inequality with direct action.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, on this busy legislative day, I would like to focus my attention on both the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the Emergency Housing and Relief Act. The sickening police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery, Elijah McClain, and so many other Black Americans have rightfully brought our country to a place of moral reckoning that is long overdue. We must confront the harsh truths about racism in our country. Black lives do matter and changing our systems will take each and every one of us. This bill is a start. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act will end no-knock warrants, ban chokeholds, it will limit the transfer of military-grade machinery in local police forces, it will create a national registry to prevent the worst police officers from simply transferring to another police force when they have been found guilty of misconduct. The Justice in Policing Act is the reform that Americans are demanding to enact real change. This bill must be the starting point for negotiations with the Senate, not empty gestures from Senate Republicans or the White House. We are a country in desperate need of leadership, both to make the change needed for a civil society and to navigate the economic and health challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle may choose to deny that we are in the middle of a pandemic, but we have seen in recent days that we are far from out of the woods. Our constituents are struggling, in no small part due to the White House's single-minded focus on the stock market rather than American families, but while the White House and congressional Republicans are denying science and peddling in conspiracy theories, House Democrats are working to help American families. The Emergency Housing and Relief Act will help those families by providing rental assistance, helping landlords, homeowners, and those experiencing homelessness by providing billions in grants to help cover rent and other fees, as well as expanding the moratorium on evictions and foreclosure. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, because it is vital to the health and well-being of American families.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, we have lost over 100,000 lives to this pandemic--that we know of--and people on the front lines are still waiting for the PPE they need to protect themselves and our communities. Every single day, healthcare providers, States, and first responders tell us that they are being forced to compete for high-priced supplies, if they can find any at all. They are told to keep a 90-day supply for the fall surge, when it is a miracle if they have enough supplies for 2 weeks. Our frontline workers are feeling abandoned by their government. How can we blame them? The President is claiming victory in a crisis we are still fighting, visiting State after State and saying it is safe to reopen completely when it is not. He has the authority to use the Defense Production Act to increase production of PPE to save lives and chooses not to, while the safety of our frontline workers hangs in the balance. We have sent countless letters, introduced bills, and passed legislation. We need the President to act. The American people need straight talk, not magical thinking. We need leaders who listen to civil servants when they raise alarms, not fire the messenger. We can defeat this pandemic if we hear the facts and act on them.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the CARES Act, the third relief package that will pass through the House this month, and we know it is not the last. This bill will help protect the health, safety, and economic security of all Americans. I want to say that I am so grateful to our State and local officials, our first responders and healthcare workers, our postal and grocery workers, all of whom are fighting for our communities. I am grateful to our friends and neighbors for listening to our medical experts and staying home to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But they can't do it alone. As the numbers of patients and deaths are mounting, our doctors and nurses are telling us they are working without the protective gear and medical equipment they need. We need to end the disconnect between what the President is saying and what is really happening in America. We need the President to use the Defense Production Act to produce and distribute the medical supplies we need. I am so grateful to our colleagues for moving quickly to pass this bill and help the American people, and I urge the President to do the same.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the historic bipartisan legislative package introduced this week to address the United States' urgent maternal health crisis. I am referring to the Black Maternal Health Momnibus. Each year, 700 women in our country die from pregnancy complications, but 3 in 5 of those deaths could be prevented. The United States' maternal mortality rate is exponentially higher than that of any other developed country, and Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than White women, a glaring disparity that we cannot ignore. In my community, organizations like The Foundation for Delaware County and the Maternity Care Coalition have stepped up to address this crisis, but we must do more. I am proud to join Congresswomen Lauren Underwood and Alma Adams, Senator Kamala Harris, and other congressional leaders in introducing the Black Maternal Health Momnibus. The momnibus provides a comprehensive approach to maternal health, and particularly Black maternal health, by funding community-based organizations, investing in social determinants that influence maternal health outcomes, and growing and diversifying the prenatal workforce. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation for all our families.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2877, a bill to add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program. In 2005, soon after the United States and Australia finalized the Australia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, Congress created the E-3 visa program. That program provides up to 10,500 temporary visas for Australian nationals who are pre-approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to work in a specialty occupation for a sponsoring United States employer. A specialty occupation is one that requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge in fields such as science, engineering, and research and development in emerging technologies. Since the program's inception, Australia has only ever used a fraction of the 10,500 E-3 visas that are available each year. For example, in fiscal year 2019, only 5,800 E-3 visas were issued to Australian nationals. H.R. 2877 does not increase the number of visas that may be issued, but instead allows Irish nationals to use any unused visas. That bill would take the number of E-3 visas that are left unused by Australia in a given fiscal year and make that same number of visas available to Irish nationals the following fiscal year. This is a commonsense bill that recognizes the important bond we share with two of our country's closest and most steadfast allies. This bill is not controversial, and, in fact, passed the House by voice vote in 2018 when my Republican colleagues held the majority in this Chamber. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my friend, Mr. Neal, chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, for continuing to champion this bill. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2877, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2877) to add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program.

Ms. SCANLON. 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 bill under consideration.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal).

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, once again, I would urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas.

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 877 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. On Monday, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 877, providing for consideration of H.R. 1140, the Rights for Transportation Security Officers Act of 2020, under a structured rule. The rule provides 1 hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Homeland Security and makes in order nine amendments. Lastly, the rule provides suspension authority for Thursday and same- day authority for Wednesday and Thursday, both limited to the consideration of a supplemental appropriations bill. Madam Speaker, when the Transportation Security Administration was established as a response to the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, its Administrator was given broad authority over its workforce with respect to setting up pay and workplace conditions. As such, Transportation Security officers, TSOs, have been unable to benefit from Fair Labor Standards Act protections or fall under the general schedule pay scale. This distinction puts TSOs in a different class from other federal workers, preventing them from having the representational rights afforded through the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Each day, TSOs screen more than 2 million passengers at over 440 airports nationwide. These workers are critical to helping Americans travel safely and make up more than 70 percent of the Transportation Security Administration's workforce. However, TSOs are among the lowest paid Federal workers and routinely have among the lowest retention rate of any Federal agency. TSO annual pay lags well behind industry counterparts, and even the top performing TSOs with exceptional performance find it difficult to advance within their pay bands. This was not Congress' intention when it gave the Administrator broad latitude to manage its own personnel system, nor was it Congress' intention that this authority should be used to benefit management over frontline TSOs, as is the case today. As a result, in the past decade TSA has come to rank near the bottom in Federal employee morale surveys. This has created a culture in which last year the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General said that TSA must address its retention, hiring, and training challenges. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record excerpts from that 2019 report entitled ``TSA Needs to Improve Efforts to Retain, Hire, and Train Its Transportation Security Officers.'' TSA Needs To Improve Efforts To Retain, Hire, and Train Its Transportation Security Officers What We Found The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) needs to continue to improve its retention, hiring, and training of Transportation Security Officers (TSO). Specifically, TSA needs to better address its retention challenges because it currently does not share and leverage results of TSO exit surveys and does not always convey job expectations to new- hires. Prior to August 2018, TSA did not always focus on TSO career growth. Thus, the agency may be missing opportunities to prevent early attrition. By improving its retention efforts, TSA could save funds otherwise spent to hire and train new TSOs. Furthermore, TSA does not fully evaluate applicants for capability as well as compatibility when hiring new TSOs. Thus, the agency may be making uninformed hiring decisions due to inadequate applicant information and a lack of formally documented guidance on ranking potential new-hires. Without complete information, TSA may not be selecting the most highly qualified individuals as TSOs. Prior to July 2018, TSA had not standardized the approach for training new TSOs before they attend basic training and did not consistently send TSOs to basic training immediately following onboarding. TSA also does not give all airports complete visibility into its basic training curriculum as a basis for training new-hires locally. Without an experienced workforce or a consistent, robust training program, TSA is missing opportunities to strengthen its workforce. Given the importance of TSOs fulfilling the aviation security mission, TSA must address its retention, hiring, and training challenges, which could save millions in taxpayers' dollars. TSA Response TSA concurred with all nine recommendations and initiated corrective actions to address the findings.

Ms. SCANLON. Fortunately, Madam Speaker, this bill before us today will address each of those challenges. The Rights for Transportation Security Officers Act will honor those who protect America's aviation security by bringing the TSA personnel system within the bounds of the rest of the Federal workforce. H.R. 1140 will put an end to the current TSA personnel directives that have allowed the TSA to be the judge and jury in workforce disciplinary matters, and require TSA to follow the labor-management employee relations statutes that provide workplace rights and protections to most Federal employees under title 5 of the U.S. Code; the provision that is most notable in efforts to increase employee retention and morale by putting TSOs on the general schedule pay scale and finally aligning pay with the vast majority of other Federal employees. This legislation has been a long time coming for the men and women who protect our skies and keep millions of us safe on a daily basis. During the 35-day partial government shutdown at the end of the last Congress, TSOs were required to work for more than 5 weeks without pay. At Philadelphia International Airport in my district, a typical entry- level salary for a TSO is about $29,000 per year, without including additional locality pay. Working without pay for over a month would be difficult if you made three times that amount, Madam Speaker, but it is unconscionable that the Federal Government would force the very people we trust to keep us safe into having to turn to food banks, short-term loans, and donations to make ends meet. Yet these Federal workers kept reporting for work even when they couldn't afford gas and parking. These are not hypotheticals. In my district alone we collected food, diapers, gas cards, and other necessities for TSOs who were not being paid. The Federal Government did not live up to its commitment to these TSOs, but these civil servants did not waiver in their dedication to keeping the flying public safe. My colleagues across the aisle have objected to this bill which would support our Federal workers by claiming that our national security is at risk, that TSA would lose flexibility, and that the bill is too expensive. To the first point, I would say that a TSA staffed by underpaid and overworked TSOs is a greater threat to national security than paying a fair wage to keep Americans safe. Pay is one of the top reasons that the TSA struggles with keeping good employees. We lose current and potential TSOs every day because they can make more money in lower pressure work environments elsewhere. Whether in business, law, or government, you get what you pay for, and I, for one, do not believe that the security of our airports and skies or the lives of the traveling public are something we should be looking to get a bargain on. Further, granting the TSA workforce full collective bargaining rights under title 5 would not deny TSA the ability to remove bad employees or interfere with TSA's authority to direct security operations. Federal agencies already under title 5 jurisdiction have the flexibility to quickly deal with bad actors, but ensuring that proper protocols are followed in termination proceedings is a right that must be afforded to employees. This includes other Federal agencies with security and enforcement operations such as Customs and Border Patrol, the Department of Defense, and others. The TSA has had years to address its issues of recruitment, retention, and training, but has failed to do so. Now it is time for Congress to bring TSA in line with other Federal agencies. The TSA is not a new Federal agency, nor is it destined to go away. So, in that sense we must make sure that these patriotic civil workers are properly compensated and given the workplace rights that they deserve. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, as expected, we have heard that eliminating the unique personnel management tools that were initially afforded to the TSA is somehow going to undermine the organization, but this ignores the reality that those tools are no longer needed nor effective. The record is replete with evidence that we need to reform the way the TSA is managed in order to address very, very serious issues of recruitment, retention, and training. What is posited here is a false choice between workers' rights and national security, and we reject that choice. We were given an example of gross sexual misconduct as a reason why workers shouldn't have organizational rights. But under title 5's rule, which would apply under this bill, agencies can expedite personnel actions against employees accused of criminal activity, and they also can be removed from their duty post for potential harm to themselves or to others. Again, this is a false choice between workers' rights and national security, or just plain old management. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. H.R. 1140 is a pro-security and pro-Federal worker piece of legislation. The TSA is no longer a startup agency requiring maximum flexibility during a period of national emergency, and Congress, in previous administrations, has taken actions to reflect that. Ten years after its creation, in 2011, TSA employees were given labor union representation. This was a good step forward. However, the time is now to provide the 60,000 TSA employees the same worker rights and protections afforded to other Federal workers under the U.S. Code. It is a sad and shameful day for the government when anyone is forced to turn to food pantries to feed their family, employed or not, but it is unacceptable that Federal workers who work to protect and serve all Americans would be without a paycheck for weeks at a time--over the holidays, no less. Working people all over the United States are sacrificing more and earning less. This is a systemic problem that will not be solved by this bill. But, in order to rebuild the middle class that got so many of us into this body where we are today, we need to value Federal workers for the job they do and the services they provide to all of us. There are times and places for cutting costs and reducing expenses, but I do not believe that we as a body should do so in a way that negatively impacts national security or does so to the detriment of the men and women who keep us safe. I believe it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to responsibly pay its Federal workers. The hundreds of thousands of civil servants in this country do not belong to one political party or all subscribe to the same political beliefs. No, they do their jobs because they are in service to this Nation, and, in return, they deserve reasonable wages and rights in the workplace. I do not think that this is too much to ask. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule and the previous question.